I recently had to read Someone Else's Kids by Torey Hayden for my special education class and write a book report. It really touched me and I wanted to share a little excerpt of what I wrote.
"Lori
was her first student and arguably the student in which Hayden had
the most
connection.
She was in first grade and came into her class originally as a
resource student. Lori
was
struggling with reading, and after some research, Hayden had learned
that Lori experienced
a
traumatic brain injury from her abusive father, which left her unable
to learn and read on her
age-appropriate
developmental level. After being put up for adoption, Lori found a
new, loving
family
that cared for her and her twin sister, who did not receive as bad of
injury as Lori. Shortly
after
finding her new home, her adoptive mother died of cancer, leaving the
family heartbroken.
Through
all her struggles as such a young girl, Lori had the happiest spirit.
She was caring and
always
bubbly. She could always point out the bright side in any situation.
After so much
struggle
with her regular teacher and reading, Lori was exhausted in the
subject of reading.
Knowing
mentally that Lori might never read, it left Hayden with a battle
inside herself. She felt
conflicted
because of the pressure from the teacher and principal to make her
read, and still
having
to see first hand the emotional stress it was causing Lori.
That
afternoon when Lori ran into her classroom, saying “I brung you
something!", it
brought
a smile to Hayden's face. Looking at the picture Lori handed her, it
was a drawing of a
blue
bird with black wings and yellow legs. While it was abstract and not
perfect, she could still
tell
that the bird was happy. Lori exclaimed to Hayden that it was the
best picture she had ever
drawn
and that she used her favorite crayons. She explained that she stayed
inside the lines and
that
it was the best thing she had ever done. Lori then explained that it
wasn't as good as a
photograph
and no matter how hard she tried, it wasn't perfect. After Hayden
reassured her that it
was
beautiful just the way it was, Lori corrected her. “No, no, that's
not what I'm saying. It isn't
right
because that wasn't the way I wanted to draw it. It wasn't perfect,
like I wanted it to
be...What
I was thinking was that it is
perfect. Not the part you see but what's inside you. In my
head,
I could see this bird perfect...and that's sort of enough for me to
like this picture even
though
it isn't really very perfect. Because...I know
it could be....Things never really are perfect”
She
said “But inside you, you can always see them perfect, if you try.
That makes things
beautiful
to me.” (154-155).
What
Lori said is a very important life lesson that everyone needs to hear
at some point in
their
lives because often, as human beings, we tend to lack the ability to
see things from a
different
perspective. When I think about becoming a Special Education Teacher,
I want to be
reminded
of what sweet Lori had said that day. In all aspects of life, things
are not perfect. No
matter
how hard you can try, sometimes it just doesn't go the way you
wanted. It doesn't always
go
your way and it doesn't always turn out the way you planned, but
there is beauty in that. There
is
beauty in this imperfect world and despite all the negativity, the
badness, the pain and the
suffering,
there is still beauty. There can still be happiness and joy. Life is
still beautiful. All you
have
to do is look. And as a teacher, it's my job to find it."
