Autism

The more I learn about autism, the more I think that everyone is on the spectrum. It's got its challenges--that's for sure. With awareness, though, many of these symptoms can be worked with and used to help enhance the unique qualities of people. As I learn about autism, I can see the symptoms in myself and my family, and I can work to support the areas that need to be strengthened in us.

The topic of autism comes to mind, because understanding and supporting autism is a big deal in this path that I have chosen to follow in becoming a teacher for special education. I've listened to my intuition and becoming a teacher feels like a calling that must be answered in my life.

That's interesting to me, because I know that my first calling is raising healthy children who feel fully loved and supported. By becoming a teacher, my attention could have been taken away from my first responsibility of raising Aidan and Alafair, and my responsibility of being joyfully married to Caleb.

It's been nearly two years since I started this teaching and grad school process. I've learned so much about supporting students, and in that, I've learned how to support myself and my family who have special needs. I've learned how my yoga practice ties into teaching students who aren't served by the general education curriculum, and how to bring all this knowledge together to support my own family. I've been very happy to see that the teaching path I chose to follow actually hasn't been a divergence from my mom, spouse, and yoga path. Learning to be a special educator, and learning about autism, has strengthened me in all the areas that are so important in my personal life.