by Julia Sobel,

Beth Am Israel

My name is Julia and I’m a TAP Teen for the year of 2018-2019. I have really enjoyed many aspects of this program. All of the training that we get in this program is very helpful such as learning new strategies on how to interact with people with learning differences and having a community of people to talk to about ideas for the classroom. But the main thing that I have really enjoyed is the part of the program where we get to work with the students in the classroom. I mainly work one on one with a girl in my class with autism.

One of the reasons that I have really valued my time in the classroom is getting to know the child that I work with. I have loved getting to know what she is comfortable with and seeing her personality. She is a really interesting person and always asks questions in class that I would not have thought of. She has unique perspectives and is also really creative. Sometimes while on breaks she will fashion her clothes into other interesting garments! So while many aspects of this program have been helpful and interesting, my favorite part has been getting real life experiences in working with the classroom.