Then and Now – by Lisa

I got my masters in Special Ed (mild – learning disabilities) back in 1994. During the time when I took classes, Autism never came up (it was considered severe). I was very interested in my students with learning disabilities who had difficulties getting along with their peers, so for my thesis I developed a social skills computer curriculum for adolescents with learning disabilities called “Communication Jackpot.” Even in all the research for my thesis, I did not come across high functioning autism or Asperger’s (which was just being added to the DSM).

NOW: After being a stay at home mom, just four years ago I re-entered education as a resource specialist, this time at the elementary level. I quickly learned about Asperger’s Syndrome and Autism. (And I realized I had a number of kids before that were undiagnosed with it at the time.) The district provides minimal training so I went back to grad school and will be getting my California add-on credential authorization this summer in Autism. I’ll have spent over $5000 of my own money to educate myself so I can serve these students better.