The majority of my experiences with people with disabilities took place in elementary school. In 1st grade I had a friend with Spina Bifida. Her back had a large hump on it and the many surgeries she had never fixed it, but they did make her taller. I remember my classmates thinking she was "weird" for eating a cold, uncooked hot dog and drinking strawberry milk every day for lunch in the school cafeteria. She may have been different, but she sure did have a positive attitude, and she was known for her great sense of humor! For her birthday party at her house we swam in the pool and she had to float in an inner tube - I remember being sad that she couldn't swim around freely like the rest of us. For my birthday she got me my very first diary, which I still have. She sparked an interest in writing in me, and I have close to 20 full journals now from when I was growing up. We slowly grew apart. In high school I remember she had to pull an oxygen tank around with her wherever she went. Sadly, she did not live long enough to graduate, but her family thought it was a miracle that she made it that long since doctors thought she was going to die as a baby.
In 5th grade there was a boy in my class who had autism or Asberger's (?) that lived in my neighborhood. One day after school I got off the bus and walked to his house to see if he wanted to come over and play, so he did. He was obsessed with insects so I think we watched A Bug's Life. When I walked him home his mom answered the door and started crying from happiness because no one had ever invited her son over to play before. It made me sad too - I couldn't even count all the times neighborhood kids came over asking to play with my brother and I, and I wouldn't want it any other way.
In high school my boyfriend had ADD and took Adderall or Ritalin for it, which made him a completely different person when he was drugged unfortunately. It made him really quiet, took away his appetite, and made him seem tired and sad. He was just not himself when he took his medicine - no fun.
I don't know if the above experiences changed my perspective on teaching or not, but they definitely make me grateful for each day, and reinforced the lessons my parents taught me about including others, "the more the merrier," and the Golden Rule.
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I like your story about asking your neighbor over to play! A family friend had a son with aspergers and he was obsessed with bugs too. I stuck this strange ugly one right in my face and proceeded to tell me all about it. :)
ReplyDeleteThese are all good examples of different students we may have in a classroom. Was your boyfriend sleepy often while he was taking medication? That might change how one conducts a classroom. I know a lot of classrooms now have smart boards. The last time I saw one used was in an art room setting and the teacher used it for about 10 minutes. By the end of the 10 minutes, most students had their heads on the desk and when the lights came on, they all looked like they just rolled out of bed. When talking with the teacher later, he informed me that the students spend the majority of their school day sitting in the dark, learning off of these boards. This, to me, is frustrating and ridiculous. For students like your high school boyfriend or any student for that matter, this seems to be a very difficult classroom setting to learn in.
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