Summer School

Yesterday I started my second summer job...special ed summer school. It's only during the month of July, Monday-Thursday, 8-12 in the morning. There's a preschool section and an elementary section--I work in the elementary room, which is the room my mom works in during the school year. So, I already knew all the kids and what to expect for the most part. They can be so cute and sweet, but the next moment can be SO frustrating. Especially when you can tell they're deliberately testing you to see how far you'll let them go. Had to put one boy, Brad, in the "frog" position today...hands, knees, and head on the floor--hold him there till he's quiet, then count to 10 before you let him up--and then go right back to what you were trying to get him to do before. Brad is the kid my mom is with all day every day during school. I've seen her in action how she works with him, and of course I've heard lots of stories at home about what goes on at school, so I try to work with him the same way. He is SO stubborn, and he will defy you with a smile on his face. Argh! I'm not sure if he's been officially diagnosed...but we (the teachers/TAs) are pretty sure he was a drug baby...he has a lot of problems.

Another little boy is Austin, 5 years old or so. He's blind, and although he hasn't been diagnosed as autistic, he has some definite autistic tendencies. Which I know quite a bit about autism, because my mom worked with an autistic girl for 8 years, before she started working with Brad. But the blindness makes things so much more difficult. I feel so sorry for him! I can't imagine what it would be like--no sight, and so far no communication skills other than screaming/crying or smiling. And if he is autistic, that means there's the added element of lacking social skills.

And that's just two of the kids...there's also a boy and girl each with Down's syndrome, a girl with epilepsy, a boy who is "slow" and shows some autistic tendencies, and another girl and boy (I'm not sure what they're diagnosed with). It's a regular three-ring circus at times...and right now, there's only the teacher, me, and another TA. During the school year, there's several more adults in the room, because most of the kids have a one-on-one hired to work with them. (There's another boy with epilepsy in the room during the school year, he's not there this summer.)

Working with these kids makes me sooo thankful that my family is all "normal"!