Working with Students

What does all of this have to do with teaching, anyway?

Good question! Well, even though I've been talking about mental illness, I also want to address disorders and diseases that fall outside of that realm, because they have stigma too.

I'm going to tell you the story of how I had a girl with Asperger's Syndrome come to my class, and how I am ashamed at the way I initially judged her.

I teach informally at the Museum of Texas Tech, and for the year of 2011, I have taught a once-monthly art class aimed at children ages 12-18. I will be continuing it starting in February, and I am so happy to have had the experience. The kids are great, and they enjoy not being graded and being free to experiment with their projects.

In March, I had a girl show up whose behavior was... well, at the time I was very frustrated with her. Now, keep in mind that each month, different kids may come. I have a group of four, two girls and two boys, who come regularly, but the other students change. So the first time the girl in question came, I had to evaluate her on the spot, not knowing if she would continue to come to classes.

Something seemed different about her, but I couldn't figure out what. She was very blunt, and seemed to interrupt a lot and talk about things that didn't have anything to do with the lesson. She insisted on sitting by herself, even though that particular month I had maybe four students, and they could have shared a table. She didn't want to talk to any of them. She seemed irritable right off the bat. While I was explaining things to the other kids, she shuffled her feet and told me she was "bored already". That took me off guard.

Of course my knee-jerk reaction, in my head, was to think, "How rude!" But I gave her supplies and let her get started while I continued showing the other kids a more detailed example. (This was in March, so we would have been doing printmaking, but I can't remember which project right now. Either monotypes or collographs.)

I was thinking that there was no way she could have grasped the instructions so quickly, so I resigned myself to having to help her a lot. But she surprised me. She finished the project fast, but she also finished it correctly.

My classes are three hours long, so that the kids have plenty of time to make multiples and try new things. So I offered her more supplies, so she could try something new.

Nope. She didn't want them. She had completed the project, and that was that. So I asked if she wanted to do anything else. There were still two hours left in class, I didn't want her to just sit around while she waited for her mom.

So I went down the hall to the supply room to get her colored pencils and paper. The head of the education department, who also teaches our museum science education class, was in there working, and I must have had a look on my face, because she asked me what was wrong.

I couldn't help it. I word vomited all over the place, I was so frustrated. She concurred that it was an odd situation, and wondered what the kid's problem was.

The following Monday, I was at my other job. My boss at my other job has a son who is 12, and had also come to the class (he ended up being one of my regulars, which I was grateful for, because it helped to make me less nervous having a kid I knew in there). The girl had recognized her son and seemed on friendly terms with him, so I asked her if she knew what was up with the girl.

And she told me that she has Asperger's.

Oh my. Suddenly I felt so awful.

Turns out, the reason the girl was so friendly towards her son is because her son had stuck up for her in elementary school. Other kids thought she was weird and bullied her, and her son stood up to them and told them to leave her alone. After that she stuck by his side, until they were separated in junior high.

When I went back to work at TTU that week, I told my professor and the other staff what had happened. I wondered why her mom hadn't told me that her daughter had Asperger's, but then I realized, well, she had no idea what I would think of that. What if I was uncomfortable? What if I refused to each her? She may have thought that I would react negatively, which I completely understand.

We agreed that we would begin asking parents if there were any medical conditions we needed to be aware of when they called to register their kids for class. I don't know if her mother ever said anything, because I don't answer the phones, but after that, her mother thanked me for teaching her daughter.

People with Asperger's have difficulties with social interaction, which makes them seem odd to others. It is considered to be part of the autism spectrum, and autism definitely has its own stigma associated with it. People with Asperger's don't pick up on social cues well, and may have particular routines or habits that they prefer. They don't understand empathy. For example, this girl was very uncomfortable the first time she came because it was not in her routine. She preferred to sit alone so she didn't have to talk to the other kids.

And Asperger's, along with other disorders on the autism spectrum, along with depression and other mental illnesses, can be considered a disability, depending on how well the person functions.

This girl, oh, she is an amazing artist. I only have to show her something once and she gets it. And even though she usually only makes one piece, it's usually stunning. I haven't found a whole lot of media that she wants to try over and over, but I have noticed that more tactile things-- clay, for example-- keep her interest longer.

So I began being more patient, and trying to ask her lots of questions, to get her to talk more. She still won't sit with the other kids, but I have noticed that she talks more now, she seems more comfortable coming to class, and she is eager to be there. She gets impatient if I take too long explaining, because she has already understood the project, so I have learned to go ahead and set some things aside for her so that she can start when she's ready.

And the most amazing thing happened a few months ago.

She and her mom come to most of our programs at the museum, because we offer so many free things. One Saturday I was helping with something else, and they came by. Her mom told me, out of earshot, that her daughter told her that she wants to go to college now, and she wants to study art. And she thanked me for it.

I can't ask for a higher honor than for someone to tell me that.

So next time you have a kid with behavior you may interpret as a problem, take a deep breath, talk to them, try to understand what may be going on. I wonder now, would I have indeed reacted badly if her mom had told me right off the bat that her daughter has Asperger's? I am not formally educated on how to teach kids with Asperger's. I went to my counselor the following week and borrowed some books from her, because she does a lot of work with autistic children. I read everything I could find.

Most importantly, I learned patience.

I see a lot of educators who lack patience, even in museum settings. I cringe any time I see someone yell at a child. In my experience, that doesn't work. But patience, talking to them, trying to understand, that works.

I'm so glad this girl has been coming to class. I'm looking forward to February, when I'll start up again, and seeing what she and the other kids create.