I have to say this course is turning out to be wonderful for me! It has helped me to put words on the things I am seeing in and about this child who has been diagnosed Autistic. I am using many of the strategies and suggestions to help him feel more at ease, less anxious(a personal agenda on his desk, a quiet area in the room where he can go when he feels the need) and more verbal with his classmates. I am going to begin working on a couple Social Stories with him. I just love the information you are provided.
Verified Student
I have taken a lot of online classes. I have also gathered a lot of information on Asperger's to help my son and my students. However, I have never had an online class that was so organized, informative, and geared toward us learning about these special students. We were lucky to have such an amazing online course and professor. The children that will be helped by it are lucky to have you in their little corner of the world. Many thanks!
Verified Student
Thank you Ellen for your wonderful guidance throughout this course. Your passion shines through. Your interactions in the discussion areas were insightful and helpful. I am so glad I took this course. I will be taking some great new ideas back to the classroom when I return to work next week, which will enable me to be a more effective teacher. I completed the final exam and scored 100 %, so your teaching methods were very successful. I took this as a two semester credit hour course. I feel very prepared to successfully write on the topics included in the final assignment. I have taken some very good online courses before, but they did not provide the interaction with an instructor as this one did. I really appreciated that feedback so I knew if I was on the right track. Your expertise was so helpful in each of the discussion areas. I liked the structure of the class.
Verified Student
This is the first time I've taken a class that is entirely online. I'm really enjoying the format and content - much more than I expected! I love the way we are not only learning about learning styles - the content of this class is delivered in a way that covers each learning style. There are lots of visuals, movie clips, graphs, etc.with each lesson. So many method classes I've taken over the years lecture about ways to reach students but the information was always presented in lecture form only. I find myself retaining much more information and thinking beyond what I am reading, thanks to the visuals that are placed in the text.
Verified Student
I thought your course was really good - both informative and practical. I'm recommending it to my district special ed director as a course which would be really useful to any teacher - regular or special education - who wants to develop a good understanding of AS, and strategies to work with students who have AS…I appreciate how responsive to and thoughtful about the questions from the other students you were, and how thoughtful many of the questions and comments by the other students were. I'm glad I took your course.
Verified Student
I thoroughly enjoyed this online experience and hope to take another class under Dr. Ellen Arnold in the future. I found her approach to be personal, professional, effective, and pertinent. I am much better prepared to work with HFA students and very grateful for the concrete example and tried and true strategies provided by Dr. Arnold. She is an excellent instructor!
Verified Student
This was a perfect course for me. Each lesson was simple and easy to understand - I was able to focus on the goals of each lesson and didn't get bogged down with too much information at once. I don't have a lot of experience teaching students with Asperberger's and this was just right for my level of need. The writing was clear and easy to understand. The assignments and discussions helped so much in cementing my understanding. And the best part of all was that my student directly benefited from several of the suggested techniques. Our year is going so well, and I feel he is getting what he needs because of this course. Thank you so much. I have recommended this course to several people and truly hope they will take it.
Verified Student
Ellen It has been my privilege to learn from you. This has definitely been one of the most beneficial classes of my thirty year teaching career. Thank you for so many wonderful strategies and more importantly the wealth of information that is going to strengthen my teaching methods. This has been an enjoyable 12 lessons. I hope you continue so that teachers, students, and parents can experience a positive change in the lives of AS/HFA students.
Verified Student
This course has been extremely enlightening and helpful. I like the way it has been laid out. At first, I did not like having to wait for the next lessons to be released, but can see the rationale for that. As my first online course, I found it easy to maneuver and keep up with assignments. The quizzes helped me synthesize what I was learning.
Verified Student
Thank you, Ellen, for such a timely and enjoyable course. I especially enjoyed reading the supplementary materials and resources. My favorite was Elder's "Look Me In The Eye." His personal reflections touched upon so many issues that were addressed in our course work. It has been said that "real life happens when you are planning something else." Your amazing research, course presentation and real-life details have combined to encourage a more empathetic and creative atmosphere for my students and colleagues. I have also been sharing with others about this course and others available.
Verified Student