Welcome :)

Hello everyone!

I'm so pleased to welcome you to my new blog: Autism, the Teen Years.

I have been working in Special Education, teaching adolescents and adults with Autism for the last 8 years. Like many people I know, these students have truly changed my life. My Mother was a teacher, so naturally I grew up knowing I would never become a teacher (let's be honest... what teenage girl really wants to turn into her mother? Mom - I love you and of course I want to be just like you now that I'm a little wiser!) In my junior year of college, after the shoe store I worked in closed and I sought out some practical experience in the social work world (one of the many careers I dabbled in throughout college) an experience in a center for children and adults with Autism opened my eyes and my heart to exactly what I had been searching for.

After 8 years in a specialized setting, I took on a new challenge and fantastic opportunity to start a new self-contained Autism Spectrum Disorder program in a public high school. Truth? Changes to our routines are pretty terrifying for everyone, not just our kids... Luckily for everyone I've been relatively melt-down free so far :)

Anyway, so welcome to my page. Over the years I've had many challenging, comical, and rewarding experiences with  my students, their families, and my many interesting colleagues (again, we should probably be honest and say many of us in the field are as quirky as they come... quirky and awesome of course). I can't wait to share my stories with you all and hope that some of my posts can help you in your own experiences as well.

Look for my next post coming VERY soon!