LEAven Blog

Several years ago, a kindergartener was eating his snack in my room. The snack was bunny cheese crackers, so when he said to me, “I like this penguin-flavored one,” I was a little confused. But when I looked at the cracker he was pointing to, it was turned vertically. Then I saw what he saw: a penguin waving at me. Or maybe it’s the abominable snowman. Either way, he wasn’t wrong. Turned on its end, the cracker could be seen as something else.

More and more, we have students in our classrooms who have brain-based differences. Attention deficit and autism spectrum are two common diagnoses that you may have seen in the past few years. They aren’t new, but they seem to be more prevalent. Besides being brain-based, the other thing these diagnoses have in common is that they are included in the family of ‘disabilities’ or ‘disorders.’ They imply that there is a brokenness to these children. Something is not ‘right’, and we need to try to ‘fix’ it.

I had the privilege of meeting an adult artist with ADHD. Her name is Martha Valenta. She spoke about what it was like to have ADHD and how difficult certain things were. She suggested useful ideas for fidgets and reminders for kids who struggle. Most memorable to me was the sweatshirt that she wore. It had an interesting image of a person’s head with a brain exploding into many ideas. The words below it read, “Not broken, just different.”

That made me think of a number of my students. Perhaps I need to ‘turn the cracker’ and take another look. How does the world look through their eyes? What do they see that I don’t see? How can I help them see what they need to see to be successful? What abilities do they have that we can use to their advantage?

I’m not implying that there aren’t challenges involved, but a little empathy goes a long way. Is there a way that I can, to use the old adage, ‘walk a mile in their shoes?’ Not broken, just different is a mindset that gives these children some respect. It honors their differences. It allows that there is a possibility that maybe we both can change a little instead of me imposing a change on a child.

I encourage you to try changing your mindset about your challenging students. For inspiration, you could visit Martha’s website to see her art and read what she says about her journey. https://www.marthavalenta.com/