Beads and Mayonnaise

One of the joys of my job is teaching special needs students.  Everyday I get the pleasure of challenging students with Autism, Cerebral Palsy, and Down Syndrome to experience new things.  In doing so, we have lots of trial and error, but we have so much fun!

This week we are working on stringing beads.  We are going to work up to making paper bead necklaces. Yeah, I’m well aware that it’s going to take a lot of planning and work, but I also know that it would be an awesome Mother’s Day present for someone special in the lives of these young adults.

So, Tuesday I decided that the best first step would be to just get them stringing wooden beads.  Learning how to string the beads and counting them into groups of 10.  As we worked we were talking as best we can.. and I told them I had a surprise for them.  That we were going to make something REALLY special!  In response, the boy with Down Syndrome said.. MAYONNAISE????  and was totally excited.  I said no, that we were going to make something else, but yes, I liked Mayonnaise too.  This boy happens to be on a mayonnaise kick and so everything is related to that! 

We continued counting and stringing beads until the end of class, but it got me thinking.. So often we (as teachers, members of society and so forth) feel sorry for people with special needs, but how refreshing to be able to enjoy life! The student’s that I meet everyday have enormous challenges in front of them, yet they face them with dignity and courage and passion for life! When was the last time you talked to someone that was passionate about Mayonnaise (well, besides Paula Dean?)

In contrast, I also teach more than 100 teenagers that are “normal” and of those I could easily say that 80 or more are disengaged with most of school.  The vast majority not only don’t “get” why they have to be there, they don’t get how fortunate they are.  Now please, don’t think I’m student bashing, because that’s not my purpose, but I have come to the realization that most students do not live life with dignity, courage or passion. More than that, not only do they not live it, they don’t even KNOW what they are missing!

So how do we teach these things?  We can’t with words.  We have to live it!  The hard thing is, we have to take the time to build relationships in order to do so. We have to choose to live passionate lives and allow ourselves to stand out and be different in order for others to see that there is another way.  As long as we just go about things business as usual we don’t have to worry about people thinking we might be different.. but if we live with gusto, all the sudden others think we are quirky at best.

In my self-reflecting tonight, I realize that after a dozen years teaching, coming from more than a handful of different school environments, teaching 13 different subjects, I can honestly say that my most treasured moments have been from connections with the “special” students.  Over the years I have taught everything from third grade special education, self-contained math to economics to high school seniors. I can say that I have seen every kind of student. And yet, the students that are considered “fringe” or “outsiders” have always found friendly space in my room.

So as I ponder the future and consider my present, I find myself wondering how to teach my students to live passionate lives.  I wonder how to connect with the students that are more concerned with fitting in and hiding their identities than they are with finding out who they were meant to be.  I wonder how to bridge art and special needs.  I wonder  how to show students that living passionately, while sometimes embarrassing, is so worth it!  For I don’t want to miss out on anymore mayonnaise moments!