A "Strange" Connection

It was the switch of the hour and I went on to pick up my students, O and N. O has autism whereas N suffered from developmental disability due to brain injury. He was born typically developing but was caught in a car accident that caused him to have severe brain injury which led him to present some symptoms similar to those with autism. I felt that that was quite a misfortune.

Anyway, O was engaging in a lot of motor stereotypy and N was so excited to see that and he kept calling O's name and wanting to be social with O the whole hour. He gave O high 5s and O responded. At one time he called O's name and they both smiled at each other and nuzzled each other. I thought that was really interesting that they connected on a level that I did not quite understand. I wonder if it was the stereotypy? or something else that I missed out.

On a different note, today has been a fairly good day. I woke up feeling a bit distraught. It was not a good feeling to wake up with. However my mind eased a little as time goes by thanks to the articles and videos available in the spirit section on Oprah's website. It's good to be reminded that my worries are normal and that they are greater things to be grateful for and look forward to. Work went well today too.

I also met with my practicum adviser today and we went over some of the questions I have about teaching. Before we ended our meeting, I asked her how does she and the other staff overcome the feeling of being so rote/mechanical in this work setting and build sincere humanistic rapport with the students in this overly structured environment? I told her I felt like I am working in a factory and told her that people criticized this program for it's "coldness" even though it is proven to be effective. She acknowledged my feelings and said that things will get better with time. After I am comfortable with the technical skills, I will let loose and start to have better rapport with the students. TIME....TIME....TIME.....