Experience
with a young child with multiple disabilities.
1.
The disabled individual.
·
Maria.
·
9 years
old
·
Female
·
Parents
socio-economic status qualifies Maria for free lunch and breakfast.
·
Maria’s
behavior was exceptional, she engaged nearly every person she met on our walk,
she also perceived and focused on objects that I had not noticed until I started
trying to figure out just what it was that Maria was staring at. She has
orthopedic impairments, mental retardation, and almost no speech. Never the less
she displays a strong capacity to communicate her interest, and distaste.
·
Maria’s
educational background. She spends most of her time in the multiple handicapped
room [MHR]. However, during the regular school day she goes to art and music
with children her own age. Staff in the department say she gets excited everyday
when it is time for her to venture out. In the MHR she works on gross and fine
motor skills, as well as special reasoning. She is served by a speech therapist.
·
Maria is
part of the multiple handicapped wing of the school where at I teach, Crespo
Elementary. She is one of the brightest lights on the entire campus. She
encountered me as much as I encountered her.
2.
The interaction
I
chose to take a walk with her to a park, use the swings then lunch. Before we
left for the park, I looked at her IEP and talked to the head of the MHR. Ms.
Bisset related the incredible progress Maria had made in the two years she had
been in the program. When she entered, she could not sit up by herself much less
walk or move around by herself. However with the help of physical therapy and a
staff that believed in her, and all their children for that matter, she can now
walk with the aid of a wheeled walker. I was told that she loved to use the
special modified swings at the park, though at first she was terrified of them.
On
our way to the park, we passed a few classrooms with their doors closed. She
tried to go into each of them. Holding her walker with one hand and reaching for
the door with the other. I had to redirect her a few times and we carried on.
She would stop to examine things, not necessarily the common everyday things
like a kitten outside for the first time, but rather Maria seemed to have an eye
for what was out of place. At one point along the trip she stopped and looked up
and back over her right shoulder. After a while I realized that she was looking
at a florescent light bank in the ceiling, which had burned out and was emitting
a red laser like focused light. She just looked and then when I saw it and
commented on it she smiled, there may have been no correlation.
Maria
did quite well on the slope she had to maneuver. It was very slight, but
visually apparent. Also apparent was her excitement for a ride on the swings,
with the slope’s aid, she zoomed down and entered the park. As she was lifted
into the swing, which had the shape of a car-seat, she adjusted herself to the
back of the seat to get ready for lift-off. She smiled and laughed nearly the
entire time she was on the swing. A few times she had to be reminded to keep her
hands on the chains, it seemed that when she was reminded in Spanish, she
responded with more obvious direct action. Her parents speak Spanish in the
home, some of the staff at the school are bilingual which means she is directed
and stimulated in both languages throughout the day.
After
the swings she drove her walker around the small enclosed playground before
heading back inside for some eats. She ate strained baby food. Applesauce.
Afterwards it was time for her and some of the other students to continue their
toilet training. I did not enter the room, as I did not think it proper to
invade the privacy of these children.
It
would be presumptive to assume the outcome or impact this short period of time
together had a specific, significant, or lasting effect on Maria. However, all
children thrive when given love and attention, the givers receive in kind as
well. Possibly the most probable outcome is that in the future, Maria will see
one more person who knows who she is and who looks out for her. It has also
acted as a catalyst in that I plan to go back and continue building the
relationships, which have begun.
3.
Personal Reaction.
Initially
I was apprehensive about working directly with an individual who is
“different”, that soon gave way to the effervescent personality and beauty
of the child. Which is a concern in that had the child been less “cute” and
“happy” would I have been as easily engaged? I would like to think that I
would have. Interaction with her as well as others in the multiple disabilities
room affected the way in which I will think about the MD room. I want to set up
an ancillary period for them, or wheel a computer in, I want my kids to read
books to them, I want to invite them to our class. I want to stop using words
like “them” and start calling them by their names: Maria, Jose, Luis, and
Esperanza.
Working
with Maria on an every day basis would be equally rewarding as what I am doing
now. That is my belief, however I have little on which to base that. Living with
her every day would also be quite gratifying, however as the months and years
without a break piled up my opinion may develop some asterisks.
Maria
deserves to be treated as a child with potential, and abilities. She should be
included in the regular classroom as much as possible.
Society should give her the chance to become what she can without
automatic relegation to the unseen fringes of society.
This
experience has caused me to decide to allocate time and resources to Maria and
others like her at my school. This will in turn increase my comfort with
disabled people. I think I will increasingly see them as approachable and as
individuals.