Not much new has happened since last post. Last week I went on a school visit with one of the social workers. I assumed that I was going to be going to the school with her, but when I got to the clinic in the morning, I was told that she was already out at a home visit and was going straight to the school from there. So they told me to take the bus, and that it was on 138th and Alexander. That meant nothing to me. So after asking a couple questions, while trying to keep from sounding like a complete amateur, I found myself waiting in my dress clothes at a bus stop in the middle of the Bronx. If I wasn't sticking out like a sore thumb while walking down the street before, plop me into a bus stop in dress clothes and I was a black swan...only...the opposite. After kind of guessing which bus to get on, and kind of guessing where to get off, and then guessing where to walk from there, I finally found the school. After signing in with the cop at the front door, I waited in the office until they told me where the social worker was. When I went in to meet her, she was with a client already; we'll call him Matt. He was 7 years old, and had the most severe ADHD I had ever seen. I thought Matt was a girl at first, under he started talking. He had long, frizzy hair tied back in a pony tail. He was bouncing all over the room, was counting the numbers on the calendar and then counting them back on his fingers, and was constantly being asked to refocus and stay seated. The issue that him and the social worker were talking about when I came in was the fact that he doesn't fully understand the concept of "friends." He thought that everyone he met was his friend, and considered every single kid in his class a friend. The social worker was explaining that he had to get to know someone before they could be called a friend. She asked him if I was his friend...and he quickly responded, yes! She asked if he even remembered my name (she introduced me when I came in), and he replied. "ummm...well, I know that his favorite color is blue!" And she was like, well how to do you that? And he said, "everyone's favorite color is blue!" So she told him to ask me. "What's your favorite color?" And I felt bad lying...so I answered with blue. "A ha! See I told you! Oh, and I forgot to tell you, I'm a mind reader too!" Then out of the blue, Matt asked, "Hey, were you in the auditorium earlier?" And I was like...ummm no? So he dropped everything he was doing, and stood up. (Apparently his class put on a show for the rest of the school earlier that day). He began to sing "Man in the Mirror" by Michael Jackson, and had this intense choreographed dance to go along with it, and was completed serious the whole time. So as the school counselor, who was also in the room, and the social worker were saying "Okay Matt, that's enough, lets sit back down," I was clapping and laughing hysterically. After his performance, it was time for him to go to lunch. So as he left, he said, without being prompted, "Nice to meet you." And I said "Nice dancing!" And he turned around in the door and goes "So you were in the auditorium!" And then walked away.
Afterward, his teacher came in and gave us some insight into his actual presenting problems. He was in a special education class because of his behavior; aggression, lack of focus, and hyperactivity. She said that if it weren't for his behaviors, he'd not only be in a normal classroom, but because of how smart he is, should be in a normal classroom with kids a year older than him. He has told the teacher that other kids say he's annoying, and he admitted that sometimes he is annoying. When he gets frustrated, he pounds his hand on the desk saying "I hate myself, I hate myself" and seems pleased when he looks at his hand afterward and finds that it's bruising. The teacher also said that she's heard himself mumbling to himself, "I wish I was dead." Sooo...obviously Matt suffers with ADHD, but also a whole host of other issues as well.
The whole experience of being in a room with the social worker though once again proved to me that these are the kind of kids I want to deal with; one's that have issues, some really serious issues, but are also really sweet, fun, and funny kids. I'm excited to start the summer program in July so I can actually interact with these kids.
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