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Today was Casper’s first visit with the autistic and mentally challenged young'uns at Maniscalco Elementary. She handled the challenge like a champ! We showed the kids some of her accomplishments and let many of the autistics walk her, using her commands to get the kids to talk.
….As we were leaving, we were approached by the mother of one of the most severe youngsters in the program. She greeted us with "This must be Harley!" She smiled and watched her son interact with Harley as we chatted about the importance of dogs in children's lives. As we parted, she thanked me for sharing Harley with all the special ones at school and assured me that "we" enriched their lives. I thought of the time her son was throwing such a tantrum that it took two teachers to wrestle him to the ground. I asked them if we could try Harley with him to calm him down and they agreed, with trepidation that he might lash out at her. I approached him slowly, calling his name and telling him Harley wanted to see him. Harley, known to be fearful of many things, walked toward him as if she was unaware of the kicking, screaming, and thrashing. Somehow through his screams he heard the word Harley and looked up. I watched his eyes clear as he focused on her and reached out to gently stroke her. Unbidden, she lay down beside him and he petted her as he rocked back and forth, muttering unintelligible sounds. The tantrum was over. Many of these parents face hardships none of us can dream of. Harley, through the miracle of this special program, is a gift to many, many people….
…….. We were approached by a teacher’s aide who told me she had overheard me speaking of H’s work at UCP. She said she had a little girl with CP who had been mainstreamed and asked if she could bring her to meet Harley. I told her to meet us in Joe’s class. …The door opened and in walked a thin girl around 8 or 9 years of age. She broke out into an excited smile when she saw Harley, but she shyly stood off to the side. I moved over and asked her to sit my me, right by Harley. Evan was reluctant to share any part of Harley, so I moved to allow Rose contact with Harley. When she touched her Harley looked up over her shoulder at the new girl. The teacher’s aide spoke softly to the little girl and told her Harley worked with other boys and girls that have cerebral palsy. I began to tell her about Harley and she (H) stood up, turned her back on the rest of the group and laid down, putting her head in the new little girls lap. I thought she would faint from delight! The look of joy on her face was almost overwhelming for me. All of a sudden it was just the child and the dog and no one else existed. I sat back and watched, as did the other teachers. There were none of us that were not touched by this display. When the teacher aide finally had to take the girl back to class, she turned at the door and softly told Harley goodbye. I promised to seek her out the next time we visited.
Joined the whole group in “Circle Time”: almost a full house today! As we approached the group, Suzan asked Arias, who was sitting on the floor, “Who is that?” as she pointed to Harley. Arias smiled widely and responded, “My dog.” The use of the possessive was a big step from his usual response of “dog.” He is now identifying with Harley and feels some personal ownership.
As the group clamored to see Harley we settled on the floor. All of a sudden Jared started to leave his chair and Suzan cautioned him to wait. Not liking her response in the least, he screamed several times in frustration. Suzan asked him if he wanted to see the dog and he refused to answer her. She brought him his computerized message board and told him to type what he wanted. He was too busy pouting and acting out to accommodate her. Suzan took him from the group and had him sit at the work table. She told him several times to type out what he wanted, then she re-joined the group.
… Suzan went to check on Jared and returned excitedly holding Jared with one hand and the message board in the other. “Look what he wrote,” she said and handed me the board. “IWANTDOG” was on the screen. I felt a lump appear in my throat and I watched the boy lean slowly over to pet Harley. I invited him to sit on the floor by her, then handed him the brush without giving any instructions. He took the brush, knitted his brows as he inspected the bristles, then began to brush Harley against the grain. Harley was nonplused. After several strokes, he tried the brush on his own buzz-cut hair, leaving a noticeable residue of blond dog hair…..
Suzan and I got a one-two punch today that resulted in tears of joy more than once. When H and I arrived, I stuck my head over the half door to let them know we were there. The kids were in circle time and smiles broke out on the faces that could see me. As I waved, the kids whose backs were to me, turned to see what the others were looking at. Jessie, the dress up king, hopped out of his chair and tried to exit the circle while chattering in his ‘peep peep’ voice. Suzan stopped him and asked where he was going. He pointed to me and said, “Dog” as clear as a bell. Since Jessie rarely speaks unless repeating things, Suzan and I looked at each other wide-eyed. She asked me if I heard it: I nodded. She then turned to him and asked him again what he wanted. Rather exasperatedly he pointed to me and said, “dog, dog!” With tears in her eyes, Suzan said, “Go.” Jared jumped up and tried to rush past Suzan then and she told him he had to tell her what he wanted.
He screamed in frustration, returned to his seat, pulled his legs up on the chair and screamed repeatedly. I called his name several times and when he turned to me, Suzan got his computer message board and gave it to him, telling him to type want he wanted. Meanwhile, Jessie had made his way across the room and I met him at the door and asked where he was going. He pointed past me and cheerily responded, “dog” . Although he was more than a little blurry in my eyesight, I hugged him and praised him repeatedly. His little jack-o-lantern smile greeted Harley who walked to meet him. “Peep beep beep, peep, peep” he conversed with her as he patted her head. She looked at him with loving eyes as if he was quoting poetry to her. Suzan joined me at the door and we looked at each other, wiped away tears and laughed at our emotional response.
….. As I was talking to Jessie Jared joined the group and Suzan handed me his message board without saying a word. “IWANTDOG” was printed on the board. I looked up at her and saw tears again. I grasped Jared’s hands and praised him,then invited him to join us. He slowly reached toward Harley’s head and stroked between her ears. Not a sound came from him as he petted her and looked at me ever so often. I offered the brush to him and placed it backwards on Harley’s back. He picked it up correctly and began to brush her. ……
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