I had worked at special school until I came to USA. I taught children who have some disabilities at kindergarten. They have difference congenital disabilities such as mental retardation, autism, and Dawns-syndrome. Most of children don’t have self-caring skills and speaking ability. They needs care and supports all day.
Every time school starts, my heart fluttered in anticipation. How would I spend time with them this year? What they needed from me? How could I help them? When I met them, I always had expectation as well as anxiety. First few days, they are afraid of school, so they didn’t want to separate from their mother and started crying every morning. However, after a few weeks, I realized that they are just children who want play, have fun, and be happy.
While I spend time with them, they became better a little by little. At those moments, another teachers and I felt excited and happy. However, they changed very slowly, so they needed a longer time and a lot of patience from us. When one child came to school, he always wore diaper because he missed critical time to develop bathroom skills. After 8 months of regular training, he was able to use bathroom and didn’t wear diaper anymore. Another child had a habit that he ate lots of food with his hands. In addition, he stole other child’s hood. As a result of 1 year training, he could use spoon with help and stop stilling food. I wrote about these changes in their behaviors and performance everyday, and then I discussed with their mother about that. Therefore, their mothers and I shared a lot of information about them.
Last week, I received one e-mail from a child’s mother. Her mail said that her daughter is healthier and became better at everyday activities. When I read this mail, I was very happy. Now, I so miss them, and I hope they always have happy days and continue to get better. One more hope will be that they keep their pure smiling and laugh. I will remember them forever.
Every time school starts, my heart fluttered in anticipation. How would I spend time with them this year? What they needed from me? How could I help them? When I met them, I always had expectation as well as anxiety. First few days, they are afraid of school, so they didn’t want to separate from their mother and started crying every morning. However, after a few weeks, I realized that they are just children who want play, have fun, and be happy.
While I spend time with them, they became better a little by little. At those moments, another teachers and I felt excited and happy. However, they changed very slowly, so they needed a longer time and a lot of patience from us. When one child came to school, he always wore diaper because he missed critical time to develop bathroom skills. After 8 months of regular training, he was able to use bathroom and didn’t wear diaper anymore. Another child had a habit that he ate lots of food with his hands. In addition, he stole other child’s hood. As a result of 1 year training, he could use spoon with help and stop stilling food. I wrote about these changes in their behaviors and performance everyday, and then I discussed with their mother about that. Therefore, their mothers and I shared a lot of information about them.
Last week, I received one e-mail from a child’s mother. Her mail said that her daughter is healthier and became better at everyday activities. When I read this mail, I was very happy. Now, I so miss them, and I hope they always have happy days and continue to get better. One more hope will be that they keep their pure smiling and laugh. I will remember them forever.
1 comment:
Dear Hyoyun,
You have done remarkable work. I'm sure it was very rewarding as well as sometimes heart-breaking. You seem like a really dedicated person. Do you plan to continue this work in the future?
Thanks for writing and have a great day.
Michael
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