(no subject)

[sagesaria]

My Child Development group has just been thwacked by a Clue-by-Four. Finally.

An is one of the quietest kids in the class, next to R, and I've noticed that we have to repeat questions and directions several times before he responds. He's gotten better about this, but he still has a problem with it. I figured I knew the problem, and even if I didn't I had to go with it, so I've been very patient with him. But my group decides instead to make fun of what they don't understand. This has been corrected:

Masaweh: OMG, An is so stoopid!
Jessica: Oh, I *know!*
Class Aid: Uh, guys?
Jessica: You talk to him, and he just stares at you!
Class Aid: Guys!
Masaweh: I know! He's so dumb!
Class Aid: GUYS!!! He doesn't speak English!!
Masaweh and Jessica: o_o oh...

Of course, by now a few words have made it into his vocabulary, but he still has a lot of trouble. When I first noticed his silence, I figured it was shyness, but after a few weeks noticing that he needed things repeated, I assumed that it was because he had no clue what we were saying to him; Mrs. Mangene *did* warn us that some of our kids were foreign.

That's your lesson for the day; if you don't know, don't assume. No wait, scratch that...if you don't know, you may make *logical* assumptions, just don't display them as truth and do nothing else about it.

Comments

[maugorn.livejournal.com]

The same symptoms will present if the child has a problem hearing.

Teachers are on the front line for noticing these things and the earlier the intervention the more likely it is to become a small factor instead of a major hurdle that leaves the child behind and struggling.

Good call.
Also...
Make *sure* you share these obervations with your classmates and your teachers as soon as you notice them.

[dmk.livejournal.com]

Good catch! You're very observant.

[lysystratae.livejournal.com]

My first assumption would have been that he had hearing problems like my nephew (he was born with some correctable hearing problem, but his asshole parents were too busy to get it fixed. He was 4 before he stopped speaking in what sounded like Chinese - because that's what the rest of us sounded like to him)... still wouldn't have made fun of the little guy, tho. Sounds like some members of your group need to be transferred to something else... oh, wait, they can just become Virginia teachers - none of them have a clue how to deal with kids, either.