Friday, February 20, 2015

Overcoming A Disability


The boy was a special education student in high school, a little higher functioning than most, he spent his years in main stream classes team taught by a special education teacher and a main stream teacher. XZ (The special education teacher recognized his ability but her hands were tied by the main stream teacher)  The boy seemed to be off in space but always had the correct answer when the teacher questioned him.

The boy was unique in in this class of low functioning students.  He had a brain that worked well and worked constantly and he liked to solve problems in unconventional ways.  The methods, while correct, were not the ones in the solution manual and the main stream teacher was often confounded.  She couldn't follow his logic and disrespected him and his ingenious methods.  The main stream teacher did not like him because she was intimidated by his creativity.

Low and behold this main stream teacher went on to become chairman of the special education department. She no longer taught inclusion classes because she feared encountering students like this boy again and, as supervisor, she did not have to do this.

The boy, the one the special education supervisor did not like graduated high school and went on to college. He took classes  calculus and physics and Shakespeare and Chinese.  He studied with professors who liked creative thinkers.  He did well.  He is now studying engineering in a very prestigious university and will one day shine in his chose career.

This boy managed to overcome his inferior teacher, the one who never thought he would succeed,  the one who now leads the department whose goal it was to help him succeed.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hahaha. Good story!