High School Student with Autism
Hi my name is Jerrod Zeitlin and I’m a senior at Pulaski High School in Wisconsin. I recently wrote a new paper article for the Pulaski New paper, and it talks about me about how I have to go through everyday at school.
We are the only student written newspaper in the state of Wisconsin that the paper is written only by the students from the high school and some from the middle school too.
Here is my article; it took me 3-4 weeks of writing and editing and making it good. Hope you like it as much as I do.
Editor’s Note: While the “P-News Point of View” column usually features an opinion article written by a Pulaski News student, this issue, the column will feature a first-hand article about what it’s like to have autism and attend Pulaski High School.
My name is Jerrod Michael Zeitlin and I have a type of autism called Pervasive Development Disorder (PDD). No, you didn’t happen to just accidently wander into an autism anonymous meeting; this is my attempt to give you a glimpse into my world and the world of other students with autism. Everyday, my alarm goes off and around 6:15. I roll out of bed and begin preparing for school. I have to get dressed eat breakfast, take my medication, brush my teeth and put on my shoes.
While I’m on the bus, some of the kids try to bully me, but I refuse to fight them (I’m not that kind of person) so I just ignore them, the best I can, and wait until we get to school.
During first hour, I attend gym class. The biggest problem I have in gym is that I have trouble keeping up with my classmates. After recent foot surgeries, I am still limited by the pain and had to take a week off of gym. Even though I was able to rejoin my classmates a week later, I’ll still likely have to have more foot surgeries in the future.
Besides struggling because my surgeries, gym class is also hard because I don’t have any friends in this class and often I end up being paired with someone I don’t know to do activities like weight-lifting. For now, I just look at it as another obstacle I have to overcome. (Sometimes I feel that there’s an obstacle around every corner while I’m at school, but I just deal with it and keep going.)
After gym, I have business class. I like it, but it’s a bit fast-paced for me. I find the material interesting and enjoy the projects (one of our projects is to make our own business and I really like that) but sometimes I wish it was slower paced.
My next class is Pulaski News, and it’s my favorite class (and, no, I’m not just saying that because my article is in the paper) but I enjoy writing for a newspaper that is distributed throughout the public and enjoy the hands-on aspect of the class.
Passing time in-between classes is tough because there is a lot of noise and people hanging out and I wish I could join in their fun.
Fourth hour I have math class, however, I take math through an online program called Odyssey, which is nice because it reads the problems out loud. This is a big plus since sometimes reading more complicated material can be difficult for me.
I’m supposed to do my math work during fourth hour, but lately I’ve had to use that time to make up missed gym classes. I will have to be sure to catch up my math when my gym class is caught up. I worry about this a lot even though my teachers reassure me it will be okay.
During fifth hour, I have study hall, which is a nice chance to slow down and make sure I’m caught up on all of my work. At least that is how it is supposed to go. Sometimes it takes me a long time to catch up on my work so I don’t always finish my current work, so I often worry about completing everything on time.
Sixth hour I work in the school guidance office as part of my school’s work experience program. The program is designed to help students to prepare and develop skills that will help them once they’ve graduated from Pulaski High School. As part of my job description, I run passes to students and teachers, make copies and just generally help out in anyway I can.
The last hour of the day I have art class. I like the class and making the projects, but sometimes it’s a little difficult to keep up with my classmates who always seem to be a few steps ahead of me. I am trying to work through it the best I can. I know trying my best is all I can do, but it is hard to be okay with that.
Finally, at 2:48, the bell rings and I make my way to the buses to head home. I like to get on the bus first and get one of the back seats. I think I should get a back seat since I’m a senior. Sometimes the other students pick on me on the ride from school, but I just tough it out until I get home. A lot of time when I get home I need to rest and shoot hoops to help reduce stress from the school day.
While I know the education I am receiving as a student at PHS is important and necessary, I wish I had more of an opportunity to make more friends among my classmates. Often, other students are confused by my condition and do not know how to react to me.
This is especially difficult since PDD already makes it hard to meet new people and understand other people’s intentions. I think I have gotten better about it as I have gotten older, but it sometimes still bothers me.
While students with an ASD may require extra time and assistance in the classroom and a few other everyday situations, it’s important to remember that we still want to be treated normally, like everyone else; ask me about autism, I’m happy to talk about it. I want to help others understand ASD disorders.
My story is just one of the 730,000 individuals in America living with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). With no known cause, and so many variants of the disorder, it’s important to remember to treat those with ASD like “normal” people. As one of my favorite, famous individuals living with an ASD Temple Grandin says, “I am different, not less.”
Jerrod,
I really thought your article was interesting. I have a nonverbal son with autism and I never know what he is thinking. You speak for more than just yourself when you write about your thoughts and experiences. It gives me a glimpse of some things that may be going on in my son’s mind.
I hope you find some special kids who will be your friends someday soon. Congratulations on being a senior. Sounds like your hard work has paid off. Keep up the good work.
Kay…have you tried drawing pictures…even stick pictures will do..to communicate with your non-verbal son? I read a lot about ASD because I have 2 good friends and several casual friends or co-workers with autistic kids..and it runs a wide spectrum…seems they are all so different. I want to interact with these kids as best I can, so I need to understand all these differences.
Anyway, all this to say tht one friend tried drawing little “cartoon pictures” and it was like opening a flood gate, Her son really opened up and seemed so happy to be able to communicate. I like to sketch so I am looking forward to my next visit with them to see if he will “talk” to me as well.
Thanks, Sylvia. I am a tech-geek, so we have all sorts of hardware, software, apps and icons that we use with him. He definitely communicates – we have a Cyrano II and an ipod Touch with the TouchChat app. We also use the HP TouchSmart Canvas to create a daily schedule for him.
thank you for your comment on my article and I hope I helped you with your son. If you ever have any questions about anything u can email me anytime you want. I can give you some more tips on what goes on in the mind of a kid with autism.
Thank you ever much for making a comment!!!!!!!!
I loved your article, please keep up your hard work.
I know your future will be bright. I know how hard you work, you are an inspiration.
Sincerely,
Rhonda
A Mother of a 4 year old with ASD
I am so touched by your article. I have a three-year-old daughter who was recently diagnosed with ASD. She is also PDD. Your article helps me to understand my daughter and to see life through her eyes. I can imainge that she experiences a lot of what you describe. She is very interested in other kids, but she just does not interact with them.
Thank you for writing and sharing. You are an inspiration!
Susan