My name is Coco Stewart. I began working at Old Adobe School as a teacher’s aide in November of 2007. I was born and grew up in Japan. I studied dress design at Kyoto Seian Junior College. I was also a lingerie designer for 8 years in Kyoto. In 1996 I moved to America and got married. I have lived in Sonoma since 2000, with my husband and two boys, who go to SVHS. Both of my sons attended Old Adobe School. My older son has autism and he attended Old Adobe in 2003. I sometimes stayed with him as a shadow, or aide, at school. I also served as a classroom volunteer when my second son attended. I felt so lucky to find such a great school for them!! They loved going to Old Adobe. My second son always begged me to let him stay longer at his pick up time! He learned many social skills at school: making friends, sharing toys, as well as academic skills, such as writing his name, letters, numbers, etc. When my sons were younger, I learned a lot from their school. I also took it upon myself to learn about special education such as ABA (AppliedBehavioral Analysis) and TEACCH (Treatment and Education of Autistic and Related Communication Handicapped Children). I learned that organizing the physical environment, developing schedules and work systems, making expectations clear and explicit, and using visual materials as picture cards are effective ways of developing skills for people with autism. I believe that the teaching methods I learned for my son greatly prepared me for the preschool environment.I am really happy to work here with all of the teachers and children. I hope that they say to their parents, “ Come on! Hurry up! I can’ t wait to go to school to play with my friends and teachers at Old Adobe!!”