Barb Rentenbach Presentation

This past Friday I went to the lecture by Barb Rentenbach. When I went into the presentation, I thought it was going to be like every other lecture that I have gone to: informative yet mostly expository. Once the presentation began, I was absolutely fascinated. Barb Rentenbach has a severe form of autism but she has not let it negatively impact her life. Even though she is almost completely mute and needs an assistant to help her overcome her apraxia, she has spent the past ten years writing a full-length book about her thoughts and experiences as a person with autism. Although I am now ashamed to admit it, I was surprised to see how intelligent and witty Rentenbach is despite her disability. She helped me realize that, even though I do not mean to, I do have certain preconceived notions about people with disabilities. In my special education class, we always talk about seeing the individual and not the disability. This presentation helped me see who Rentenbach truly is and helped me realize that I need to work on not judging people because of their disabilities, even if it is unintentional.

During the presentation I kept thinking, "What would Retenbach's life be like if there were no computers or iPads?" The image in my head was really disheartening because without these mediums, Retenbach would never be able to communicate with other people or express herself. This would be unfortunate for Retenbach as well as the rest of the world because we would never be able to experience how insightful and comical she truly is.

Retenbach’s lecture also made me think a lot about my future students with autism. First, it helped me realize that I do not need to assume that a child has a cognitive delay just because they have a disability. Before I met Retenbach, I had always assumed children with autism also had mental impairments. Seeing how intelligent and insightful Retenbach is forever changed the way I see autism, and I will not make the same assumptions ever again. The second thing from Retenbach’s lecture that really affected me was when she said that autism is her prism, not her prison. This helped me understand that I do not need to treat my student’s autism as a disability that holds them back, but instead as their unique way of seeing the world. I think Retenbach was saying that it is important for me to respect my student’s viewpoints instead of pitying them for being different. As she said in her presentation, neurodiversity is a good thing and I need to respect it. Finally, Retenbach’s lecture made me realize that I need to make sure all of my future students with autism are given the chance to try using computers or iPads to see if they too can better express themselves with technology. Retenbach’s life was drastically changed with the invention of the iPad, and I want to make sure all of my students with autisms are given opportunities to see how they can best express themselves.