To Know Him Is To Love Him

I have a soft spot for Mikey (*name is changed) now but it wasn't the way I felt on his first day of school in my kindergarten class. He almost immediately went to and under the art table, rocking, and making a terrible sobbing noise. And that's where he stayed until his mother was called and arrived to pick him up. She explained to me apologetically that his dad and she had just started dating and he was only slightly younger than his "step-sister" so they'd like him to be in the same class as her and they were certain that was the cause for this "unexpected" behavior. Well, it soon became clear that it wasn't because he was slightly younger. It was because Mikey was autistic. But no one said that and no one suggested that. Being a first-year teacher in a small Christian school where every student counted, didn't help matters. Finally after two sporadic weeks of attendance and performance, it was finally decided that Mikey would wait a year. Fortunately for Mikey, they waited two years, during which time he received more specialized attention through the local SPARC program.

By then I was teaching a 2nd grade and Mikey once again became a student in my classroom. He loved his "vids". He wrote everything in all capitals with no spacing between words. He self-soothed by rubbing his earlobes and flapping his arms. He taught a class full of self-centered 2nd graders how to be empathetic. And he taught me that not every child is smart in the exact same way.

The class taught Mikey that not everyone understood where he was coming from and that some explanation was helpful, not because they were being judgmental. They taught Mikey how to play hopscotch and shoot the basketball during recess. They taught Mikey how to make jokes and enjoy it when people laughed. And they taught Mikey how to want to be part of his peer-group.

It was a year that we all learned something about each other and ourselves. So, it is with a mother's pride that I watch Mikey visit the library on occasion. You see, Mikey is an eighth grader now and he makes eye-contact and greets me with his little crooked grin. He's learned so much and I'm looking forward to everything he has yet to learn in life. I think he's ready.

We just finished watching a great movie called, Temple Grandin as this movie explores autism and some of the special people who have become spokespersons for this disorder. It was sad, funny, and above all, inspiring. It is to be celebrated!