Testimonial
“I work as a student teacher in ‘special needs’ for four hours a week at a private catholic college in South Australia. Since the start of this year I have worked with a Year 8 boy who has trouble understanding ‘social norms’. For example when a child brushed past him in class one day he felt attacked so reacted by punching him back. Most of my work with him takes place in the classroom but once a week we go to a LAP room. One particular day, the student was very upset about me helping him. He was displaying anger, frustration, confusion and I wasn’t sure if this was because of me or if other stuff was going on. We made our way to the room, and I said we need to talk about this. He said he didn’t want to, that he was just ‘not happy’. On our way through, I found the packet of Reflexions cards that had been recently purchased by the school’s LAP coordinator. I brought these out onto the balcony and sitting together I opened them up and asked him to go through the cards and pick out all of the ones that represented how he was feeling. I was thinking, Gosh, he’s going to have so many that he picks. I’m sure he’ll pick angry, frustrated, disappointed, confused, sad, lonely, etc. To my surprise, he picked out only one card. It read ‘Different’. For 30 minutes we talked about the crux of his feelings. He hated feeling different to everyone else. I was both touched and amazed at how these simple cards had allowed this young man to convey his deepest feelings. It also opened up for us a space in which we could tackle some of the issues surrounding ‘difference’. I would never have suggested that he would be feeling that way, but on reflection it makes perfect sense. This also seems like an opportunity we may not have had otherwise.”
- Damien Vahlis, Secondary teacher, South Australia |
