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Lessons Learned in Silence
What I Learned from a Nonverbal Boy
Presuming that a nonspeaking child has nothing to say is like presuming that an adult without a car has nowhere to go.
Ellen Notbohm
For a moment, let’s go back to 1995, the start of my Senior Year. Little did I know that year would change my life and go well beyond what I learned in school. The lessons came from a classroom with students with severe disabilities, both physical and learning, one of them was a boy named Adam who had Spastic Quadriplegic Cerebral Palsy, and was Non-Verbal!
His smile spoke volumes, when he saw someone he knew, you always knew he was happy to see you and genuinely happy. He was twelve at the time.
There were also other kids in that classroom, including a young girl who tried to escape. She also had severe mental deficits, and worked like an eighteen month old. Although some of the kids were better off cognitively, they taught me patience and compassion as well.
“Don’t underestimate me. I know more than I say, I think more than I speak, and I notice more than you realize”.
-Anonymous
My memories of a particular teacher in that classroom aren’t as fond, she often seemed cold and distant, but now I realize that may have been exhaustion, working with kids who may have a shorter life span can be both rewarding and heart wrenching, and certainly exhausting.
Copyright ©️ Michelle R Kidwell
January.01.2024
