An adult autistic perspective on growing up on the Autism Spectrum.

mr-baker-1.mp3

mr-baker-2.mp3

All too often in the news we hear about teachers who are abusing their special needs students.  

Rarely is light shed on those who go the extra mile to make sure that the students in their class are receiving equal and fair treatment and are flourishing. 

I want to tell you about Mr. Baker, my 4^th grade teacher.  I was a child with few disciplinary problems in the classroom if you looked at the fact that I was not acting out.  However, he noticed that I was quiet and withdrawn and took notice of me when ever possible.  

I remember an incident in the beginning of the year, all of the kids had gone out to play, and I was the last one onto the playground.  I noticed Mr. Baker leaving our classroom and snuck back in. 

I do not know why exactly I went back in but when I got there I decided to peek into another child’s lunch sack.  I was not big on sweets but the grapes were a bit more than I could resist. 

I had just popped a couple into my mouth when Mr. Baker came back into the room.  He saw me at another child’s desk, in another child’s lunch sack, and in the classroom when I should not have been. 

I am surprised today when I think back on how well he handled the situation.  He kindly asked me why I was not on the playground.  He made little mention of the lunch I was violating and simply told me that I should not open other people’s things. 

He led me out the back of the classroom where no kids would see me and walked with me to the playground.  A few minutes later, he came back with an orange and gave it to me.  He asked if I had eaten breakfast, and I had not.  

This was during this period of time that my mother would try to make me eat last night’s dinner when I refused to eat it the night before, so essentially I had not eaten for 24 hours. 

At lunchtime, he provided me with a lunch when he realized that I had not brought one. When I had refused it as breakfast, it became my lunch and I had fed it to a neighborhood stray. 

The point is that this teacher could have made a big deal out of what had occurred, embarrassed me in front of the class, and told my parents of the incident.  Instead, he looked past the act and found the reason. 

He was observant, it was not the first time I had come to school with out a lunch or with an entrée meant as dinner.  The fact is he cared. 

I found that he usually had some sort of fruit available and before I had the ability to ask for it he would offer it.  One day I did finally ask for some fruit and he did not tell me no.  

Later that spring when our garden started to ripen I would bring him fruit from our apricot tree and blueberries from our bushes.  Not to mention the occasional tomato or artichoke.  

His kindness had brought me to a new stepping-stone in my life.  Prior to this, I had not felt a need to reciprocate this sort of kindness.  If someone gave something to me then it was just mine. 

I learned because Mr. Baker took the extra steps to teach me through his interactions with me and not by trying to tell me.

Thank you Mr. Baker!

Jessie

Trackback URI | Comments RSS