What is seen first: the child or the problem?
In Michael's case working with a
special needs child the "professionals" were having a staff meeting.
Where they looking at the problem or the child? I don't know. When I look into
my professional life as a teacher when I'm faced with a child that needs extra
help do look at the child or the problem first. Many times teachers will focus
on the problem and not the strengths of a child. Teachers feel that they must
focus on the problem and find a solution. In Michael's case his family is
"honoring" the child. The child comes first.
I recently attended a workshop on
challenging behaviors. The first exercise we had to look at a picture of a
child smiling with a birthday crown on and were asked a few questions. One
question was very basic “What do we see?” I answered a happy child who looks as
if he’s celebrating his birthday. The next question was, “What is his
challenging behavior?” From a picture we couldn’t answer that question. This
child had autism. By looking at the picture we were able to see the child first.
When watching a video with a child showing his challenging behavior we all
focused on what the problem was. This workshop helped me to realize that in
order to help the child with a challenging behavior we must focus on the child
first and then work on the problem. In Michael’s case he learned to “honor” the
child because of the boy’s family.
Jasmine,
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your experience, I have a brother with special needs and he is my motivation. I enjoy hearing about others and their experience with special needs. I think people working with children or anyone with special needs need to focus their attention on the person and their needs while keeping their disability in mind. Not in a way where they use their disability to limit what they can and can't do, but know when and what areas they need help in because of their disability; for an example those with Autism. There is such a broad spectrum of Autism, but those with Aspergers, for an example, have a difficult time with emotions. A good goal for them would be practicing and learning through socializing scenarios where you teach them appropriate communication skills to help them learn how to socialize with others in all settings. Those working with people with special needs need to also keep in mind that they may work with individuals with the same disorder/disability, but every person is different. Thank you for sharing and allowing me to comment on your blog.
Hi Ashley,
ReplyDeleteAs human beings it is easy to look at the problem first, but as trained professionals we should be looking at the child. It is much easier to jump at the problem because 9 times out of 10, the problem is what's making the disruption in our classroom. We tend to label the child as "difficult" because the behavior is driving us crazy. What if the adult is the cause of the problem/behavior? What if it's the environment? Why do adults blame the child so quickly? Is the child acting out because of the home enviroment? These are all the things that we have to look at if we are true child advocates.