Teacher and student surprise each other

Guest blog by Stephanie Shaw
Low Incidence Support Teacher, Wake County Public Schools

Last year our district enrolled an autistic student from another state. This student (who I will call John) arrived with an individual education plan (IEP) that described aggressive behaviors and a boy with no communication system. To be specific John would bite and latch on. He had injured staff and students in his previous school district. His program was so restrictive that they provided two behavior assistants. The staff who worked with John wore Kevlar sleeves to limit the damage if John did bite.

Developing a program for John required creativity on the part of our district. We needed to find a classroom and a teacher. We have a team of home/hospital teachers and it was determined that one of them would be John’s teacher. The selected teacher was unhappy and scared about her new assignment.

Our district provided comparable services — 2 extra adult assistants and Kevlar sleeves for all staff. Surprisingly, John made a successful transition. He tried to bite on a few occasions but the staff was prepared and no one was injured. The teacher ably taught John to use a visual communication system, which alleviated some of his frustrations. After 3 months the district was able to remove one of the assistants.

Another surprise was that the teacher became fond of John. She discovered and talked often of his sense of humor and intelligence. Now that he was learning to communicate, he was also able to participate in more academic activities. The teacher enjoyed teaching John far more than she ever thought she would.

This is a good example of a teacher’s courage. Although she was afraid and did not want to teach John she put on her Kevlar sleeves, did what was right and taught him. Along the way she grew to like him, and she successfully taught him to communicate.

At the end of the school year she called me and told me I was right when she didn’t want to teach John and I had said to her, “This is an opportunity for professional growth.”