Just got home from visiting Javy's next school, middle school. I am so glad that they allowed us to go visit. I went with Javy's SPED teacher, one of his Aides, and all the other fifth graders who were transitioning, too. It's great to have the old teacher and aide share their experiences with the new ones. And for allowing me to be there, as well. It alleviated any fears that I had about Javy being with older kids, everyone was so friendly. A lot of the older kids were saying, "Hi Javy!" because they remembered him from Kekaha. I know that everything will be fine.
The only issue I have, and only time can heal this issue, is that its always hard to hear new people talk about Javy. They're nervous about having Javy in their classroom. Listening to them talk, I'm thinking, "Why are you scared? It's Javy, he's cool! Don't worry about it." (I even showed them the picture of Javy surfing.) But then I think about it, I can't take it personally. Imagine having to take care of a nonverbal, non-ambulatory child, you'd never met. Okay, it would be kind of nerve wracking! I was thinking about this the other night when me and Javy were doing our bedtime rituals. I went to lay beside him to tell him a story and he got all excited. When I started telling him a story that I was making up in my head, it was boring to him (it was something about a boy named Javy swimming with honus). His demeanor immediately changed and he gave me this look and grunted disapprovingly. I went to get his ipad and I showed him the pictures of him surfing-primal scream at the top of his lungs, his sound of delight. So I went through the pictures and when I got to the ones not related to surfing, he went back to the disapproving grunts. I'm pretty good at reading his face and his verbal cues-the tones and pitches and what they mean. But I know there's so much more that I'm not getting so its hard even for me and my mom. It occurred to me then, how do I explain this to another person?
His old teacher, who I'm sure will cry when Javy leaves her classroom, told me that she was so nervous when she found out Javy would be in her classroom. She prayed. Then she confessed that she believes that God was testing her, because it turned out that Javy has blessed her life, tremendously. She also confessed that she was nervous about me, too. Apparently, some SPED moms are worse than dance moms. They're like bridezillas- always being demanding and always blaming the teachers for everything. But I ended up being really cool and supportive. I know that Javy's middles school teacher will be really good, too. No worries!
The only issue I have, and only time can heal this issue, is that its always hard to hear new people talk about Javy. They're nervous about having Javy in their classroom. Listening to them talk, I'm thinking, "Why are you scared? It's Javy, he's cool! Don't worry about it." (I even showed them the picture of Javy surfing.) But then I think about it, I can't take it personally. Imagine having to take care of a nonverbal, non-ambulatory child, you'd never met. Okay, it would be kind of nerve wracking! I was thinking about this the other night when me and Javy were doing our bedtime rituals. I went to lay beside him to tell him a story and he got all excited. When I started telling him a story that I was making up in my head, it was boring to him (it was something about a boy named Javy swimming with honus). His demeanor immediately changed and he gave me this look and grunted disapprovingly. I went to get his ipad and I showed him the pictures of him surfing-primal scream at the top of his lungs, his sound of delight. So I went through the pictures and when I got to the ones not related to surfing, he went back to the disapproving grunts. I'm pretty good at reading his face and his verbal cues-the tones and pitches and what they mean. But I know there's so much more that I'm not getting so its hard even for me and my mom. It occurred to me then, how do I explain this to another person?
His old teacher, who I'm sure will cry when Javy leaves her classroom, told me that she was so nervous when she found out Javy would be in her classroom. She prayed. Then she confessed that she believes that God was testing her, because it turned out that Javy has blessed her life, tremendously. She also confessed that she was nervous about me, too. Apparently, some SPED moms are worse than dance moms. They're like bridezillas- always being demanding and always blaming the teachers for everything. But I ended up being really cool and supportive. I know that Javy's middles school teacher will be really good, too. No worries!
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