New Afternoon School
After much hemming and hawing and back and forth with our school district and long household debates about whether it was the right choice, L started a program for at our local public school for autistic kids. It's four days a week, for two hours a day. Not knowing what to tell her about it, I ended up telling her she was starting a new Afternoon School. She had gone to Afternoon School at her old preschool, so the concept was familiar.
On the first day, she marched in the door, looked around, and announced: "Hi, I'm L and this is my New Afternoon School." All the teachers swooned at her cuteness, which made me feel better about the place (appealing to my vanity about my children is always extremely effective.) I stuck around for a while to make sure she felt comfortable, and to make sure she didn't get lost in the shuffle of such a big program.
She was friendly and conversed with all the teachers. When each kid was introduced to her she would say, "Good name." The teachers kept asking me what she knew and didn't know, and I heard them murmering to each other about how smart she seemed. It wasn't clear to me that she belonged there at all.
L has sensory issues -- among other things, she is extremely sensitive to some noises, and will immediately plug her ears when she hears a baby or child crying near her. Obviously, this can present some problems in places like preschool. At her old school, sometimes the teachers would have to gently, but physically pry her fingers from her ears to get her attention.
When I arrived to pick her up from New Afternoon School one day this week, the teacher told me that one of the other children in the class had started crying near L and she reacted by immediately plugging her ears. The teacher took L and a little boy named Danny who also has sensory issues outside to get a break from the crying.
After she calmed down, L noticed that Danny had also been plugging his ears. "He's like me!" L told the teacher. I think this story was the best piece of news I had ever been delivered at preschool pickup time. I could only imagine what the moment felt like for her -- I imagine her thinking, "Finally! Someone who understands how fucking annoying a bunch of screaming kids is!"
Maybe she belongs there more than I had thought.
On the first day, she marched in the door, looked around, and announced: "Hi, I'm L and this is my New Afternoon School." All the teachers swooned at her cuteness, which made me feel better about the place (appealing to my vanity about my children is always extremely effective.) I stuck around for a while to make sure she felt comfortable, and to make sure she didn't get lost in the shuffle of such a big program.
She was friendly and conversed with all the teachers. When each kid was introduced to her she would say, "Good name." The teachers kept asking me what she knew and didn't know, and I heard them murmering to each other about how smart she seemed. It wasn't clear to me that she belonged there at all.
L has sensory issues -- among other things, she is extremely sensitive to some noises, and will immediately plug her ears when she hears a baby or child crying near her. Obviously, this can present some problems in places like preschool. At her old school, sometimes the teachers would have to gently, but physically pry her fingers from her ears to get her attention.
When I arrived to pick her up from New Afternoon School one day this week, the teacher told me that one of the other children in the class had started crying near L and she reacted by immediately plugging her ears. The teacher took L and a little boy named Danny who also has sensory issues outside to get a break from the crying.
After she calmed down, L noticed that Danny had also been plugging his ears. "He's like me!" L told the teacher. I think this story was the best piece of news I had ever been delivered at preschool pickup time. I could only imagine what the moment felt like for her -- I imagine her thinking, "Finally! Someone who understands how fucking annoying a bunch of screaming kids is!"
Maybe she belongs there more than I had thought.
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