Autism+Unit

Autism Unit

IntroductionDebbie Wittenberg comes to speak to all eighth graders in screening room about autism, with an. Watch MTV's World of Jenks episode about autism. Link:World of Jenks Autism MTV

**Day 1**
Biography of Temple Grandin

**First** Extended Advisory
Watch Temple Grandin (it's 1 hour and 43 minutes long)

**Day 3**
Discuss key thoughts from movie. **Have students write on a note card their opinion of film. Describe a time they felt empathy for Grandin. Something they learned** . Review autism slideshow from Debbie Wittenberg, particularly slide #9 which talks about symptoms in adolescents. Also share pictures and poems of Thatcher.

**Day 4 **
== **Listen to NPR interview with Temple Grandin. Add to note card from yesterday about Grandin’s insights about autistic people and their contributions to our world.**  (Listen to about the first ten minutes; these are helpful. Ask students to list what they learn about autism from this interview.)

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Day 5 Read aloud Temple’s essay from //This I Believe//  entitled “Seeing in Beautiful, Precise Pictures.”

Days 6-10
Reflect on what they have learned about autism. Partner or triple up (or whole group - however each individual advisory cares to do it) and prepare a way to teach others about what autism is. Remember the World of Jenks episode, the presentation from Mrs. Wittenberg, the movie about Temple Grandin, and the pictures and poems of Thatcher. What did they take out of it, and how would they teach others about autism? Plan to meet in screening room on next double advisory to share projects.

Second Extended Advisory
Meet in screening room, share autism projects from last week (maybe have a vote to have best presentation shown during Monday morning assembly???)

**Videos **
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==**Rules **==

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; line-height: 0px; overflow: hidden; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Read the book "Rules" by Cynthia Lord during advisory between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Students should create their own "rules" books.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; line-height: 0px; overflow: hidden; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Perhaps include in autobiography?

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; line-height: 0px; overflow: hidden; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">*Students create "silent conversation" binders compiled of words they gather for conversations.