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My Other Brother Daryl
An ironic look at special education from TASH Newsletter, December 1987. "A Case For Teaching Functional Skills". A well-written cautionary tale that teachers should read.
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My Other Brother Daryl
By: Preston Lewis, Family Member
An ironic look at special education from TASH Newsletter, December 1987. "A Case For Teaching Functional Skills". A well-written cautionary tale that teachers should read.
My Other Brother Daryl,18 years old, TMH (30 to 40 IQ). Been in school 12 years.
Never been served in any other setting other than elementary school.
He has a number of years of "individual instruction." He has learned a lot of things!
Daryl can now do lots of things he couldn't do before!
,He can put 100 pegs in a board in less than 10 minutes while in his seat with 95 percent accuracy.
But, he can't put quarters in vending machines.
Upon command he can "touch" nose, shoulder, leg, foot, hair, ear.
He's still working on wrist, ankle, hips.
But, he can't blow his nose when needed.
He can now do a 12 piece Big Bird puzzle with 100 percent accuracy and color an Easter Bunny and stay in the lines!
But, he prefers music, but was never taught how to use a radio or record player.
He can now fold primary paper in halves and even quarters.
But, he can't fold his clothes.
He can sort blocks by color; up to 10 different colors!
But, he can't sort clothes; whites from colors for washing.
He can roll Play Dough and make wonderful clay snakes!
But, he can't roll bread dough and cut out biscuits.
He can string beads in alternating colors and match it to a pattern on a DLM card!
But, he can't lace his shoes.
He can sing ABC's and tell me names of all the letters of the alphabet when presented on a card in upper case with 80 percent accuracy.
But, he can't tell the men's room from the ladie's room when we go to McDonald's.
He can be told it's cloudy/rainy and take a black felt cloud and put it on the day of the week on an enlarged calendar (with assistance).
But, he still goes out in the rain without a raincoat or hat.
He can identify with 100 percent accuracy 100 different Peabody Picture Cards by pointing!
But, he can't order a hamburger by pointing to a picture or gesturing.
He can walk a balance beam frontwards, sideways and backwards!
But, he can't walk up the steps or bleachers unassisted in the gym to go to a basketball game.
He can count to 100 by rote memory!
But, he doesn't know how many dollars to pay the waitress for a $2.59 McDonald's coupon special.
He can put the cube in the box, under the box, beside the box and behind the box.
But, he can't find the trash bin at McDonald's and empty his trash in it.
He can sit in a circle with appropriate behaviour and sing songs and play "Duck, Duck, Goose."
But, nobody else in his neighborhood his age seems to want to do that.
I guess he's just not ready yet.
from TASH Newsletter, December 1987.
Welcome to Dragonfly USA.
PLAY Tip
Crystal Drop Ball: Sensory Integration and Balance
Try sitting the child cross-legged on a ball. Hold their hips firmly, and slowly roll the ball from the center out in the forward directions on a gentle angle.
Watch to see how (and if) the child compensates for the new angle of their trunk. We want to see the chin tip back towards level with the floor. This signifies the understanding that "upright" is not always determined by the position of the hips relative to the floor, but rather is cued by the relation of the inner ears to the floor.
Prompt the child to "sit up straight" both with verbal and demonstrative cues. Once the rolling forward is mastered, work on backwards, side-to-side, and in a gentle circular motion. The see-through ball adds extra fun!