Above and beyond

Heather Conditt loves her family and her students. She is shown here with her husband, Burke, and her sons, Evan and Jack. (T-G Photo by Tamara Belinc) [Click to enlarge] [Order this photo]

She received this award because of her work with Jake Bayne, a six-year-old autistic student.

"Heather went above and beyond the call of duty with Jake," his mother, Michelle Bayne, said. "He has improved so much over the course of the year with her."

Bayne contacted Leta Frame, of Shelbyville, who is the Bedford County contact for the Autism Society of Middle Tennessee, who contacted the National Autism Society, which then decided to give Conditt the award.

Jake's diagnosis

Jake was four when he was diagnosed with autism, a little after he started in the developmental kindergarten program at Liberty.

"I thought something might be going on," she said. "He had problems with transitions and change, couldn't make eye contact and often fixated on just one thing. Even though I thought it might be something, no parent wants to admit something's wrong."

She took him to Mercy Children's Clinic in Franklin, which helped get him an appointment at Vanderbilt, which is where his autism was diagnosed.

After his diagnosis, he spent half days at Eakin Primary School in their autism program.

"He was really too old to begin the program there," Michelle said, "but the Board of Education let him go there."

When his day was finished at Eakin, he traveled by bus back to Liberty to do the rest of the day in the developmental kindergarten program.

When his year was over in those programs, one of his teachers made him a picture book of the year.

Conditt's role

Conditt said she knew before the beginning of the year Jake would be in her class.

"I knew Jake a little," she said, "but I was still pretty nervous about it. I had never worked with an autistic child before."

Jake was assigned an aide, Virginia Sue Roberts, to work with him.

"Mrs. Roberts was wonderful," Michelle said. "Jake just loved her."

Conditt said one of the things she learned about Jake was just to be consistent and follow through.

"We made a visual schedule for him, so he would know what was coming next," she said. "Transitions are very hard for him. A lot of it was just trial and error to see what would work. We also did a lot of positive reinforcement."

Jake loves computers, and Conditt used the computer center in her classroom as a reward for him.

"We also did a lot of social stories with him," Conditt said. "Mrs. Roberts would read them to him in the morning. They really helped him relate."

A breakthrough came by the end of the year.

"He finally asked me to read him a book," Michelle said. "He had never wanted me to do that or would sit still long enough for me to do it. I just wish everyone knew what it felt like when he asked me to do it."

Jake is being held back in kindergarten again this year, and Conditt plans to start right back up where she left off.

"I'm OK with it," Bayne said. "Actually, I said I was OK with it as long as he had Heather again."

Rewarding a teacher

Jake Bayne loves horses, along with the computer. Jake is an autistic student of Heather Conditt, who was named Teacher of the Year by the National Autism Society for her work with Jake. (T-G Photo by Tamara Belinc) [Click to enlarge] [Order this photo]

Jake has come a long way this school year. Another breakthrough was in his speech.

"He had a lot of trouble with his speech," she said. "People had trouble understanding him, but now he can be understood a lot more."

At the beginning of the year, he always chose the computer during center time and would often have a tantrum if it was full.

"He doesn't really do that anymore," Conditt said. "He'll even pick something besides the computer."

Bayne was very impressed with Conditt's performance as a teacher.

"There are a lot of good educators in Bedford County," she said. "They put in a lot of hard work and dedication, and Heather proved that this year with Jake. I just wanted to see her rewarded."

Michelle e-mailed Frame, telling her how impressed the whole family was with Conditt's work.

"I said I didn't know where he would be without her," Michelle said, "and I said I would like to see her rewarded."

At the Honor's Day ceremony, Leta Frame read a small summary Michelle had written about Conditt.

"There wasn't a dry eye in the place," she said. "It really got to everyone."

Conditt was very surprised by the award.

"I was on cloud nine when I got the award," Conditt said. "I felt like I had just won the lottery. I was not expecting it at all."