2024 Author: Harry Day | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 15:43
The most basic problem for us as teachers appears when we try to force a special child to "walk in formation" - to carry out even a simple task, but certainly like everyone else. At the same time, we do not notice the catch in our methods. We sincerely try to find an approach to the child - we try to stimulate with praise, instead of punishment we limit pleasure, we offer a game form and various techniques tested by psychologists, etc. not that the method is bad or that the child is stumbling, it means that his brain is not able to learn the structure and function of this "structure" here and now.
A child may hate himself for not being able to do elementary things ("it's as easy as 2x2"), self-flagellation will intensify when the face of a coach, teacher or parent is upset. A feeling of deep frustration will lead to inappropriate and even aggressive behavior … But looking at an outwardly absolutely healthy and adequate child, few people will remember the fact that the brain has not yet put this manipulation (function, skill) into a puzzle. Speaking of puzzles!
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Imagine how you are an adult and smart putting together a picture puzzle (very simple, 60 elements). You get a beautiful drawing, but suddenly it becomes obvious that the 2 main elements are missing and you have no idea where they went. The support group praises you by stimulating you, and you are stumped because you really want to meet their expectations, but puzzles really no … Not realizing this, those around you start to get nervous, hurry you up - you get lost, think that you did something wrong, change other elements in places, combine, it turns out even worse, from confusion you may even forget what picture should be originally. The support group rushes to the rescue and invites you to turn on relaxing music, breathe, walk, get distracted, and of course you will collect everything again, but 2 main fragments will still be missing. You can do whatever you want and your support team can stimulate you in a wide variety of ways, from pleasures to threats, but if the puzzles are physically lacking, you will not change the situation in any way.
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Very often we consider the concept of "individual approach" as something that you just need to "find levers of influence on a particular child." In fact, an individual approach primarily involves the ability to discern the problem for which the child does not accept the generally accepted working algorithms. Until we see that the essence of the problem is in the missing 2 puzzles, all our attempts to adapt to the child will be pointless. The art of pedagogy consists in finding an "irreplaceable gap" to give an instrument for it substitutions … Something that can help a child learn a skill or perform a desired function while corrective work is underway. (How to replace the puzzle until it is found? In a real life situation, my son simply completed the missing element and substituted it).
When we talk about creating checklists for children with attention deficit, about the possibility of the hyperactive being authorized to get up during the lesson to water flowers, wipe the board or hand out notebooks, about the need for somatic contact for productive dialogue, etc., all these are the very temporary crutches, substitutes for missing elements that are needed for adequate self-perception and brain development. Without them, the picture will not work out in any way.
If you teach a child to "finish drawing" the missing and accept a picture with a "finished element", the child will definitely learn to substitute the necessary fragments as they are found (the brain will mature and the skill will be supplemented with the missing element automatically). Himself, without coercion and dancing songs around! But not today or even tomorrow, but in a year or two.
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In Elizar's puppet circle there were two children with disabilities - he and his girlfriend Zoe (ADD and ASD). Every six months the troupe summed up the training with new performances. When they rehearsed another fairy tale, my mother Zoya and I understood that our children would not be able to participate with others on an equal footing - there were complex texts, dialogues, intonations, techniques … but the teacher never came up to us to "whisper" about it. She always said that the work was in full swing, everyone was doing great. And of course we were worried that the children would somehow spoil the whole show. But on the day of the test performance, our artists were determined and responsible. The lights went out, a scene was played out in the foreground, little artists skillfully manipulated dolls, declared poems, demonstrated magical transformations, and from behind, throughout the entire performance, butterflies circled unearthly beauty in a rhythmic dance.
Butterflies! We have created special roles for our children in the play
Later, they had replicas, a year later Elizar was already performing synchronous techniques, after 3 years he could participate in productions with other children on an equal footing.
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I think each of us can remember some skills that were difficult for our children beyond their age. We were nervous, angry, upset, upset and spent a lot of energy to make up for everything "on time". But 2-3 years passed and everything worked out as if by itself. Of course, the fact that we did not let everything go by chance played a role, continued to attract the child and unobtrusively demonstrated the technique, but most importantly, we did not press and did not chase the tables of norms, allowed ourselves to calmly react when others compared the child with "already able" peers.
If we make a list of those skills that a child lacks by age today and just mentally give the opportunity to manifest these skills in 1-2-3 years, despite the criticism of others, it will become morally much easier, both for us and for the child. The world will become less prickly, and the child will not be so hopeless) You just need to wait until "all the missing puzzles are found", i.e. until the necessary functions mature in the brain. When we replace the fear of not working out with a delay, there is a lot of space and opportunity for love.
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