Autism Can’t Stop This Girl
Girl Scouting is for every girl, including those with disabilities. My daughter, Deborah, is severely autistic but has completed the same awards as any other girl, including the Bronze and Silver Awards. She has just completed the work for her Gold Award. She worked with her teacher, Pam Serino, in creating a fine arts curriculum for the Functional Academics Classroom at her high school. She could not have completed any of her work without the help of her teacher and all the aides in her classroom and we thank them all. She also got help in the summer from Emily Guerrero, her at-home aide. Thank you also to the Girl Scouts of Central Texas council for allowing the modifications necessary for her to be successful. This article includes a visual report of her work. Since she does not speak or write well, this visual report is her way of submitting her final paperwork. The words are mine; the work was hers. I hope the special girls in your life can succeed as well. By Margaret Ott.
Deborah’s Visual Final Report for the Gold Award.
I shopped for the craft supplies for my Gold Award project. Shopping is hard when you have autism and get upset in public places easily.
Teaching others is hard when you don’t speak well. I showed how to do things instead of telling. Here are pictures of me teaching my classmates how to do some crafts:
Most of my projects had to have supplies prepared ahead of time. I did xeroxing, paper cutting, made kits of supplies for each project, and often made individual kits for each student.
Because my arts and crafts projects will be used for many years in the Functional Academics Class, I had to create a binder with their instructions and organize the models & supplies for storage.
Fall craft projects:
Art Techniques and Skills:
Homecoming crafts:
Classroom projects:
Halloween crafts:
Thanksgiving crafts:
Christmas crafts:
Other Holiday crafts (Diwali, Hanukkah, Veteran’s Day, Chinese New Year):
Winter projects:
Valentine’s Day art:
Spring crafts:
I hope you liked my Girl Scout Gold Award project! Here are some links to the websites we got her craft ideas from:
- torn paper apples
- toilet paper roll bird feeder
- 3-D apple trees
- Fall trees
- Shaving cream writing paper
- Toilet paper roll bat
- Dios de los Muertos masks
- Thumbprint turkeys
- Cornucopia craft
- Fall leaves placemat or wall hanging
- Menorah
- Santa face
- Eagle puppet
- Clothespin turkey
- Love butterfly
- Fluffy paint snow scenes
- Chinese dragon
- Ladybug thumbprint art
- Color Wheel
- Football game craft
- Placemats
- Q-tip skeleton
- Corn craft
- Glittered pine cones
- Diwali Rangoli craft
- Stained glass mittens
- Paper plate penguin
- Cotton Ball Santa
- Toilet paper roll snake
- Tissue paper sun catchers
© 2015, Deborah Ott. All rights reserved.
