Dani's Story: A Journey From Neglect to Love by Diane Lierow, Bernie Lierow, Kay West Read Free Book Online
activity center, play with something, put it down, go to the blocks, put one in her mouth, put it down, go to another, pick up a ball, put it down, go over to a table, take a drink from a sippy cup, and drop it, which explained why it was tied to a leg of the table.
It didn’t seem like she even noticed us, although she looked at Garet and Ms. Perez when they called her name and let Garet give her a little hug. We said, “Hello, Danielle,” but she turned away and skittered off. She reminded me of Tigger from the Winnie the Pooh books, bouncing all over the place.
The sun around which this alternate universe revolved was Kevin O’Keefe. Tall and slim, soft-spoken and bearded, with kind eyes and a reserved manner, he offered a shy smile when we were introduced. He seemed a bit wary of us, but in hindsight, I know he was being protective of Danielle. He genuinely cared about all of his students and, as we found out later, keeps in touch with their families long after they leave his classroom.
Garet asked whether he and Ms. Perez could sit with Bernie and me and tell us about Danielle—what she did in the classroom, what she was learning to do, and what their goals for her were. Mr. O’Keefe told us about her need to move—something that was quite obvious already—and said that as long as she didn’t feel penned in or restrained, she was generally happy. He said that she came to the classroom drinking from a bottle and had progressed to the sippy cup. He laughed as he told us how many times they had chased that cup until an aide came up with the idea of tying the handle to the table leg. He said that she was making progress in learning not to take other people’s food. Note to self: Keep her away from Willie’s plate. He’s so small, he needs all the food he can get.
Mr. O’Keefe told us,
When Danielle came into my classroom last year, it was the first time she had ever been in a school setting or any kind of classroom with other children. We were told she had never been to day care or Sunday School or any kind of program for children. The school year had already started, but she had to get her immunizations before she could enroll, since she never had any. In her evaluation for qualification for Exceptional Student Evaluation, her primary exceptionality was noted to be profoundly mentally handicapped, so that’s how she came to be with me, and I was glad to have her.
At first, she was almost constantly very agitated, always moving. She was in constant motion. We tried to get her outside as much as possible, so she had lots of opportunity for movement.
She did have some severe emotional outbursts. The first time we saw one, we thought there was something terribly wrong with her or that something had happened, so we called the foster mother, and she just said, No, that’s how she handles her emotions.
She really wanted to eat, that was one of the first things I noticed about her. Anything she could put her hands on. We had to be very watchful because whatever was around her, she would put in her mouth. She would take other children’s food, whatever was within her reach. It took a long time to get her to stop that. She ate with her hands and would just grab food and push it all into her mouth.
The first time I took her out, she didn’t know how to climb the steps to get up to the playground. We really had to assist her. We went over to the slide and helped her get up the first time, and she had no fear of going down the slide. She loved it and did it again. She picked it up very quickly, and that was surprising to me. I thought that showed a higher level of intelligence than we previously thought, in that she did pick it up so quickly.
She also developed good balancing skills. As you can see, there are children in my room lying on mats, and she was able to walk around them without losing her balance or disturbing them, which many of my children can’t do. She likes to
It didn’t seem like she even noticed us, although she looked at Garet and Ms. Perez when they called her name and let Garet give her a little hug. We said, “Hello, Danielle,” but she turned away and skittered off. She reminded me of Tigger from the Winnie the Pooh books, bouncing all over the place.
The sun around which this alternate universe revolved was Kevin O’Keefe. Tall and slim, soft-spoken and bearded, with kind eyes and a reserved manner, he offered a shy smile when we were introduced. He seemed a bit wary of us, but in hindsight, I know he was being protective of Danielle. He genuinely cared about all of his students and, as we found out later, keeps in touch with their families long after they leave his classroom.
Garet asked whether he and Ms. Perez could sit with Bernie and me and tell us about Danielle—what she did in the classroom, what she was learning to do, and what their goals for her were. Mr. O’Keefe told us about her need to move—something that was quite obvious already—and said that as long as she didn’t feel penned in or restrained, she was generally happy. He said that she came to the classroom drinking from a bottle and had progressed to the sippy cup. He laughed as he told us how many times they had chased that cup until an aide came up with the idea of tying the handle to the table leg. He said that she was making progress in learning not to take other people’s food. Note to self: Keep her away from Willie’s plate. He’s so small, he needs all the food he can get.
Mr. O’Keefe told us,
When Danielle came into my classroom last year, it was the first time she had ever been in a school setting or any kind of classroom with other children. We were told she had never been to day care or Sunday School or any kind of program for children. The school year had already started, but she had to get her immunizations before she could enroll, since she never had any. In her evaluation for qualification for Exceptional Student Evaluation, her primary exceptionality was noted to be profoundly mentally handicapped, so that’s how she came to be with me, and I was glad to have her.
At first, she was almost constantly very agitated, always moving. She was in constant motion. We tried to get her outside as much as possible, so she had lots of opportunity for movement.
She did have some severe emotional outbursts. The first time we saw one, we thought there was something terribly wrong with her or that something had happened, so we called the foster mother, and she just said, No, that’s how she handles her emotions.
She really wanted to eat, that was one of the first things I noticed about her. Anything she could put her hands on. We had to be very watchful because whatever was around her, she would put in her mouth. She would take other children’s food, whatever was within her reach. It took a long time to get her to stop that. She ate with her hands and would just grab food and push it all into her mouth.
The first time I took her out, she didn’t know how to climb the steps to get up to the playground. We really had to assist her. We went over to the slide and helped her get up the first time, and she had no fear of going down the slide. She loved it and did it again. She picked it up very quickly, and that was surprising to me. I thought that showed a higher level of intelligence than we previously thought, in that she did pick it up so quickly.
She also developed good balancing skills. As you can see, there are children in my room lying on mats, and she was able to walk around them without losing her balance or disturbing them, which many of my children can’t do. She likes to
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