In honor of Autism Awareness Month, let's head across town to Tony Alamo Elementary School.

-Sadie, how do you feel?

-April at Tony Alamo Elementary School is Autism Awareness, Acceptance, and Inclusion Month.

(Cessie Feraro) It's very refreshing to find a group of kids who really empathize with the students.

-Empathy, something we witnessed first hand as we visited each of the primary autism classes, grades K through 2nd, and the intermediate autism classes, 3rd through 5th.

-You talk to most special education teachers, they would tell you that they love, they love their jobs.

Not because of anything else, it's because of the students.

These students don't have any mean bone in their body, so you really try to understand what they want to convey.

-At Alamo Elementary School, there are two intermediate autism teachers and three primary autism teachers, including Miss Feraro.

-Very good.

Look at you.

What we usually do is we teach the students how they learn.

It's not just one type fits all.

-So Olivia, how many trees do we have in Washington, D.C.?

-More than 300.

-Nice job.

See you are listening.

I love it.

-We also do a lot of sensory things, because that's mostly what our students in autism need, the sensory input.

And when they come to our classroom, they will say, Oh, all they do is play in the classroom.

No.

-Five.

Because you earn five, you get a toy.

Choose one.

-Good job.

-Everything in the classroom has a purpose.

Students with autism usually learn through visual, kinesthetic, and auditory.

What we do is we put everything together, and we do it through music.

-Miss Feraro knows they can't do their job alone.

-We're trying our best with the resources that we have.

Please, for the parents, to coordinate with the teacher, to connect with the teacher, because really, it takes a village.

-That village of kind and caring individuals also includes a special programs teaching assistance, or SPTA.

-The SPTAs actually spend more time with the students than the teachers.

They're with the students when they're in the general education classroom, at lunchroom.

-Good job following direction.

So give me high five.

Good job.

-During school events, like a recent open house, the teachers are always ready to educate others about autism awareness, acceptance, and inclusion, and not just during the month of April.

-They would see some of our students who have headphones or who have chewies.

So we are going to show them, okay, these are the different things, and this is why they use it, and this is how they use it.

There you go.

Yea!

You did it!

-Special thanks to all of these amazing special education teachers at Alamo Elementary School and at all of our CCSD schools.

You are all heroes in my book.

Grateful for all that you do to help our wonderful students.

Thank you so much.