Autistic student, parents realize a dream

Hayes Rodrigue, (left) straightens his son John Rodrigue’s collar after tying his necktie before they left their Gray home to attend H.L. Bourgeois High School’s commencement. John Rodrigue, who is autistic, graduated with his classmates Wednesday night.

By Kimbery Krupa
The Courier, May 30, 2002
Houma Today (South Louisiana Bayou Country)

They said he would be illiterate and sentenced him to a career in special education, where he would fit in nicely with the other slow learners.

They said he would never be able to comprehend what he reads and called his high-functioning autism too severe for him to get a decent job.

Teachers weren’t sure what to call him.

His special-needs label was changed sporadically throughout grade school, from emotionally disturbed to learning disabled. At times, his parents said, teachers seemed to want him to just disappear.

But through it all, John Rodrigue’s parents, Hayes and Helen, persevered, pushing for better treatment of their son, refusing to let him be swept aside.

Helen Rodrigue fought for including John in regular classrooms long before the inclusion trend reached south Louisiana. She believed in him and knew he could do it.

The Rodrigue’s faith and steadfast dedication were rewarded Wednesday night, the moment they had been awaiting for two decades.

Twenty-year-old John Rodrigue, a loving young man who soars through trivia and considers science his best subject, was among the 286 seniors to graduate from H.L. Bourgeois High School at the Houma-Terrebonne Civic Center.

As an autistic student who handles only a small amount of work at once, Rodrigue’s high-school achievements were stunning, earning him a standing ovation from fellow students at a recent graduation awards banquet.

Rodrigue, who lives in Gray, passed each subject of the state-designed graduation test and left Bourgeois with a 2.0 grade-point-average. He was ranked in the upper two-thirds of his graduating class – his transcript shows mostly C’s and D’s, with higher grades in English, and an F and an A.

Rodrigue has defied the odds, succeeding when everyone else predicted failure and graduating with an authentic high-school diploma, a feat even students with full analytical skills find it difficult to accomplish.

"I feel like I’ve been through an education war," says Rodrigue, who had a stressful time in high school and, like many teen-agers, found teachers difficult to get along with.

But calling his time in school a war would not be much of an exaggeration, said mother Helen Rodrigue, who has struggled with dozens of teachers and school administrators to get an appropriate education for her son.

After changing schools six times, relief and understanding were finally found in teacher Stephanie Morvant when John was in seventh-grade at Evergreen Junior High. Morvant helped Helen push to get John into regular classes and away from the special-education curriculum.

"The one message I would like to come out of all this is don’t give up on these kids. Don’t just write them off," said Helen Rodrigue. "Everybody told me, leave John alone. This is where he belongs. He can’t be in a regular classroom. He’s not a regular student. But I just knew that was not the truth."

At home, John Rodrigue devoured books – reading and playing computer games are his favorite things to do. He visits the library several times a week and can recite entire scripts from recent movies.

"He’s a walking encyclopedia," said father Hayes Rodrigue. "And he knows what he knows. He can tell you anything about everything, and he understands what he is saying perfectly."

In John Rodrigue’s world, and so many others who suffer from autism, it’s everybody else who has the learning problem. Rodrigue’s way of looking at the world makes wonderful sense to him; most of his frustration comes from outsiders not getting it.

He is spontaneously affectionate and badly wants a girlfriend, though he doesn’t quite know what he would do with her. Most of his wants come from movies, says Hayes Rodrigue, and his everyday vocabulary is filled with pop culture references, cartoon characters and famous movie lines.

John Rodrigue is also a bit of a philosopher, calling marriage "like a puzzle. Each piece needs to go in properly." He talks like a teacher, and most of his speeches are given in the form of a lesson.

When his parents tell him to hush, John rebels. "Hey, I don’t censor," he says, and he is right, launching into a multi-layered analysis of using coupons in grocery stores.

Rodrigue did not excel in school, but, with all of his problems and longstanding difficulties, he did not drop out, either. He spoke up in class and sometimes presented his views eloquently, especially about capital punishment, which he thinks is wrong.

"He’s trying to be more informative, and he is learning to take constructive criticism," said Hayes Rodrigue. "He has an answer to everybody else’s problem."

Donning his cap and gown Wednesday, John Rodrigue was nervous, a little more high-strung than usual.

Asked how he felt about graduating, Rodrigue cocked his head to the side and said, "Relieved but a little sad as well."

That sentiment was likely shared by many graduates during Wednesday’s ceremony.

Bourgeois’ graduating class included 19 National Honor Society members and 23 honors students, 23 Board of Regents scholars, two members of the National Vocational-Technical Honor Society and six members of the National Beta Club.

Students Brittany Deroche and Johnathan Voisin received American Legion Awards.

When it was John Rodrigue’s time to walk across stage, the audience erupted in applause.

After 18 years of waking up early to get her son up for school, Helen Rodrigue was thrilled.

"Find out what these kids can do, not what they can’t do," she said. "Just look at John."