Not Knowing vs. Not Wanting to Answer Your Question

Singularity is a fourth grader who lives in California. All fourth graders in this state learn about the missions that were established by the Franciscan order between 1769 and 1833. Therefore, Singularity has been learning about the mission systems. 

(I just noticed that the previous paragraph took the form of a syllogism. Neat!)

A couple of weeks Singularity's class went on a field trip to Mission Dolores, located in San Francisco. We rode on BART (the Bay Are Rapid Transit train), had lunch, and then went on a docent-led tour. I went along as Singularity's aide. (For those of you just joining us on this blog, Singularity is a student in a mainstream classroom. He does most of the regular classwork that the rest of his classd does, with some modifications and with the support of a one-on-one paraprofessional aide.)

As you may imagine, Singularity was already on sensory overload after riding on the noisy and crowded train and then walking the several blocks from the BART station to the mission. The class ate lunch on the steps of the basilica next to the mission, and finally it was time for the tour. 

I don't remember much of the tour, as I spent most of my time managing Singularity's behavior. I also don't know how much Singularity was able to absorb in the half-hour of the tour that we were there for. I do know that Singularity was engaging in a lot of behavior that was telling me that it was all too much for him and that I needed to get him out of there. And so we left the tour and went on to have a much lower-stress Singularity and Mom trip home. 

Overall, I considered the outing a success, as there were many things that Singularity did well. He is used to riding on BART, so that was no problem, but he was also able to sustain a conversation with his teacher for part of the BART trip. Yay! He was also able to keep up with the group as we walked from BART to the mission. And Singularity looked at the diorama of life in the mission while the docent talked about what it would be like for an Ohlone person to be uprooted from their traditional life to become a mission Indian.

I still wanted Singularity to have more of a mission experience, so over the weekend I drove him up to see Mission San Francisco Solano, which is in the scenic town of Sonoma. It was a much calmer scene. This time he was able to listen to some of the docent's presentation. And this time he needed to leave the tour before it was complete. 

After we visited the mission, we headed over to the barracks of General Vallejo's outpost in Sonoma. There a docent proceeded to quiz Singularity about what he had learned about the mission. Singularity answered "I don't know" to all of the docent's well-intentioned questions. 

I  honestly don't know whether Singularity knew the answer to the questions. I don't know what his teacher had presented to her class. I don't know how much of the docents' information Singularity was able to absorb. But I do know that he usually knows more than you might expect him to. 

I was offended when the docent at the barracks wished me luck and said that I obviously needed it with that kid. I gave him a brief lecture about autistic children understanding more than they might show us. I didn't use the words "presume competence", but I sure was thinking them!