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This essay struck me on an emotional level a lot more than the previous essay.
As I read Oliver Queens reflections on, I couldnt help but see so much of my oldest
son in Oliver. My son is on the Autism Spectrum, but so much of what Oliver was
articulating about his own struggles, and how he perceived the landscape at Blake
Academy socially, reminded me of things my John has talked about in his own life at he
has transitioned to high school this year. The part of the essay that struck me the most
was Olivers description of his meltdown with his mom that led to his loss of his own
emotional center and his view of his mother as his emotional constant snapping. His
wrote these words, She seemed unscathed by all of the pain life had inflicted, and
shed been the emotional grounding in my life. As a father to my son, this whole
paragraph in his essay unnerved me. Being a parent of a special needs child has been
difficult on so many levels. Yet, I have strived to be steady and constant in my own
sons life. What I read in this chapter was a vivid description of what I think would
happen in my son life if I snapped in a way similar to his mother. I am not saying I
would be physical like she was, but regardless of whether it was verbal or emotional,
the effect on my son would be the same. That scares me and was an unnerving part of
As a teacher, I see a very similar role we play in the lives of our students with
like Oliver. As teachers, we will get the good and the bad of how those inner turmoils
spill out in our students lives. I saw first hand this past year how remaining steady and
constant in my relationship with these individual students can help them. In a sense, we,
as teachers, can be emotional constants to our students with learning disabilities. That
One question I have is how do we as teachers navigate the tension between our
relationships with our students and our desire for what is best for them with the
sometimes legal and political priorities of a school or a school district? While I know
that schools and school districts have a students best interests at heart, I also know
there is often a climate where money, staffing, or the path of least responsibility
sometimes wins the day. It feels like we, as teachers, might be caught in the middle of
that with competing values and tensions. We are employees of a school district yet have
relationships with these students and their parents. How do we navigate that tension?