I had a meeting with my colleagues today. We shared the stories and happenings at our own intership place. One of my friend told me about what-so-called ‘an expert’ at her place of internship. She is placed at a therapy center for special needs children. She is taking care of an autism boy, called A. Here is the story …
There was a teacher at her place who claimed himself as an expert in autism, for he has been took care over 1000 autism cases with 1000 ways! He was going to ‘teach’ my friend on how to handle an austism boy. He yelled (or scream?) at his ear, asked ‘WHAT IS YOUR NAME?’. He did that 3 times and no answer came from that boy. Then, my friend touched his hand and asked casually, ‘What is your name, dear?’ He answered that straight away!
There is another funny story. The same teacher told my friend that A did not able to learn English at all. My friend saw a note said that he is able to write and spell 1-5 in English. The teacher scream at A’s ear again, asked ‘WHAT IS NUMBER 1 IN ENGLISH?’ As what happened before, the boy did not answer that. He did that 3 times and then told my friend with confident that A was not able to learn English. My friend, again, touched his hand and asked the same question, A answered that question! He was able to say the right word in English … and not just number 1, he was saying all the right words, from 1 to 5! Amazing progress for an autism boy…
The teacher behaviors confused me. How can he claimed himself as an expert in psychological field, if he really can’t do anything in a daily therapy session with a child who needs his help? This is what I dislike from those people who claimed themselves as experts, while in reality they can’t do something helpful for the children.
Well, let’s define ‘expert’ in a better way … I think we really need to do that.
My Writing Paper 