Grammys Corgi Country

The teacher that I told you about yesterday, worked with me for 7 years before she transferred to a school that was much closer to her home. She had asked for, and gotten a class of preschool aged children, and she worked with them for a few more years before retiring.

During the first 5 years that we worked together, we worked with children that had mild learning disabilities. Children with this type of problem are now given RSP (Resouce Specialist Program) classes while being included for part or most of the day in regular education classes. The last two years, we had children with more severe handicaps, such as autism, and other severe learning disabilities. We found that there was usually something that each child really liked to do, or eat, or play with, that we could use to stimulate their interest to complete the short learning tasks we would set up for them to help them achieve their IEP (Individual Educational Program) goals.

They, often, needed a lot of repetition to help them remember the basic facts that were the building blocks to the rest of the things they needed to learn. We found that many of our children’s parents had been given such little hope for the future abilities of their children, that they didn’t push them to try things. It was so much easier to just “do it for them…” than to take the time to teach them to do it themselves.

Also, many times, they seemed to believe that “since their child is unable to learn,” there is no way to teach them any kind of discipline or self-discipline. This makes them terrors to themselves, their families, and others. If the time is taken to teach them manners, then they will be able to be included in so many more activities, and to have friends, etc. It is so MUCH better for the child in the long run.

Our school district provided seminars for those of us that worked with Special Education Students, and they made it clear that one of the first things that we needed to do was to teach the children to follow rules and to learn to listen to directions… This was usually one of the first main goals in their IEP’s. This is the basis of any child being able to learn. We were taught that where a “normal” child (whatever that is…) might take 50 to 300 repetitions to learn something, it often took 1,000 to 3,000 or more repetitions for some of the special students to “get it.”

I think that working with computers and learning the basics of programming helped me to understand some of the ways of thinking I needed to have to teach and work with many of our students. With the OLD computers I learned on, when you were programming, you had to think through a project and then program, tiny step by tiny step, each part of what you wanted the computer to do. (Print “A”, now put in a space, etc.) Each step would lead to a new step, but if you forgot a step or got it wrong, then either the program stopped or it did something totally off the wall.

Most of us have brains that take fairly large leaps in putting together the information that we have taken in, to learn or figure out the problems that are set before us. Many handicaps have a tendency, in one way or another, to short circuit the leap, and/or slap it out of the air. Where you might think, “Ok, I want to get from here to there, and to do that I need to use these stepping stones,” some handicaps require that the person think, “I want to get over there. There is water here, and I can’t get wet. That rock looks like it might hold me, but can I reach it? I need to move this muscle this way to pick up my foot, but maybe I should try to find something like a stick to help me balance. Where is a stick? etc.”

With children with severe handicaps, you often have to model the action several times, then help them to do it with “hand over hand” help 5 to 100 + times, etc. In some cases it’s like programming their muscles to be able to do a specific job. ALL children learn, the question is just “how fast can they learn?” Patience, love, and lots of praise for each small step will go far in helping that child/person learn what you are working to teach them… and wouldn’t that actually be a good thing to remember in all of our interactions with others?

Show love, praise, and patience to those you come into contact with today and throughout this new year, and see how they react… (and maybe some more patience?…)

P.S. Today, I got my wedding ring back, and it is as good as new. It is so beautiful… Still, to me, the most beautiful ring I’ve ever seen! Thank you, God, for giving Hubby the money and thank you, Honey Bear, for doing such a special, wonderful thing for me!!!

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