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by Leah Avital Dlinov (Author)
There are things your autistic student has been wanting to tell you.
About why they look away when you speak - and why that means they're listening harder than anyone in the room. About what really happens before a meltdown, and what they need from you when it's over. About the special interest you redirected, the schedule change that felt like an earthquake, and the conversation in the corridor they were never supposed to hear.
They didn't have the words. Until now.
Dear Teacher is a collection of 12 letters written from the voice of an autistic child to the teacher who has the power to change everything. Each letter speaks to a real, common experience - told from the inside, with honesty, warmth, and occasional heartbreak. Each letter ends with a brief, practical note for the educator: one insight, one reframe, one thing to try.
This is not a strategy guide. It is something rarer: a window into a child's inner world, offered to the adult who needs it most.
Written by Leah Avital - teacher, child-parent relationship consultant, and mother of four autistic children - this book draws on years of listening to what autistic children wish the adults in their lives truly understood. Leah teaches at Kedem School in Nokdim, Israel, where she works across both mainstream and special education classrooms every day.
The letters cover eye contact and listening, meltdowns and shutdowns, honesty and directness, special interests, running away, schedule changes, hidden knowledge, friendship and loneliness, overheard conversations, hard days and recovery, and the small moments that a child never forgets.
Dear Teacher is the third book in a series. My Amazing Brain speaks directly to autistic children ages 7-11. The Inclusive Classroom is a practical guide for educators. This book is the bridge between them - the child's voice, finally reaching the adult who needed to hear it.
Read it in one sitting. Or one letter at a time. Either way - it will stay with you.
Perfect for classroom teachers, special education teachers, school psychologists and counselors, teaching assistants, school administrators, and parents who want to understand what their child experiences at school.
