The bu showed me a video this evening. It was of a savant, a rare condition in which people with developmental disorders have one or more areas of expertise, ability, or brilliance that are in contrast with the individual's overall limitations, who drew a 5 yard detailed panoramic picture of Rome. It was amazing. You have to see it.
Our society does not understand the world of those who are special. :) This is an amazing preview of how a savant adult can wow the world. Take a moment to watch him...
I have a soft spot for children with autism. When I was a college student I decided that I would try preschool for my practicum. I was a psychology major and this was one of the options for those in our course. I fell in love with the children from the first step I took into the classroom. It was amazing.
Then I graduated and decided I would become a preschool teacher. If you knew back when I myself used to be a student you would never have seen this coming. I was the worst student ever. My teachers had the hardest time with me. But in the end, this just made me appreciate them more.
In my first teaching job at a high end international preschool I used to be a shadow teacher for a highly functioning autistic child. He was 7 although at that time his mental age was probably around 3-4. He had trouble speaking and feeling skin sensations. You had to hold him tightly and brush his arms to calm him down. You had to speak to him the way you would speak to a 3 year old, you had to be more patient. It was hard. It was painful, I remember being sick one day and I was sitting with him and he stood up, walked to a far place and ran back towards me, I was so excited only to feel a remarkably heavy hand hit me right smack in the middle of my head. Working with Special Children had it's disadvantages, especially for the thin weak teachers like me. But what made me fall in love with teaching was the fact that one day, while waiting for his other classmates to come in...my little boy spoke his first full sentence on his own. It was amazing, I was nearly in tears. You see all your hardwork pay off and then everything you had to go through just melted away. All that mattered was that I was there, he was there and I helped him learn.
Sadly, I'm not teaching anymore although it is something I terribly miss. I miss my students who have made me fall in love with them. I miss my favorites who despite their naughtiness are the sweetest, smartest things God has ever put in this world. My only wish is that one day, everyone get to experience what it's like to live like a child. Carefree and innocent. :)
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