Working the the Groden Center's Livingston Center Preschool (Emma Rooks)

For the past 8 days, I have had the opportunity to work at the Livingston Center, the preschool associated with the Groden Center. Here, there are "typical" kids and there are also children with autism. I have been working in the classroom that holds the 4 most severe case that the center has. The class is set up with 4 students and 3 teachers, so with me, it was like a one on one experience for the kids. The children in this room are either 5 or 6 years old, and although they are the most severe cases, their abilities greatly vary. In the classroom only 2 of the 4 children have any language at all. I've always love kids, and I can form an attachment with them pretty quickly, but there was something different about these kids. I love working with the kids, but it is less than an easy job. In the past with "typical" kids, I can understand more of what they want and find a way to entertain them more easily, but with these kids, mood swings are very common. My first day I was a bit shocked when the little boy I had been playing with and who was laughing one second was the next second pushing me and trying to bite me. I've watched a lot of kids in my lifetime, but nothing like that has happened to me. I didn't really know how to feel about it. Part of me was upset because I was bitten, but then I remembered that happy face of his and his laugh. The teachers there have really taught me a lot about the kids. They have taught me not to over analyze the children, and obviously through their work (individualized programs/goals for each student) they want to teach them, and they do love them, but there is no easy way to explain a lot of their actions. Studying special education and eventually working in a place like the Livingston Center is something that I have been thinking that I want to make a career, and this project has just affirmed that feeling.