Working with people of diverse abilities can be a pleasure when we change the way we look at challenging situations.
One of our mentors, Louise Coigley, founder of Lis’n Tell in England, told us a story about a child with disruptive behaviours that nobody could figure out. She was called in to help. As soon as the child saw Louise, he angrily shouted, “OH NO! NOT THAT WOMAN! (He had never met her before) The staff at the school were mortified. Louise adroitly dropped her agenda and exclaimed playfully, “Oh! I have never heard anyone say no with such power and force! Will you teach me how to say no like you do?” The boy instantly felt heard and respected and everyone relaxed….
Sometimes our developmental needs have little to do with our age. We all develop at different rates. We have learned that when people who have vastly different interests and abilities are given an opportunity to play with each other through the arts, new interests, skills, and ways of expression can develop.
A few years ago, in the Alexander Society’s Creative Arts Program for teens, we were using the story of Anansi the Spider as a jumping off point for activities. Our son, Brendon, often backed away from participating directly in group activity or from playing a role, but he remained engaged as a spectator. However, when we got home, he would assemble the instruments that we used in the story (each character was assigned an instrument), and while I told the story, he chose the appropriate instrument for each character. He also demonstrated that he knew the story sequence by choosing the instrument for the next character in the story before I spoke it. By exposing him to stories and drama and music, I gleaned a lot about how he learns, what he already knows or intuits and how he likes to participate on his own terms.
Learn about the wonderful work of Louise Coigley: Lis’n Tell www.lisntell.co.uk
