Finding the Potential continued…
Joanne: He was rude, obnoxious, pushy, mean, and had no filter on his mouth. He had a horrible habit of making negative comments, using the “r” word about my students. He would greet staff with a daily “F—you” each morning.
I decided to take him on as his primary staff member, which I had never done in my whole career.
I forced myself to see him as someone who wanted to learn—my job was to figure out how to dissolve the obstacles.
Not only is he challenged with developmental delays, but he also faces difficult home circumstances as well. Plus now he’s thirteen going on 14, which has its own set of issues.
He’s 13, has a beautiful smile and would hook you in a minute. But he has a very angry soul.
He was petrified of reading because of constant comparisons over the years to peers.
Same with math—I could see that we needed to go in a different direction with both of these subjects.
If you’re 14 and at this school, not only do we teach you academic skills, but we teach the skills you are going to need in the community.
We learned he responds positively to rewards and goals. We had to start very small, with him and a staff in his own room, and maybe the goal for that day was to do a math worksheet, or to greet someone politely.
Today I am happy to report that he can work with four different staff members and greets non-school staff by name.
His reading and math are taught through the medium of woodworking instruction. He has to read directions and measure. If he cuts it wrong, he has to do it again. I buy cheap wood at Menard’s.
He can build you a bench for your deck or a table for your office. He can put together an Adirondack chair from a kit in an hour. He built a table for our fundraising auction.
Recently, we had to go to an appointment where he knew he would have to wait. He asked “May I take a book with?”
It’s taken patience, the willingness to back up, try again and being able to really think through things in a non-linear way.
I see a future for this child.
The longer you work for an agency like Laura Baker, you lose the awareness, you forget where the growth is. We see only the individual and their capabilities. The worst thing someone can say to me is “You’re so special”, because then I am separate from the community I am a part of that created the solution. I don’t feel special, I just like doing my job well.
The other day, he overheard me discussing another student’s application to become a permanent resident on campus here. The next day he said to me: “I think I should apply to live here when I’m 16 too. This is a good place for me.”
