Creative Ideas. For special children. Dina Veksler

p>Creative Ideas

      For special children

      Dina Veksler

      © Dina Veksler, 2024

      ISBN 978-5-0064-4059-3

      Created with Ridero smart publishing system

      Dear Parents and Caregivers of Special Children,

      I often hear that working with special needs populations is hard, boring, or lacks intellectual stimulation. Having spent 25 years working with special children in a role similar to that of a parent, I can assure you that it is anything but boring. Most of my clients were low-functioning and non-verbal, yet the work was incredibly interesting and inspiring.

      Together with these children, we create a System of Thematic Photobooks for parents and caregivers. In this book, I aim to share some of the success stories from our work. While all the stories are based on real experiences, some elements are imaginative, exploring how things could improve with a change in attitude towards these children.

      I hope you enjoy reading and perhaps find some ideas you’d like to try.

      With respect,

      Dina Veksler

      SCHOOL NAMED ME

      verbal autistic boy with behavior problem

      NAUGHTY BOY

      «Well, who would doubt that this is exactly what will happen! Murphy’s Law works!» Jane, annoyed by the news she had just heard from her friend about the postponement of the exam, put the phone aside and began to feverishly look through the printout with tickets. She knew the answer to this question, this one would also not cause difficulties, but this one she would have to learn urgently. A vague uneasiness made her raise her head from her notes. Something was wrong… Silence! That’s what worried Jane.

      «Chesky, where are you?» Jane called softly, but her six-year-old nephew did not answer. Just spinning around and suddenly disappearing, he suspiciously calmed down. Jane, forgetting about the notes, rushed to search for Chesky. The loss was discovered in the kitchen: the boy was sitting on the floor enthusiastically arranging cups, mugs, and glasses of different sizes in even rows. Jane gasped: well, that’s it, now she will get in trouble with Alina! The older sister, about to leave on business for a couple of hours, had strictly ordered Jane to keep an eye on Chesky, but, apparently, the younger sister failed the task. She had so wanted to show Alina that she was already quite mature and responsible.

      Usually, Chesky was looked after by the mother of Jane and Alina, but she had to leave for a short time, and Jane began to help her sister, especially since she was still living in her sister’s house. The preparation for exams prevented the young aunt from fully showing off her pedagogical talent; she had graduated from school and was accustomed to taking her studies seriously.

      Surveying the scene, Jane concluded that no catastrophe had happened, and Chesky, crawling on the floor and breathing intently with zeal, looked so funny! Now she would quickly clean everything up and make a suggestion to her nephew: dishes are not toys at all. Although the neat rows of cups and glasses looked quite attractive. Jane furrowed her brows sternly.

      «Chesky, why did you put the cups on the floor? Dishes are not intended for games at all, especially on a dirty floor. And then, you could accidentally break something and hurt yourself.»

      The nephew raised his narrow face, beaming with a smile, towards Jane: «Beautiful, isn’t it?» The aunt was silent, and the boy repeated more insistently: «I’m doing well, right?»

      «Yes, just a good fellow!» Jane muttered under her breath and reached for one of the cups on the floor.

      «No! Do not touch! Beautiful!» Chesky rushed to defend his creation.

      Jane shrugged her shoulders: Chesky is a special child, and if he is carried away by any idea, making him quit what he started is absolutely hopeless. And if you try to switch his attention to something else? Only for what? Cars! Well, of course, the nephew does not part for a minute with his box of little treasures. Surprisingly, now he had forgotten about them.

      «Chesky, where is your box with cars? Let’s go look.» Surprisingly, the boy resignedly left his occupation and went in search. The loss was found in the toilet.

      «What were you doing with your toys in a place like this? Did you play there?»

      «I had a great idea, didn’t I?» Chesky was not at all embarrassed, and Jane perceived his surprise as admiration for his ingenuity.

      Having seated her nephew at the kitchen table, Jane set about cleaning up and washing dishes. From time to time, she glanced at Chesky, never ceasing to be surprised at his purposefulness: the boy lined up his favorite little cars in perfectly even rows. Having completed the column to the edge of the table, Chesky turned it around and continued in the opposite direction.

      «It’s beautiful, isn’t it? Beautiful?» He demanded praise for his efforts now and then.

      «Of course, beautiful, Chesky!» Jane sighed furtively: that’s the whole Chesky. A sweet and kind boy, but, unfortunately, completely unable to absorb any more or less complex information. He seemed to live in his own world, not wanting to let anything from the outside world into it. Any information passed through him without delay, and he continued to go about his business, not paying any attention to it. Their common amusements with Jane usually boiled down to tag and running around with the ball, and the young aunt wanted to teach her nephew some more difficult game, but Jane did not succeed.

      From her mother, the girl heard that her nephew had serious problems, but she didn’t really think about it; she had enough of her own worries with her studies. She just loved Chesky the way he was.

      AUTISM

      For the first time, the word «autism» was heard in the house of Alina and her husband several years ago. Young parents could not understand why their boy cried so often for no apparent reason and opposed being picked up. The joy of waiting for the firstborn was replaced by anxiety for him and approaching despair. The diagnosis made by doctors was a heavy blow for the family, but at least there was some certainty. Alina learned to put up with her son’s condition; she stopped perceiving him as a universal tragedy. Moreover, soon there was no time to indulge in despair: Nina was born, and Alina, willy-nilly, was distracted from sad thoughts, absorbed in worries about the baby. Now Nina is already four years old, she is quite healthy and even sometimes helps her mother raise her brother, in her own way, of course. A retired grandmother also contributes all possible assistance in raising her grandson, but at the same time pampers him, like all grandmothers in the world. Alina tried to correct the consequences of her grandmother’s adoration, but all her attempts to explain to her son which of his actions upset the loved ones, and which, on the contrary, please, ended in complete failure: the information seemed to pass through Chesky without delay. The boy had a habit of speaking in a thin high voice, and when he, without listening to what was said to him, interrupted his interlocutor, it made a very depressing impression. Sometimes, after particularly daring pranks, his mother put Chesky in a corner. This did not upset the boy at all; he even found a lot of interesting things to do in the corner: he scratched the wall or funny imitated his mother’s angry intonations.

      RESTLESS MORNING

      Jane opened her eyes and smiled: the exam is over; today she could relax and lie in bed longer. It wasn’t meant to be! Alina, ready to leave, looked into the room:

      «Jane, dear, be kind, look after Chesky, Nina, and I are going to the clinic.»

      «And good morning to you too… Well, of course, I’ll look after him. Go.»

      Chesky squeezed past Alina into the room, loaded with a huge box of Lego. Without wasting time, the boy immediately began to build a grandiose building. Jane tried to doze a little more, but the trick failed: Chesky resolutely pushed almost half of the details of the designer towards her: «You,