Ch. 3 - Low-Incidence Disabilities

I have only had one student with a low-incidence disability.  She was a high-functioning autistic student.   Her parents were very involved in our school, and I collaborated with them and our resource teacher quite frequently about her.  This student was an above-average reader and wanted to read all the time.  She was exceptionally bright in math also.  Her handwriting was horrible, and we continuously worked on making it more legible.  She was in my regular education class for the entire day and was only followed by our resource teacher as needed.  Whenever she got excited, she would start shaking her hands.  This was actually the first thing I noticed about her when we met.  Her  main problem was organization, and she never knew where anything was.  She had to be reminded to write down her daily assignments.  She was a bit socially awkward and was often alone at recess.  Her desk and cubbie looked like a trash can!  I would have to get another student to help her clean it.  Other than the above, this student did not require any additional support/help from me.  Her parents did ask that I have her sit in the front of the class.  She was an all A student for the entire year.

The resource teacher proposed that I keep a daily chart on this student for having her homework in a specific folder and completing a desk check every Friday.  This was not my idea.  It got to be too much to have to clean that desk every Friday, so I did not follow through on that checklist.  I really didn't agree with doing this.  (We cleaned out desks anyway every time it rained and we had indoor recess.)  There was just not an appropriate time during class to have her clean out her desk. 

I did keep this student close to the front of the classroom or where I was standing.  I encouraged her and other girls to play together.  Looking back, I wish I had gotten her a small trash can to keep beside her desk.  This might have helped with the desk.  Her mother would cry whenever we had meetings because she worried about this student not having a close friend.  I encouraged the other girls in the class to ask her to play, and they would, but she refused.  Looking back, she was a happy little girl.  She's now in fourth grade and smiles and hugs me every time I see her.  She loves hearing her current teacher bragging about her to me.  I feel that she's slowly coming out of that shell.