Wow! It has been quite the semester. I can still remember when 9th grade me learned about independent studies and wistfully looked at my schedule plan, thinking I’d never have the chance to do one. However, at the start of this year, I chose to switch one of my semester classes to a spring independent study, and it was one of the best choices I have made for my high school experience. This study has been so incredibly rewarding in terms of both learning and experience, and I am very grateful that I have had the chance to experiment with independent learning within such a supportive environment.
While it is a bit bittersweet to be writing this final reflection, I have just been approved to continue this study into next fall, so I will likely be back on this very same blog in a couple of months! I am looking forward to expanding the audience of my presentation to include students, as well as focusing on education and intersectionality—the other part of this year’s study that I didn’t get to include in my presentation and of which I am interested in pursuing more.
In terms of content, I loved the latter half of my study focusing on autism in schools, because it was something I didn’t have too much prior knowledge of, and I loved being able to see the process of learning something from a book or research, furthering that knowledge by interviewing experts, and turning it into a concise presentation of concrete steps for a specific audience type. I also loved learning about intersectionalities in terms of gender and sexuality, because it was incredible to hear corrections to misconceptions be affirmed by experts and throughout various reading materials. I wish I got to share more of what I learned about gender and autism this year, which is why that is one of my main goals for next year. Furthermore, the books I read made me want to learn about similar intersectionalities like race or socioeconomic status, and how each of those social identities intersects to impact the autistic experience.
One thing that struck me about my independent study was the amount of information I still had to absorb about a subject I had already learned a lot about, simply due to the nature of there being so many different perspectives and nuances that I want to consider. While this year I focused on reading some books (which I will finish over the summer), doing research through advocacy organizations, and interviewing some folks at the end of the year, next year I also want to delve a little more into peer-reviewed scientific research, as well as becoming more comfortable with conducting interviews. I also want to have fewer, more precise goals in recognition of the limited time I have for this study.
I absolutely loved my final presentation, and it really just inspired me to pursue a larger audience for my next study. Reviewing everything I had learned that year and talking with folks after the presentation made me realize how much I had learned about the subject. It furthermore made me recognize just how much I had to cut out of the presentation for time and clarity, and reinvigorated my desire to share that missing knowledge with the public!
That is everything for this year!! If you are a faculty, know that I will be posting a video of my presentation to the faculty learning toolkit on Veracross if you would like to check it out. Until then, feel free to browse the information I have on my blog, ask me any questions you have here, and get excited for next year—it’s going to be a blast 🙂
