As I've said before, we go together on Wedneday's to the special education school here in Bocaiúva. With Dennis's help in translating, I observed the teaching and behavior of a severely-effected autistic boy, Valdenir (whom they call Junior) and gave suggestions. One week, I prepared materials for a short activity; it went horribly. Junior became worse the longer we were there, and the more we talked to the teacher. I stopped the lesson abruptly, apologized and left quickly--even Dennis was frustrated by how fast I gave up. 'The next week, we held a meeting with the specialists in the school (psychologist, speech therapist, occupational therapist, media specialist). I apologized about the last week's lesson; I should have known it would not work. They appreciated that, I think, and were relieved. The speech therapist explained that they all needed to learn about autism, which is new in Brazil, and that they wanted to meet with us on a regular basis for trainings. They, in turn, will work with the teachers and the children. So, since then, we go every three weeks and meet with the specialists. We talk about how they've been trying to incorporate my suggestions; then, with Dennis's help, I give a short inservice training with handouts (translated into Portuguese) on basic principles of autism. They brainstorm about what they can do during the next few weeks. They have asked an American Catholic nun Irmã Kelly to join us and help with translation. She has been in Bocaiúva for 20+ years. They have also just learned that they'll soon be getting more autistic children and they want to be ready for them. This might be an exciting venture: Two LDS senior missionaries working together with a Catholic nun and education specialists to develop programs for autistic children! Stay tuned. Below are pictures of our "Autism Team," the school from an earlier posting, and the rather unique back (main?) entrance into the school on a hill.