Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

Middle School DisABILITIES Octave Visits Richardson School

On Monday, January 22nd, the seventh grade DisABILITIES Octave took a trip to the Richardson School, which has a program for children with autism.
According to Webster's New World College Dictionary, autism is a “developmental disorder characterized variously by impaired social action, difficulties in communicating, problems with seeing and hearing, and repetitive behavior." In other words, people with autism have trouble making social connections, communicating with others, and receiving information.

Upon first glance at the school we visited, we could not tell that there was anything different with these kids. Then, once we started to talk with them, we noticed some slight differences and deficiencies in their speaking and communication skills. Other than that, however, they were perfectly normal to us. They could write and probably read. They loved to play board games and did not care about winning or losing. A few of the students that we talked to did not even seem to have anything wrong with them at all. There were kids of all different ages in the class, too, and each of them was unique. The conclusion that we reached was that the kids with autism were not really that different from us at all.

By Will Schwartz, Class of 2012
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