Shadowing experiences - Part 2

With a few students during arts and crafts

We continued our shadowing rotations. This week, I helped at the special education school within the center, and next I’ll be working in the language school with young children who have language-based learning disabilities and expressive language disorders.

This is a school for disabled youth ranging in age from adolescence to late twenties; most have Down syndrome, but there are a number of other disabilities represented, including autism spectrum disorder and cerebral palsy.


On my first day, one of the instructors introduced me to the class as Débora and pointed out my legs. "Miren las piernas de Débora!" [Look at Deborah's legs!] she says excitedly to engage the class. "Son muy largas! Y las mías son muy chiquititas!" [They're very long. And mine are very verrry small!]

By the end of the week (today!) several students were already calling me “Tía” (which translates to “aunt”, but this is also an endearing term to address an older female, someone who is a family member, close friend, or perhaps a mentor … “Tío” would be for a man), greeting me with kisses on the cheek, and offering me some of their food at snack time.

Most of the students are adults, but they lack the capability to comport themselves as such. I’ve seen crying (if a classmate pinches someone else or steals a cookie from another classmate at lunch, for example), pouting, teasing, tattletaling…. Behavior you’d typically see amongst children.

One of the assistants, upon seeing yet another student cry in the lunchroom, called out positively to the group, “Oigan, ustedes son jovenes. Deben ser felices! No tienen nada de que llorar. No tienen trabajo, no estrés, no nada!” [Hey, you’re all young. You should be happy! You don’t have anything to cry about. No work, no stress, nothing!]

During the summer of 2007, before my first year of high school, I volunteered at a pediatric rehabilitation and family wellness center nearby my home in New Jersey. While there, I worked with special needs children and babies, assisting with hippotherapy (therapeutic horse riding) and speech therapy sessions at the summer camp. I’ve never before had the opportunity to work with disabled youth in another country wherein the context of the treatment (language, culture, society) is much different. What isn't different, however, is the dedication of the therapists, teachers and assistants to the well-being and security of the special needs students and patients.

This experience has been rewarding. The students have such a big sense of humor, as well as huge hearts, smiles, and personalities. It’s wonderful that they are able to join a close-knit community in this school; it's a safe space for them to interact with others who care about them and are able to relate to their experiences.

At the end of the day, I engaged in deep conversations with the Director of the school and the wood-shop instructor. They both asked a lot about me, the education system in the states, what life is like for an African-American like myself back at home, if I’ve ever encountered racism in the U.S. or here in Chile (nope, never), where my family is from (Jamaica), how social security and health insurance work in the states, what our most commonly used form of ID is (in other countries it’s not always the driver’s license), and much more. These conversations were a way to share with the Director and wood-shop teacher a bit about my upbringing and the current systems in the U.S. (legal, political, economic, etc), and to learn from them a bit more about their own home nation.

I look forward to shadowing in the language school next week!