True Stories of Autistic and Handicapped Students: In the Begining was Tommy Allen

This book is the thirty year compilation of true stories of the special students that I have had the privilege to teach, supervise and just be friends with. Some of the stories are tragic, some funny. Some stories are of the teachers and assistants that I worked with, but this is not a book about me but about those special people. My hope is that those that read these pages become closer to the reality that we are all in it together, that we are more the same than we are different and that somewhere along the line we are going to meet at least one of these very special people. For over thirty years I taught the handicapped, but it wasn't always where I was going or who I thought I would be. Sometimes I taught a class of Autistic students or maybe the next year students that had severe behavioral difficulties. All the same, everyday was different and I enjoyed every challenge. From the first day, life has never been the same every day. Paul Joos