SPED

I taught a middle school Special Education class today - labeled SPED DCD which I think stands for developmental and cognitive disability. I had three students, two paraprofessionals, and a parent in the room.

I've taught SPED before and it's humbling. The classroom is set up like a pre-school, where students are practicing identifying/remembering days of the week, months, numbers, and letters. Everything is a learning activity, from eating to playing games. We were playing "Chutes and Ladders" and the several large tasks we were working on was a) remembering which game piece was ours, and b) remembering whose turn it was.

Time is slowed down as we run on different schedules and allow plenty of time for students to accomplish, or not accomplish the most basic of tasks. All three students were non-verbal, but two could communicate with pointing, pictures and minimal sign language (as long as the fine motor skill wasn't too intricate). The third student was wheelchair bound, having no muscle control whatsoever, communicating with very subtle eye movements - but even these were delayed. Her mother attended to her, suctioning her mouth when she coughed, hooking up the feeding tube, and changing her if needed. The students were teenagers.

The world of disabilities is its own small community, and when I'm in this community, I start feel more aware of the small things, daily events and tasks that I've taken for granted.