autism speaks

day 2 of the extended school year (aka special ed summer school) is complete, and it has raised questions in my mind...one of our students is autistic, and while our fearless leader is a special education teacher, she has little to no idea how to handle the student's verbal repetitions and tics. and it's not like i have any better idea; this is really the first time i've been around an autistic person that i know of. similar to any student, we are simply trying to get to know our class at the moment and their personalities, but testing boundaries and feeling out tolerance levels is difficult enough with fully functional students--the autism creates an even larger challenge that we honestly don't know how to overcome. it's unlikely we will ever conquer the autism and break through to the student as we only have him for a few weeks, but the hope and intent is here...once again, i have come to greatly appreciate the good fortune i have had in life as a healthy, functional, capable, hard-working, supported individual with loving family and friends. sadly, my advantageous upbringing seems to be increasingly rare nowadays...or perhaps i am just so jaded already by the sub-standard care of the students that it seems like society is snowballing?

i need to do some research and reading on autism and other mental/learning disabilities, which i know will happen when i get back to school, but until then...thoughts? suggestions? ideas??