Viewfinder: Autism Understanding at South Elementary School

Through a series of activities Thursday morning, South Elementary School students literally had their senses awakened to a glimpse of what life is like for a person with autism.

This event took place as Autism Awareness Month comes to a close. It also aimed to foster a better understanding of the condition, as last year, the Perkiomen Valley School District took on the autistic support program in the schools. The Montgomery County Intermediate Unit had handled the program prior to that.

Children moved from station to station in the school's cafeteria, where they worked with teachers on different demonstrations of an autistic person's heightened sensitivities.

At one of the six stations, students were read Since We're Friends, a story about a boy with an autistic friend. The other five stations corresponded with a sense:

Sight: Students took turns wearing blindfolds as their classmates counted to 15. After that, the students were told to remove their blindfolds and try not to blink in the light. They were then asked to talk about how sensitive their eyes felt—something a person with autism often experiences.

Smell: How do you act when you like a smell? How do you act when you really like a smell? Students said they could smile, clap, scream or jump up and down when they feel strongly about a smell. At this station, the children got a good whiff of certain scents of varying intensities—and another lesson in how heightened senses can spark certain recations in autistic individuals. Some smells were deemed so unpleasant that students shrieked and made faces. Others' eyes watered at overpowering smells.

Taste: Students sampled small pieces of candy and had to rate its sourness on a scale of 1 to 5. Autistic people have different taste buds, so their like or dislike of particular foods can deviate from what others like or dislike. Of course, the individual tastes rule expands beyond the autism spectrum, the teacher explained, when two students in the group had different responses to the same piece of candy. One boy found it too sour, while a girl in the group though it tasted good.

Sound: The children paired up, and one partner wore headphones in which he or she could hear music, while the other student tried to carry on a two-way conversation. This exercise showed students that autistic children can hear very well, but the cacophony can be quite distracting.

Touch: Students were handed old potato sacks and told to rub the fabric on their arms as they walked around the cafeteria table one time. When the teacher asked the students how it felt, the children said it was "itchy" or it "didn't feel good." One boy exclaimed that it felt like (he had) poison ivy.

"That's how their (autistic individuals') clothes can feel to them," the teacher explained. Their sensitivities to the material "can make them very uncomfortable, so that's why they move around" or pull at their clothing.

When the teacher asked the students what they learned about living with autism, a student responded: "It's not easy."