A Special Child

     When I first arrived in China, I was full of energy, I was very positive, and I was eager to get into a classroom and help shape the minds of small children.  I wanted to make a difference, I wanted to influence, and most of all, I wanted the children to be excited about learning.  One of the first things I learned, the hard way, about teaching in China, was that there is no division of different learning levels in the classrooms.  There are no advanced placement classes, there are no special ed classes, they are simply a melting pot of all the children who are of school age.
     I notice the difference in the children's abilities right off the bat.  I notice that some children spoke decent English, and some could barely manage a, "hello".  All of the children I met, when asked, "How are you?", would reply in the same robotic voice, "I am fine, thank you."  Some kids said it better then others, but that seems to be the one phrase all Chinese children are taught.
     Because I was hired to teach the kids how to speak in English, as opposed to reading, writing, and grammar, I focused on getting every child in the class to speak at least once every day.  I found some great English language books online that had subtitles, so the kids could read and speak along with the story.  I learned to pause the book after each sentence and make each child read a single sentence allowed.  A 5 minute video could take me through an entire 40 minute class.  I would also walk up and down the very narrow aisles in the classrooms (the average class is 45-50 students), and lean in close to the ones who were too shy to speak out loud.
     In speaking with other teachers, we found that it was common for the children seated around the kids with special needs to speak for them and let us know that the child we were talking to may not be able to answer us.  Without going into any special detail, they would just shake their heads or whisper, "no" to me to let me know that the child was a special needs child.  The most common special need I have encountered is that of autism.  The spectrum runs from the fairly functional to the child who will sit in class and draw small repeated patterns or pictures, or just simply stare.
     In one of my classes, I have a child who sits in the rear of the class and carries on, what I can only imagine, are very lively conversations with the voices in his head.  This is one of my favorite classes and lately I have been doing more group exercises and games, so indiviual participation has decreased.  His mouth moves almost nonstop and his gestures seem to indicate a conversation.  I generally move past him, and never push for an answer, but today I decided to see if I could get an answer from him in a game we were playing.
     When I approached him, the children around him looked at me as if to warn me not to disturb him, and one child said, "He is not right in the head.", but I squatted down, to be at his level, and asked him a very simple question.  He was able to answer my question and then it was like the light went off on the porch of his mind and he looked away.  His team did not win the game, but I made sure he got a sticker and a "great job!".  I don't know if he really understood, but he seemed to be happy, if even for one small moment.