Special Ed

Coming into first quarter of my senior year, I expected much of the same. But, I was proven wrong when I chose to take Special Needs Physical Education.

Before entering the class, I didn't know what to expect. "How do I talk to the kids?" "What if something goes wrong?" were a few questions going through my mind. But through the class, the important lesson of not judging a book by its cover definitely came through. On the contrary to my thinking prior to taking the class, the kids were all easy to talk to. And I quickly figured out that it was my job to find the right way in which to interact with the kids. For instance, with linny i I found that patience was a virtue. tori was probably the best behaved in the class, and I came ready for "Can I tell you something" or " where's coach?" and to me those questions make her the fun girl that she is.

One of my biggest challenges at first was how to talk to ronny. My first reaction was just to give him his space, because after all I didn't want to be hit today. But after spending more time with him, I began to enjoy it, always looking for a new way to make him laugh, whether it be "fart noises" or the finger snapping. And through, watching the day-to-day activities of the classroom, I found a new respect for the teachers: Marla, Judy, and "coach", and the other aids that help, I see now that the job isn't easy. I learned a lot through the class, and if possible would want to take it again, these kids really are all unique and fun.

The Class taught me a lot about special needs individuals. Like you said in the beginning of the class, "These kids are just like everyone else, they want to be told they look nice today, or asked how they are going". These kids are all have their good and bad days, but I know they are all good kids. And I would definitely say, that these kids brought just as much fun to me as I hopefully helped bring to them.

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