Alex is a gentle, 10 year old boy who is a very sensory-seeking child. Comforted by touch, it is sound and loud noises that challenge him.
Diane McManus is Alex’s teacher. For 6 years, she has been part of the interdisciplinary team of educators, therapists and education technicians that work with him at the school. “Alex is fortunate to be here because we do recognize his needs – and we work on those while we’re continuing to work on other things like academics and related therapies. Because our therapists are so supportive of the academics, we can find ways to satisfy his needs so that he can focus on the bigger picture: learning.”
Children with sensory issues are challenged by learning because they are focused on the “internal stuff” – what’s happening with me, do I feel good about what’s happening to me. For learning to occur, that has to be dealt with first. “So for example,” says Diane, “if you had an ant walking around on your leg, you’re not going to focus on a math problem. You’re going to focus on getting that ant off your leg.” Alex’s internal ‘ants’ are unknown, but very much present. “Because we recognize that – we see that as part of who he is – we try to balance who he is, his personality, with learning about what he needs to live in the world.”
For Alex, as with all the students at the Monarch School, the classroom is where it all begins. Lessons are aligned with the New Hampshire Framework – our goal is to help students be as typical as they can be to fit into society. This means students are learning the same things that other kids their age are learning, but modified to meet their needs. So for example, “if Alex is working on a unit on sound energy, we find ways to create sound. We made guitars out of tissue boxes and elastic – now we’re talking about this sound and it’s something that’s interesting. We can create sound and Alex can hear it. Now you can talk about the ear and how it works. And you can illustrate this. We do hands-on work … it’s all about finding ways that help a student like Alex to learn.”
For Diane, this is what sets the school apart: “we are able to recognize the needs of a student and work on them.” For Alex, this means he can “continue to be the young man he wants to be.” And that’s a good thing.