One Amazing Classroom

There is a classroom here in Lusaka which is amazing in many ways.  First of which, is that there are 9 children and young adults who are nonverbal and have autism.  (In comparison, in the US, you would have only 5 students of this severity in one classroom, and each of these students would have one adult working dedicated to their individual educational needs.  Then there would be one head teacher, so 5-6 adults total.)  Second, the teachers aren’t special education trained, and there are only two of them for all 9 students.  Third, the teachers are paid under $100 USD per month to do this very difficult job.  Fourth, the teachers love their students, and wouldn’t change their job for any reason. And, fifth, the teachers are teachable, and want to learn!  Putting all those qualities together is an encouraging situation for me to go into, as a trainer of teachers.  It is very easy to teach someone who wants to learn, and has a teachable attitude.

I have been to this classroom to observe, and to see how currently the classroom is organized, and how children are taught.  Then I have been able to stay after class to give some ideas each time I’ve been there.  Further, the head teacher of the class has been to our training classes at our home, and has asked for more visual schedule PECS from me.  For those of you unfamiliar with children who have autism, most children on the autism spectrum do better when presented with material visually, rather than auditorially.  Depending on the severity of language disfunction, children either need visual schedules, or just need some visual support to the auditory directions, or ‘next activity’.  This is where PECS come in.  PECS stands for Picture Exchange Communication System.  We are currently making daily schedules for the classroom as a whole, and for each student specifically, focused on their educational needs, and adaptive needs, such as toileting, and handwashing.

This is Special Hope at its purest and simplest functioning.  Connecting with schools, and providing the training for loving teachers, therapeutic equipment, and technology, in order for them to love and serve their students more capably, efficiently, and specifically.  And this is why we love doing what we get to do, because this is the rewarding and fun part of Special Hope for me, as a teacher.