When I was in elementary school, I struggled to complete work, remember to hand things in and study. In fifth grade my parents decided to get me a tutor to help me and he was a special education teacher at my school. Once a week I would go to him for tutoring in his classroom where the special education students were. I was very curious about them and began asking lots of questions. He let me work with them and that is where my passion for teaching began.

My first day teaching elementary students with autism, it was Halloween and I brought a pumpkin in for them to carve for the school pumpkin carving contest. The other teachers looked at me as if I lost my mind. It was definitely a challenge to figure out how I could get each one of them to participate (they had limited fine motor skills and focus). I took each kid’s strength area and gave them the tasks they excelled in. We completed a class pumpkin and entered the contest. We came in 3rd!

I would love to create a room or area for not only sensory integration but also have a daily living area with appliances, cabinets and drawers to teach daily living skills (sink, drying rack, pantry, washer, dryer, and an oven). This would help the students learn to help out at home and one day possibly get a job or live on their own.