I forgot the ball

Dátheangach/Bilingual

Bhog mé amach as mo theach i mBéal Feirste seachtain ó shin. Faoi láthair tá mo stuif scaipeadh idir trí sheomra i dteach mo thuismitheoirí agus mo charr. An plean atá agam ná a bheith lonnaithe i mBaile Átha Cliath go dtí am éigin i mí Iúil nuair a bhogfaidh mé go Gaillimh. Tá mé go fóill ag múineadh i mbunscoil in Iúr Chinn Trá ar an Déardaoin agus in scoil taobh amuigh de Bhéal Feirste ar an Aoine. An tseachtain seo shroich mé Bunscoil Naomh Seosaimh sna Sruthán leis na ranganna a mhúineadh ansin nuair a thug mé faoi dheara nach raibh mo liathróid liom. Le gach rud trína chéile le seachtain anuas; idir pacáil, bogadh tí agus ag fágáil slán le rudaí áirithe ní raibh iontas orm gur rinne mé dearmad air an liathróid a bhíonn á úsáid agam sa rang tacaíochta foghlamtha.

I moved out of my house in Belfast a week ago so right now my stuff is scattered over three rooms in my parents’ house and my car. I plan on being based in Dublin until I move to Galway, sometime in July but I am still teaching in a primary school in Newry on a Thursday and in an afterschool club in North Down on Friday. This week I arrived at St Joseph’s Primary School, Bessbrook to teach my four classes when I realised I had forgotten the ball. In all of the chaos of last the week and my things being scattered everywhere I had forgotten to bring one of my props for my Learning Support class.

Tá mé ag múineadh sna ranganna uathachas agus tacaíocht foghlamtha i mBunscoil Naomh Seosaimh le dhá bhliain go leith. Nuair a thosaigh mé, ní raibh aon rud faoin uathachas ar eolas agam. Dhá mhí i ndiaidh gur thosaigh mé leo, dúirt duine éigin liom nach maith le daoine le huathachas nuair a leagann daoine eile lámh orthu. Mar chuid den rang Relax Kids déanaimid cumailt orainn féin agus ar a chéile, le cead. Sin ceann de na rudaí ab fhearr leo faoi na ranganna. Dá má rud é gur shíl mé nach n-éireoidh go maith leis an gcuid sin den rang, ní bheadh mé i ndiaidh triail a bhaint as, agus nach mórán trua a bheadh ansin!

I have been teaching in St Joseph’s Autism Specific classes and more recently in their Learning Support classes for two and a half years now. When I started I knew nothing at all about autism. Two months into my classes with them, I was told that people with autism don’t like to be touched. Part of a Relax Kids class is massage, self and peer massage with permission. It’s one of their favourite parts of the class. Had I known that ‘usually’ children with autism do not like to be touched when I had entered that classroom on the first day I wouldn’t have even tried to do massage with them and what a disappointment that would have been!

Ó gur thosaigh mé leo d’fhoghlaim mé an t-uafás faoin uathachas ach an rud is mó ná go bhfuil na páistí uilig an-difriúil agus go bhfuil rudaí éagsula ag teastáil uathu ar fad. Is maith leis an gcuid is mó dóibh gach rud a bheith mar an gcéanna sna ranganna gach seachtain agus sin an fáth gur rud mór a bhí ann nuair a rinne mé dearmad ar an liathróid. Ach ansin tá páistí eile sa rang céanna agus is maith leo má athraíonn rudaí gach seachtain. Tá roinnt páistí an-mhaith ag caint, roinnt acu a roghnaíonn gan labhairt agus cuid eile nach bhfuil in ann labhairt ar cur ar bith.

I have learnt so much about autism since I started teaching there but the biggest thing I have learnt is that each of the children with autism are different. Most of the children like to have everything exactly the same every week which is why forgetting my affirmation ball was such a big deal but in the same class I have other children who like me to change up what we do. Some of the children talk fluently, some of them chose not to speak and some of them cannot speak.

Nuair a chas mé le rang nua san ionad agus iad ag tosú ar an mbunscoil, mhínigh an múinteoir dom nach mbeadh buachaill amháin liom don chéad cúpla seachtain. D’inis sí dom nach raibh an buachaill seo in ann glacadh leis nuair a dúirt na múinteoirí leis go raibh air rudaí áirithe a dhéanamh. Bhí orthu rogha de trí rud a thabhairt dó agus roghnaigh sé ceann amháin acu le déanamh. Bhí air smacht a bheith aige féin ar an rud a bhí á dhéanamh aige agus é 4 bhliain d’aois agus ghlac na múinteoirí leis. Bhí mé ar tí caoineadh nuair a mhínigh an múinteoir seo ar fad dom. Chaill mé misneach sa chóras oideachais tamall ó shin toisc go mbíonn siad ag cur brú ar gach duine a bheith díreach mar an gcéanna. Tógáil croí atá ann ag obair sna ranganna seo agus na múinteoirí ar fad ag obair go crua le dul i ngleic pé rud a thagann chucu.
 
Six months after I started teaching there, a new group of children started with one of the teachers. It was explained to me that one of the little boys in the class wouldn’t be participating in my class for the first few weeks because he couldn’t cope with being told what to do. He had to be given a choice. So the teachers accommodated this by giving him a choice of three different activities. When I was told this I nearly cried. I couldn’t believe how much time and care was being given to one little boy. I have lost a lot of faith in the education system due to it’s ‘fit everyone into the same shaped hole’ attitude to teaching but the autism specific classes and learning support classes in St Joseph’s Primary School Bessbrook have touched my heart.

Bhí roinnt deacrachtaí ag na páistí na ranganna Relax Kids a dhéanamh ag an tús, go háirithe an cuid ag an deireadh nuair a luíonn gach duine síos ar an talamh go ciúin. Is breá liom anois ag breathnú orthu ar fad agus iad ag baint suilt as an ‘nap’ a bhíonn acu ag deireadh an ranga. Is aoibheann liom nuair a insíonn na múinteoirí dom faoi na hanálaithe móra fada atá á glacadh ag na páistí ‘mar a mhúin Katie dóibh’ nuair atá siad trína chéile. Ardaíonn sé mo chroí nuair a thagann na múinteoirí chugam ag insint dom an difir a dhéanann na cleachtais a bhíonn á mhúineadh agam do na páistí.

I love going into the school and seeing how far the children have come. A lot of them really struggled with lying still at the end of class when we first started so I love seeing them enjoy and ask if they can ‘have a nap now’. I love hearing stories about upset children arriving into school and being told to do their deep breathing ‘like Katie taught them’ and them being as right as rain afterwards. I get that warm fuzzy feeling when I hear about the difference Relax Kids is having on the children.

An tseachain seo, thuig mé níos mó ná riamh an fáth go mbíonn na daltaí ag iarraidh go mbeidh gach rud mar an gcéanna. Chuaigh mé isteach sa scoil an tseachtain seo agus bhí sé amhlaidh is go raibh mé tagtha abhaile. Bhí gach rud mar an gcéanna ann agus mhothaigh mé níos suaimhnaí láithreach. Thuig mé go mbeadh raic ann toisc nach raibh an liathróid agam don tríú rang ach ní raibh iontas orm go raibh sé dearmadtha agam.

This week I understood the students need to have order and sameness more then ever. Arriving into the school this week felt like arriving home. I had a lovely sense of sameness as I made my cup of tea in the morning and I was greeted with smiles by students and teachers alike. I knew my missing ball would cause havoc but after a chaotic week of moving and packing and goodbyes I wasn’t surprised that something had slipped. Arriving into St Joseph’s was like a breath of fresh air after my tiring, messy week.