When I began, I was uncertain what I wished to research for this project.  I went from just being interested in kids with autism to how they interact with kids without autism. After a few days I started to wonder how they are affected by being in a mainstream classroom. After considering my options carefully, I realized I was interested in learning more about how children with autism interact with students who have not been diagnosed with the disorder. I value kids with disabilities because I seem to have a connection with them, a different way of talking to them and helping them cope with their disability. They grab my attention because of how confident they are through all they've faced in life. Kids with autism block out the world around them and continue to do whatever it is they do best regardless of what anyone says or thinks, and to me that is powerful. Growing up with both of my parents as teachers, I have been around so many different kids. I've been around kids that are raised by other members of the family, around kids that are extremely well off and kids that have learning disabilities. When I was in elementary school my best friend had Asperger's and I would have never known besides the times he would get anxious and have a melt down. He continued to do whatever the rest of the class did and never once stood out to me as being different in anyway. Being around kids with autism as a disability really caught my attention. I found myself interested in how they interact with kids without autism compared to kids with autism. I have experienced it first hand for such a long time period in my life and researched it to find out more. Since it has always been a huge interest of mine I have wondered about autism my whole life. I've asked questions whenever I have the chance and being that I have become so committed to the topic I feel as though I am qualified to research it in a wider aspect.  

"Involvement or Isolation? The Social Networks of Children with Autism." This article talked about a case study done on kids with autism and kids without autism being in the same classroom. They were trying to see how kids with and without autism felt about having one another in the same classroom. Kids with autism reported feeling not as lonely but not as accepted, they also reported not feeling as much companionship. This article clearly values kids with autism and making sure that they feel accepted.  After this case study, I believe they make all the possible efforts to help kids with autism feel just as accepted as someone without autism. I feel as though this article is very informative and they thoroughly relay the data taken from the case study. The kids with autism and without autism's education could be at stake as well as their future.  This is a collection of scholarly grad students who have researched the topic and put together their work. Many of them are from University of California, Los Angeles, in the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies. Students who are going to grad school for the specific topic they are doing research on are highly credible. 

My second source brings to our attention the rights kids with autism have. Every special needs child has the same rights as kids without special needs when it comes to education in a public education classroom. The law IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Act) was passed that said a child has the right to a free and appropriate education, and any child is eligible for a specific education that meets his or her needs. An "appropriate" education means that you give the child an education that relates specifically to that child's needs. This article really takes the child's rights into consideration and allows for parents and others to see what rights kids with autism have. These people value children with autism, and that's why this really interested me. Every lawyer involved in the making of these laws for special needs children want any child with a disability to be accounted for and not discriminated against. Without laws to protect these kids and their education, their rights could be taken away from them. A team of lawyers at Goodwin Protector LLP put these laws together, which make them very credible. Having anyone specializing in the field they are writing laws for would make them extremely knowledgeable and accurate on subject. This article is extremely argumentative, and argues for kids with autism's rights and him or her being able to be treated just like someone without autism. 

The article "Genius May Be an Abnormality: Educating Students with Asperger's Syndrome, or High Functioning Autism" main claim is that kids or adults with autism need a focus in life. They need an intellectual, satisfying activity that they can depend on to take their focus off of human interaction and socialization. They explained how one kid just wanted to be in front of a computer because that is what satisfied him and made him happy. The author is explaining how it is okay and good for you to let kids with Asperger's do what interests them and if that is being in front of a computer screen let them use their intelligence to do something on a computer. This article really values the children's specific interests and what makes them enjoy learning. This article also does a really great job explaining to parents and teachers that children with autism sometimes just need that one interest to keep them engaged and focused. For kids with autism their future and social life could be at stake if you don't let them find what satisfies them for themselves. The author, Dr. Temple Grandin, is known to be the most well-known and accomplished person with autism in the world, and he is an extremely credible source. Being that Dr. Temple Grandin is autistic himself he can present the information from a viewpoint that he understands and that we don't. He can help us to better understand it coming from a primary source. It is always better to have a direct source so that you know that information did not get lost or miscommunicated along the way. 

This topic is easy to be argued for because anyone can have his or her own personal opinion. In the end you can look at statistics but someone can still argue for their belief. Many of the sources I have found agree that it is better for kids with autism to be in a mainstream classroom. They have all done experiments and gained back data from it to further publish statistics. Two of the sources I found agreed and one talked about the laws of kids with autism having the same rights as kids without autism. The sources I found only supported my perspective and made me agree more. I haven't taken it to the level of finding people who disagree yet because I would like to see what information I can find to support my claim before I get into disagreeing. Revising my research topic would only entail maybe rewording my question and then explaining why. It started with, "should kids with autism be in the same classroom as kids without autism?" I find it to be more specific talking about, "should kids with autism be in a mainstream classroom?" I could go on to talk about what ways kids with and without autism would benefit from it and take from it with them into the future. Giving more detail as to why kids would benefit from an integrated classroom setting would be more interesting, rather than a yes or no answer. 

