Friday, October 14, 2011

Brett Bigham

Autism Light #67 is Brett Bigham.  

Brett Bigham is from Portland, Oregon. He is a special education teacher in the school-to-work classroom of the Multnomah Education Service District. Brett Bigham is an Autism Light because of his dedication to effectively teach children with special needs, including autism.

Online Social Books: In order to help his students with autism, Brett Bigham created picture guide books called Explore Portland. Bridget A. Otto wrote an article on these online photo books for the Oregonian. Brett Bigham said the following about the photo books.
Autistic students often use something called social stories. They are little stories written for them to learn about a big transition coming up or deal with noisy hallways. They are just a guide to read or look at...They don't understand the communication about what is going on, so they need a picture or a combination of both (Source).
Awards:  Brett Bigham was one of the finalists for the OnPoint Excellence in Education Award in 2010.

Reviewer: Brett Bigham is very knowledgeable about the needs of students with autism to transition to adulthood. In recognition of that background he a reviewer of a chapter on Independent Living and Community Participation in the 2011 publication called  Preparing Youth with Autism Spectrum Disorder for Adulthood.

Special thanks to Brett Bigham for being an Autism Light by dedicating your life to teaching young people with autism in Portland, Oregon.  You are representative of the hard work and dedication of teachers of special needs students all over the world.

Autism Light honors diverse heroes to the world of autism.

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