At times I felt very alone in my quest. Tourette's, ADHD, learning disabilities, reading problems, math, writing/spelling/speech... more types of problems then I could count! Everyone seemed to have their own set of special needs. So many needs and no real answers!
Let me tell you about a few.
I remember one child, who moved from preschool to kindergarten to first grade, and all along his mother claimed that her son knew the alphabet. At school we didn't see any evidence of this. Mom kept insisting that most nights they would sit in a quiet place working on learning the letters of the alphabet. In those moments he knew the alphabet.
It's hard to believe something when you can't see it for yourself (which pretty much sums up dyslexia for the non-dyslexic!). I'll admit, I found it hard to believe this mom at first. I couldn't hear him recite the alphabet. As time went by I realized she was telling the truth, whether we saw the evidence or not. Why would she persist in her claim if it wasn't true? (And it wasn't too long before we would see loads of progress!)
There was another child who despised school. Reading was his least favorite class. He struggled to read at a beginning kindergarten level, even though he was in third grade.
One day my classroom lesson for the third grade kiddos was focused on the pumpkins we were growing from seeds. We started the seeds in small containers in the classroom, and began daily noting any changes. To do this we used observation, drawings and writings. I'd found an old set of encyclopedias, that were being tossed out, and decided to incorporate topics from them into the lesson. I also let the kids take the encyclopedias home when we finished.
The next day my young friend is super excited. According to him I taught him something wonderful! I did what? I wondered. Then slowly I began to realize. That evening, at home with the 'A' encyclopedia I'd given him, he had started reading. I hadn't taught him, he'd taught himself. I can guess that feeling comfortable with the book, after using it in the classroom with his journaling about the pumpkin, he'd gained some confidence.
From that day on I found magazines, books and interesting material for him. These may not have been the public school text books, but he was reading about things he found interesting.
There are more stories about the challenges of kids with special needs. Along the way I thought I was doing a fairly good job of helping my students. I thought we were making great progress. But one day everything changed.
The atmosphere was different that day. I couldn't put my finger on it but something was different.
2 comments:
Nice post, Cathy. You sound like a teacher who really cares and tries to meet kids at their own level. Few (whether lay or professional) that Tourette's, ADHD, etc. rarely occur alone. Most sufferers have at least two such disorders and many times 3 or 4.
Thanks, too, for listening to parents. Yes, there are some who are hostile or overly defensive, but most try hard and do know their kids pretty well.
Thank you, Mike. I agree that many of these disorders rarely occur alone.
I've loved working with the parents of my students. Even today 10 years after these events that I'm writing about took place, I'm still in regular contact with many of the parents from that school!
Thanks for your response and thanks for reading my blog!
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