I enjoy teaching kids with autism. I enjoy figuring out how their minds work, how they tick, and how to teach them.

Teaching kids with autism really affects my speech and behavior as a teacher.

These are the things I find myself saying on a regular basis:

“Don’t put this in your mouth.”

“What’s going on in your world right now?”

“Come back to my world!”

“It is never okay to lick people.”

“Whoa, too close!”

“Take that out of your mouth!”

“Why did you call her ‘lumpy pizza pants?’”

“If you find it on the ground, it doesn’t belong in your mouth.”

“Look at my nose when I am talking to you.”

One of my favorite things is the mathematical mind that one of my students has. He sees the world in patterns. If we are using tiles or blocks, I cannot give him a mix of colors because instead of doing the assignment, he will build elaborate patterns.

Last week I forgot and gave him multicolored blocks, so instead of building arrays, he was patterning. I switched his blocks with other students’ blocks until he only had blue. He threw a fit the whole time.

But ever since then, he has been begging me to play with them. I knew it would all be okay.

Today, he looked up at me and said with the sweetest sincerity, “Ms. Moore, I love my blue blocks.”

It was like he was talking about his very most precious posession in the whole world. I’m surprised a single tear didn’t fall down his cheek.

“Ms. Moore, I love my blue blocks.” Those are the moments that make my day.