Oak Ridge Experiences

As part of our internship prep requirement, we volunteer for 10 hours (2 hrs/week) at a special education school in Springville. The kids there vary from about 5 years to what looks like 15 or 16 and their functioning levels are about that broad. I've met a student who seems almost completely normal, and have worked with others who have severe mental problems. Last week I worked withe the medically fragile class (90% are on oxygen and they're all in wheelchairs). There was an adorable little girl I sat and played drums (using a ball and drum sticks) with. She looked like she was maybe Alexis' age (my niece who's 6) and had hands about as tiny as a two or three year old. I had been working mostly with older kids but to suddenly start working with kids similar to ones who I love so much in my family, it breaks my heart at times.
It's been hard adjusting and getting used to interacting with these kids, especially since I'm not there regularly but I love it. The school is comprised of 3 classes having 10 kids or less. The Principle there is awesome and really supports focusing on the kids abilities and not disabilities. I thought I'd just share a snipppet of my class journal that talked about some experiences I've had there.

When school first started on Monday, I was sitting at a table with a young boy who sat connecting blocks. I sort of zoned out since he wasn’t really interacting and was watching other things go on in the classroom. Then I felt his hand go in mine and he gave me two blocks. He motioned to me he wanted me to pull them apart as they were stuck. While he needing help seems simple, he could have gotten frustrated, given up or gave it to the other aide across the table. To me, this said “hey I want you to play with me”. He didn’t speak or make any noise but it was interesting to sit and have him play with my hands and then reach out to touch my curls. It’s really impossible to make the assumption that I connected with this boy the first day I ever worked with him. But I understand the idea of feeling like you have a connection with a child that doesn’t require words. Even though I’ll know a little bit of Romanian, I think that the relationships I form with the children there will be a lot like that. They won’t speak much, and neither will I. Non-verbal communication will be key.

We only have to accumulate 10hours and I've got 6 already= I only have 2 weeks left there. It's challenging and hard work, and it'll be hard to leave there, but it makes me even more excited for Romania!