More Day

Ms. M Cut up today in her class. The para informed me that she has been misbehaving quite a bit. I think half the time she has no idea what is going on so she compensates by being a little Hitler with the other children...and sometimes the adults, too.

I love visiting that class. Preschool and Kindergarten teachers have a knack for herding cats and it's fun to see them and their children in action.

I need to work on more letter writing template cards. I just finished some braille flash cards for Mr. J. He is really showing he understands a lot! When I was about to leave he wanted to go with me today. His teacher pretended to cry and he started smiling about that. Then she told him to show me to the door and he did just that! The whole room cheered. He was really ready to leave with me. His teacher told him that I will be back tomorrow.

He is showing me body parts on request as I ask if I can tickle them. He particularly likes having his tummy and neck tickled. Most of the time he will show them to me if I ask. I am going to make braille labels for the class and whole word flashcards because he is showing just how much he understands. His teacher, who was at such a loss when he arrived is now showing me how well he follows directions. She will ask him to throw away paper, find his best friend ( little girl in a wheelchair), line up for lunch, wash hands,etc. and he will do them. He still isn't talking, though.

What i have learned in 33 years is that children like him will sometimes talk up a blue streak one day when they are ready. Sometimes they do not. But we should never underestimate them or assume it is fruitless to teach certain things to them. That is why I am opting to make braille available to him.

Meanwhile, the BoxCutta, who has been MIA for two days was back in school today with a flash drive full of viruses. The new school interface and virus software in the network does not allow us to access erasing the bug. I have to warn his dad this evening in an email. His teacher is taking the flash home to scan it on his home computer and try to delete the bug.

I also went to Mr. B's school and he was sitting out at recess. He was so tired that he was resting by the para in a wheelchair. His legs get a little tired sometimes but he is ambulatory. When I came along to talk to him he found energy from somewhere and decided I should accompany him to the slide. I talked to his new teacher, whom he says he likes, but he misses his old teacher who just retired in the middle of October. I told her about the paper I brought for enlarging his work and that I would find more practice work for him.

He's another old soul--wanting me to come wrestle with him and a classmate. Finally a classmate came to get him to play, which I encouraged.

Mr. Hebrews is typing so well with one hand. I wish he could use a braille writer. I am making an Intellitools lesson to go with his ABC overlay for Intellikeys. He has had trouble with a few of the single letter whole words. Sometimes he can't recognize them unless I give him verbal dot clues like "What letter is dots 1, 3 and 4?" Then he knows its M which stands for "more."

I have given him a regular cane since he's walking straighter. He needs a much longer one since he likes to go fast and his CP has him hunched over. He knows the whole school but he needs more practice walking alone and using protective measures for that head. He loves going up and down the halls.

Yesterday he showed me he can get to three areas of the school without retracing back to the same spot. I asked him to take me to the cafeteria, the library and to my room. He remembered all three and went to each, one after the other. Then we listened to the buildings by going out to the middle of the playground to clap and here the sound bounce off the building. I spun him around a few times then told him to clap and listen to the building talk back. He pointed right to where the echo came from!

Tomorrow he is looking forward to a new toy I told him about for after he has completed some reading. We are to be observed by the principal tomorrow so I know he will do well.