Story 1: I work with a student--we'll call him John--three afternoons a week after my preschoolers are gone for the day. He's a fourth grader, and has some fairly significant emotional needs that affect his ability to "do" school well. John not only struggles with schoolwork, but with his social relationships as well. "I hate school," he has said on more than one occasion. "Everything is boring. I have no friends. I have nothing to look forward to. School is torture!" He exaggerates his dislike of school for adult attention, but the truth is, school really is not something he looks forward to. We decided to create a "Circle of Friends" for John--he gave me some names of students he felt close to; students he could trust. Affirmed by his 4th grade teacher, four students and I began meeting this past Friday. Our goal is to spend 20 minutes of each Friday lunch break eating a snack, playing games, and chatting about life, and about how we can support John in the classroom as friends. John could not WAIT for Friday to roll around this past week! He spoke to me about nothing else, and as I went up to find the students for our "Lunch Bunch" on Friday, they were all running down to meet me, ready for the activity. We made popcorn with an air popper (exciting!!! (for 4th graders!), played Uno, and chatted about our families, what we like and don't like about school. We were actually late for class we were having so much fun! John ran past me later that day, gave me a high five, and said with a huge smile (something not often seen!): "This is the BEST DAY EVER!" I hope he has many, many more "Best Day Evers;" it was fun to be a part of this one.
Story 2: When I arrived at Tesoros de Dios this last Thursday, a group of doctors from Cincinnati was there as volunteers, working with various students in small groups. A group of speech therapists was working with Oliver, a student with cerebral palsy. Oliver has very little intelligible speech, and can't control the movement of his arms, so communication is basically impossible for him--he can't talk, write, or use most traditional communication devices that require touching a screen with his hand. The group, however, had devised a device (think of an ipad-like device on a low stand) for Oliver to use with his toes--he has somewhat more control of his toes than his hand. When I arrived, he was typing his name on a touch keyboard with his toes. It was a long, painstaking process. . .each letter took about 20 seconds. But when he was finished typing, he pressed "Habla" (Speak)--and a voice from the device said "Oliver" (with a fairly realistic Spanish accent!). You should have seen the smile on Oliver's face--possibly the first time in his life that he has been able to clearly "say" his name! He proceeded to type his middle name, his last name, the name of his brother. . .each letter typed more quickly than the last. He was exhausted when finished, but so proud of his new "voice." He'll be able to use this device in the school he attends, and hopefully with practice he'll get faster and faster in order to make it more realistic to use in the classroom. I'm so thankful for Tesoros de Dios and this group of doctors who donate this week each year serving our students in so many incredible ways! And so proud of Oliver, too!
No comments:
Post a Comment