Over the last fifteen years or so, I have worked in a number of schools, taught several grades, and have worked alongside many teachers. From my experience, some of the very best educators are those who assist classroom teachers in their instruction. For all they do, paraprofessionals are very much underpaid, and although it may often seem like a "thankless job" (and often it is), they do it because they enjoy making a difference!

A few mornings a week, I work in a typical kindergarten classroom that consists of one lead teacher and two paraprofessionals. Total, there are nineteen students in the class, one of whom, we’ll call “John," has a documented diagnosis of Asperger’s syndrome.

Characteristic of a child with Asperger’s syndrome, John has difficulty relating to his peers, making it difficult for him to make friends and form lasting, healthy relationships with other children. And while John possesses a lot of outstanding qualities, some of the behaviors he exhibits in social situations are often a ‘turn-off’ to the other kids. The playground is the time of the day that is particularly hard for John. It is during this time when he has the greatest difficulty engaging other children in appropriate social play, leaving him to play alone when all the other children are enjoying the company of each other.

Yesterday, while John was observed running around with two or three other kids, it wasn’t long before he engaged in an inappropriate act by pushing another child, who then fell and hit his head on the sliding board. While John saw this as ‘appropriate’ play, the other child quickly got up, turned to John and yelled, “Leave me alone! I’m not playing with you anymore!” Feeling rejected and hurt (and clearly not knowing what it was that he did wrong), John put his head down and started to cry. Clearly, John, from his perspective, did not view pushing as being inappropriate in any way, and was confused as to why the other child no longer wanted to play with him.

While John is not personally assigned a 1:1 personal aide, the paraprofessional (whom we’ll call “Michelle”), has unofficially been assigned to assume the role. Having witnessed the incident in its entirety, Michelle used this opportunity as a ‘teachable moment.’
Looking fully and utterly rejected, Michelle ran over to John, first to console him, then to talk to him about the incident and what he could have done differently. From a distance (I was in the process of working with another child), I could tell that Michelle was successful in accomplishing both objectives. Within minutes, not only did John’s face turned from sad to happy, but I could (from where I was standing) that he was beginning to understand why the other children was upset. With a big smile on his face, Michelle gave John a warm hug and sent him on his way.

I am not exactly sure what it was that Michelle said to John (we’ll talk more about ‘social stories’ and ‘cueing’ at a later time), but whatever she said most definitely worked! From that point forward, John engaged in appropriate social interactions with two other children, something he’d been struggling with for the first three months of the school year. And the best part? The other kids were happy to play with John by including him in their play. Clearly, they had enjoyed his company! For the remainder of recess, John and other children played cooperatively – and appropriately – together!

Breakthrough!

I am so very thankful for caring and compassionate educators like Michelle – for educators who are in the field for the right reasons – for educators who truly care!

This story just goes to show that ‘teachable moments’ don’t have to be reserved solely to the classroom setting. Such opportunities can be seized at any time of the day, whether it’s at recess, during lunch, while waiting for the school bus, etc. They ‘key,’ I believe, is to seize and take advantage those moments when they happen!

Craig Gibson, M.Ed., was diagnosed with a learning disability at the age of six, and spent the next twelve years in special education. He has since earned two degrees, has published on the local and national levels, and is a Featured Blogger of the internationally acclaimed AutsmSpot.com. Craig is also the Editor in Charge of SensorySpot.com (sister site of AutismSpot.com). Craig can be reached at craig.gibson6@verizon.net.