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CORVALLIS, Ore. (AP) — In his work as a behavior and autism support specialist with the Corvallis School District, Jake Dorr often uses graphics called "social stories" to work with students.
He describes the graphics as basically a comic that through several frames will try to explain social expectations, such as why kids should brush their teeth every day or come into the classroom at the end of recess, in a graphical way.
This is helpful, he said, because people with autism are often very visual people who struggle with understanding what is expected of them in school and other social situations.
"A lot of these students either are misunderstood or they misunderstand their peers. My job is to bridge that gap," he said.
And Dorr is something of a visual person himself: He is a multimedia artist. On his website, he sells everything from prints of his paintings and silk-screened posters to T-shirts and phone cases printed with his work.
His art skills come in handy on the job, too: Although there are many social stories available as part of material the district receives, he also draws some to address specific situations where the kids he works with need help in understanding an issue.
Dorr, who also works with students with attention deficit hyperactive disorder and a variety of developmental disabilities, said in a lot of his work he's trying to act as an interpreter, but not just to help students understand things: He also tries to help teachers understand the way their students think.
"The development of (people with autism's) brains is different to the point where it requires some compassion and understanding," he said.
He also works with parents and trains administrators and teachers trying to "build capacity" at the schools to help students on the autism spectrum.
For example, he said, if a teacher gives an assignment in which a student is supposed to dress up as a president and give a presentation about him for the class, Dorr would suggest an alternative version of the assignment for a student who has anxiety about speaking in front of a class.
Dorr said one alternative he suggests is an app called Tellegami, which lets students create an avatar that looks like them and record an audio presentation. Then, they can play the presentation and the avatar, which can be placed before a custom background and dressed in different clothes, will move its lips synchronized to audio the student records. Then, the student can play the video for the class instead of speaking themselves.
"Are you grading them on their ability to overcome fear or their knowledge about a president?" he said.
Dorr, who has been with the district for seven years, said many of his students are wary of the idea that autism is a disease that needs to be cured or a condition that needs to be eradicated. It's part of who they are, he said.
"It's a demographic in our population that we really need to understand and embrace," he said.
Dorr said autistic people are often very successful in fields like technology.
"There are whole new industries being developed by a new generation and it's awesome," he said.
Dorr said he was first inspired to work with people with autism when he was a camp counselor, and had autistic kids in his cabin.
"I feel compassion towards equity and helping everyone have a level playing field," he said.
Dorr said that some of the reason that he may have been drawn to working with students on the autism spectrum is that he thinks in a similar way as they do.
"I was always the guy in school who wanted to do the alternative assignment," he said.
And his art is often about finding an alternative twist on popular things. For example, on Saturday he used a silk-screen to print a series of posters that said "Keep Calm and Stop Plagiarizing British Posters." It's a satire on the recent trend of people reinterpreting a World War II-era poster that urged British citizens to "Keep Calm and Carry On."
"I take art seriously, but I don't think it has to be a serious subject matter," he said.
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Information from: Gazette-Times, http://www.gtconnect.com
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