Running Miracle
@Jon2071 (256)
United States
March 30, 2017 5:49pm CST
About a year and a half ago I began working as a instructor in an ESE IND Classroom (children with intellectual disabilities). I admit my first couple of months on the job was absolutely miserable. At the beginning I had 13 students in my class, which may not seem like a lot, but if you understood their behavior you'd see that it was an overwhelming handful. There was one particular student which would have been enough to keep my busy all the time all by himself. This student has Down Syndrome and I would like to share a little bit of his story.
First, he is a running miracle because he had some serious health issues when he was born and there was some doubt that he would pull through. Obviously he did and now he is a running miracle.
The reason I say a "running" miracle is because when I first started working with him he ran places more than he walked. He was a huge challenge for me. He ran around the classroom, went under the desks and would not sit still to do his work. Sometimes he would even run out of the classroom and I had to chase him around the school campus.
I had gone to college to become a teacher, but nothing in my training prepared for me the workout he was going to give me. None of my college learned strategies worked on him. He was a huge behavior problem and I could not figure out how I could maintain order in the classroom as long as he was in it.
Well, a year and a half has past since I first met this little man. He is now 7 years old and due to maturing and some other factors, he has calmed down and has made a wonderful transformation. He can read some now (when I met him he was still learning his letters) and has started doing some double digit addition. He is still below grade level, but he has made such progress with his behavior and academically that I feel amazed and proud of him. Do I take credit? No, because it was up to him to actually do the work...and with a lot of ups and downs along the way, he has done it. Every month each classroom is suppose to name a student as their student of the month. This month I am giving the award to the student I just described. We are very proud of him.
I just thought you all might like to hear about my running miracle who continues to amaze.
4 people like this
5 responses
@Happy2BeMe (99380)
• Canada
31 Mar 17
It is wonderful what you do. My sister does the same job and really enjoys it. It is very awarding to make a difference in a child's life. Sounds like you are doing that with this young boy.
2 people like this
@Happy2BeMe (99380)
• Canada
31 Mar 17
@Jon2071 She has been doing it for a lot of years. She prefers to work with the high school kids though.
@shivamani10 (11035)
• Hyderabad, India
31 Mar 17
you should know that by dong such activities he slowly calmed down his emotions and became settled in his emotions. Sometimes, others take them for mischief. But it is not true.
1 person likes this
@Jon2071 (256)
• United States
31 Mar 17
I understood that a lot of what he did was uncontrollable for him and some of his actions were due to his disability, but at the same time I had to manage the rest of the classroom which was difficult. Fortunately, after two months they split my classroom and created another unit, leaving me with 5 students which was much more manageable.
1 person likes this
@thislittlepennyearns (62997)
• Defuniak Springs, Florida
5 Apr 17
I had a niece who was diaganosed autistic. It ended up it was brain tumor that was pressing on certain part of her brain that caused many of her actions and ways of going about things to make it appear she was Autistic, and the eight years she was alive I worked very closely with her and other special needs kids, so I loved this story.
1 person likes this
@Jon2071 (256)
• United States
5 Apr 17
Thank you for sharing your story. I'm so sorry that you lost her. These kids really have a way of stealing your heart, don't they?
@thislittlepennyearns (62997)
• Defuniak Springs, Florida
5 Apr 17
@Jon2071 I'm thankful for the eight years I got with her. But yes you're right, they so do.
1 person likes this
@Jon2071 (256)
• United States
5 Apr 17
@thislittlepennyearns When I first started working with this young man he gave me so much trouble that I was looking forward to sending him on his way and not being responsible to work with him anymore. At this point, I know that when he or I move on that I am going to stay in contact and see how his life turns out.
@ponderingoe (51)
• United States
31 Mar 17
Sounds like the running miracle has made good progress in the year and a half that you've worked with him! Yes, he gets credit for doing the work, but you also should take some of the credit, as well. I'm sure other teachers would've turned tail and ran for the hills, the way it sounds like it started out! But, you have "stuck it out" with him, and I'm sure that has helped him, if for no other reason than that you provided stability for him. It would have been much harder for him, had he had to keep getting used to new teachers all the time. I'm sure you have done more than just provide stability for him, as I'm sure your teaching skills have also played a role. You work with people with disabilities when they are children; I have them when they're adults. The people I work with are used to having their staff come and go all the time, so sometimes they are afraid to get too close to the staff - they just up and quit anyhow! I, as well as others who are dedicated to the job we do, recognize that they need stability, and people they can count on to be there for them. So yes, your little running miracle does deserve a tremendous amount of credit for the strides he has made, but save some of it for yourself, too!
1 person likes this
