Every Monday since the spring 2010 semester I have worked with a young lady who I will call Jane Doe. Jane Doe is a 16 year old lady with aspergers syndrome, who a professor referred me to as a volunteer opprotunity. My first meeting with Jane Doe I was nervous cause I wasn't sure what she would want to do, and the informality of just her and I working together made me a little uneasy. When I met with Jane Doe we discussed what she would like us to do everything Monday for the hour we were going to be together, she wanted to learn how to be a glass maker, which I knew nothing about and how to Irish dance. YES! I thought something I know how to do and something I love. Every Monday since that day Jane Doe and I have been working on an Irish dance. I have modified the dance so that we learn a small set of movements and when she masters then we add other pieces that I know she will be able to perform. Her and I have come so far since the first day we met. We have gone through 5 progressions of the same dance because she is practicing on her own now and she's progressing faster then I ever thought possible. When Jane Doe does well I get so excited for her, she becomes so happy knowing that she is doing something she has always wanted to do.
Her mother and I had talked about all the things Jane Doe had previously brought up to her mother about doing but never seemed to work out. Her mother is so happy that Jane Doe has found something she wants to do so much, she remembers to practice with out being prompted.
Anyway...now that the background is out of the way let me discuss the last time Jane Doe and I had. Not all our practices of easy and not all of them are good days. Her and I work through days were she can't just seem to get the steps right even though she knows what they she be. The last meeting was one like this. Jane Doe is very aware of her disability which is sometimes why she gets so frustrated. Sometimes when she doesn't get the steps right she knows it's because she either didn't practice or for some reason she and I don't know shes having a bad day. These days are the days that I test me as a teacher. I need to keep her frustration level low so we can still have useful practice. These are the days when we go back to our basic dance. Before Thanksgiving Jane Does mom taped our practice so that when Jane Doe practice she could watch the video to make sure she was practicing the steps right. Jane Doe and I believe that this will be a wonderful way for her to master our latest dance moves.
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