Kathleen wrote:
> So yesterday I accepted an assignment with an LD class at one of our
> high schools. I do LD all the time but I'd never been with this
> particular group at this particular school.
>
> Turns out these kids were pretty severely affected. And it was field
> trip/career training day. We went to the Dollar General store and
> stocked shelves. I was paired with a little bitty asian girl with
> Down's. She was an absolute riot. She did the lower shelves and when
> we got to the upper levels that she couldn't reach, I had her toss me
> the packages to be placed, which she thought was the most fun ever. It
> got to be a contest, with her hurling packages and me catching and
> stacking and stacking as fast as I could. I cried "uncle" when I turned
> around to find her holding 4 six-packs of Charmin with a wicked little
> grin on her face.
>
> Then it was on to a Chinese restaurant further down the strip mall. For
> lunch, I was paired with a different girl, who insisted she didn't want
> chinese food, she wanted chicken nuggets with ketchup and sulked when
> she was denied.
>
> So we ordered sweet and sour chicken for her, with white rice, a crab
> rangoon and the sauce on the side. She ate the rice willingly enough,
> asked for more because she was still hungry, but balked at the chicken.
> It didn't look like chicken nuggets. I told her it was because they
> were chinese McNuggets and convinced her to cut one open with her fork
> and look at and smell it.
>
> She did, and exclaimed, "Hey, there's chicken in there!" She took a
> tiny, experimental nibble and said, "Oh! It's good!" She asked for
> ketchup and I told her to try the chinese ketchup in the bowl next to
> her plate.
>
> "OMIGOSH it's GOOD! How come you didn't say this was so good?"
>
> "Mandy, I told you you'd like it if you tried it."
>
> "Will you call my mom and tell her the name of this so she can get it
> for me some times? No, wait, you better call my dad. He's better at
> remembering stuff."
>
> It sounds like such a silly thing to be pleased about, getting a kid to
> try a new food. But some of these kids go beyond rigid in their
> preferences - we're talking downright brittle. You take your victories
> where you find them.
>
>
Kathleen, I shared your story with DH. He taught Special Education in a
middle school in New York City for 32 years. He got a chuckle out of the
story. He certainly understands your delight. When working with learning
disabled children there are a few moments like the one you experienced
that make it all worthwhile.

Bless you for what you do.

--
Janet Wilder
way-the-heck-south Texas
spelling doesn't count
but cooking does