Specific Blog #5

What is seen first: the child or the problem?

In Michael's case working with a special needs child the "professionals" were having a staff meeting. Where they looking at the problem or the child? I don't know. When I look into my professional life as a teacher when I'm faced with a child that needs extra help do look at the child or the problem first. Many times teachers will focus on the problem and not the strengths of a child. Teachers feel that they must focus on the problem and find a solution. In Michael's case his family is "honoring" the child. The child comes first. 

I recently attended a workshop on challenging behaviors. The first exercise we had to look at a picture of a child smiling with a birthday crown on and were asked a few questions. One question was very basic “What do we see?” I answered a happy child who looks as if he’s celebrating his birthday. The next question was, “What is his challenging behavior?” From a picture we couldn’t answer that question. This child had autism. By looking at the picture we were able to see the child first. When watching a video with a child showing his challenging behavior we all focused on what the problem was. This workshop helped me to realize that in order to help the child with a challenging behavior we must focus on the child first and then work on the problem. In Michael’s case he learned to “honor” the child because of the boy’s family.