What do you find?

Before you start reading this entry, please know both sets of parents have given me permission to share these stories.

He's a kindergartener.  She's in 3rd grade.  In their own ways, both students are extraordinary.  They are also very typical of what I see each day in my school.  

First our girl:  What would you do if you had over the elbow casts on both of your arms?  We had a 3rd grader accidentally fall off a playground structure this fall and return to school with just that-- two casts.  She couldn't do anything for herself--or so we thought.

Think about having casts which kept your elbows bent at about a 90 degree angle on each arm.  Would you be able to dress yourself?  How would you feed yourself?  What would you do in the restroom?

Let me give you just one example how this girl inspired me.

She struggled to feed herself since she could not reach her mouth with her hands.  With her parents' help, we arranged to have a couple of friends eat with and even help feed her in our office conference room.  Our conference room was busy one day, and I suggested the girls use the table in my office.  I was replying to emails at my desk as they started their lunches, but then I was disrupted from my favorite sound--giggling.  I looked up to see three girls using long bamboo kabob skewers to poke chunks of cheese, ham, fruit and even chocolate covered caramels.  All of us erupted into laughter.  I was quickly reminded that children can take almost any hurdle and make it into a fun, learning opportunity.  Children, when given the chance, are amazingly resilient.


Now our boy:  He is a kindergartener who was born with a "stub" of a right arm.  He wears a prosthetic arm, but at this point it is only a cosmetic arm.  One would think he would want special accommodations since he has only a partial right arm.  How would you cut a piece of paper or open a glue stick if you did not have two hands?

But, to watch this boy is simply remarkable.  He is independent--almost to a fault.  He is innovative and creative in how he uses his prosthetic arm.  He perseveres--with a smile.  He shows great determination to solve daily problems for himself.  He even laughs at his prosthetic arm when it falls off.  (He's delightful as can be when he's waving it around with his other arm while asking the teacher to help reattach it.)  He is not embarrassed at all by what most people would see as a disability.

While chatting with his parents about his soon-to-be "bionic" prosthetic arm, I commented how impressed I was with how they are raising their son to be so independent.  His father shared, "Mr. Ascher, we found that in him.  Even as a small child, our son said he must learn how to handle things by himself because other people won't always be there to help him."  That's a statement from a 5 year old!


In this season of Thanksgiving, I am reminded that parents and teachers have an obligation to "find" what is good in our children and students.  Do I only "find" my daughters' messy rooms?  Do I only "find" the one area for improvement on a report card and not all of the areas where a student may be excelling?  Where we focus tends to drive what we find.  Both of these students reminded me that we will find what we choose to find.  More often than not, my students (and daughters) help me find hope and inspiration.

Happy Thanksgiving!