Somebody Else's Kids:
Creating Accommodations for Tomaso
"Somebody Else's Kids" (Hayden, 1981) is a fictional story of how a resource teacher copes with special needs kids in her classroom. The main character, Torey, cares for an interesting mix of students: a second grader that was abused as a child and cannot read, an autistic boy that cannot seem to connect with reality, a shy 12-year-old that was removed from her previous school because she was pregnant, and a young boy who has intense bouts of anger.
What really stood out to me when I read this book was how Torey, the resource teacher, interacted with these children. She cared for them as if they were her own and she had hope and patience for them even when they were written off by everyone else. For example, Lori (the girl who cannot read) was humiliated in front of her class for her learning disability by her impatient general teacher, but Torey made her feel right at home in the resource room and tried to find a way to help her learn.
Another thing that stood out to me when I read this book was the character Tomaso. Everyone seemed to have a well defined problem (Lori cannot read, Boo is autistic, and Claudia is pregnant) except for Tomaso. Tomaso could be really sweet at times, but he would have random bouts of rage during which he would curse at his peers and teachers, and he even threatened Torey with a scissor at one point in the story. He constantly brags about his amazing father who is from Spain is going to come rescue him from the foster care system, even though Tomaso witnessed his father getting murdered when he was a child.
With my intrigue and curiosity of Tomaso, I decided to create an educational plan for Tomaso.
In the book, the special needs students attended normal classes for the first half of the day and then attended Torey's resource class for the remainder of each school day. Therefore, I created an educational plan for Tomaso in the viewpoint of a general biology teacher with the assumption that Torey remains his special needs resource teacher. To develop this plan, I identified Tomaso's problem, determined whether he needed an IEP or a 504 Plan, and then brainstormed possible accommodations that would fit his needs.
Step 1: Define the Problem
The first step of helping a student that has trouble learning is defining the problem. For the past few years, Tomaso has gone from foster family to foster family because he was hard to deal with. The constant transition between schools and family life has been hard of him, causing him to fall a few grade levels behind. He also has anger issues and is destructive. At first I wasn't sure what to characterize this behavior, but as I watched a documentary of ADHD I learned about Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD) (George, 2005). ODD is characterized as using fowl language, having frequent bursts of anger, and actively trying to argue with and challenge authority (Bhandari, 2016). Tomaso has demonstrated all of these behavior problems throughout the novel. ODD can be caused by environmental influences, including a dysfunctional family (Bhandari, 2016). Tomaso likely developed his ODD when living with his father and stepmother, whom fought all the time, and the condition progressed as he made his grand tour of foster homes.
Luckily, just as ODD can be developed through negative influences, it can also be alleviated through positive ones. Children with symptoms of ODD develop improved behavior when they are in a nurturing, stable environment that has consistent rules (Bhandari, 2016). This further makes me think that Tomaso has ODD: through the comfort of Torey's resource classroom, Tomaso's behavior remarkably improved throughout the story.
Step 2: IEP or 504 Plan?
The next step of helping a child with additional needs is determining whether they qualify for an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) or a 504 Plan. To qualify for an IEP, children must have one of thirteen defined disabilities, such as autism, blindness, or deafness. 504 Plans serve a more general list of disabilities, including diabetes, ADHD, and anxiety. Students that have a disability do not always require a 504 Plan or an IEP. For example, if a student had ADHD that did not severely affect their learning, they would not require an educational plan. Students only need an IEP or 504 Plan if their condition greatly impacts their ability to learn.
One could argue that Tomaso fits the "emotional disturbance" requirement, which is one of the thirteen disabilities listed for an IEP, because Tomaso clearly has trouble coping with his father's death. However, I think a 504 Plan is more appropriate for Tomaso because his way of grieving does not make a deep impact on his ability to learn. Tomaso's ODD condition would be classified as a behavioral problem, which falls under the jurisdiction of Section 504 of the American Disabilities Act (Wright & Wright, 1998-2017). Tomaso needs a 504 Plan.
The 504 Plan for Tomaso will be created by a committee of the
principal, his foster parents, the resource teacher (Torey), and the
general teachers (including myself). The 504 Plan will include a
guideline of how Tomaso should be educated, including any necessary
accommodations.
Step 3: Accommodations
Tomaso needs a stable, nurturing environment for his ODD behavioral problem (Bhandari, 2016). For the latter half of each day, Torey's resource room provides an ideal setting for Tomaso's condition. General teachers should also provide this kind of comforting setting for Tomaso. Teachers should be patient and kind to Tomaso and enforce consistent rules (Bhandari, 2016). When placing Tomaso in group activities, he should be grouped with students he gets along with so he feels a stable connection to the group.
To address Tomaso's struggle of being a few grade-levels behind, general teachers should give Tomaso pre-reading activities to help him develop content-specific vocabulary. When needed, they should create alternative exercises that are worded in less complex ways while addressing the same level of content. It's important to be patient with Tomaso. He has had a rough childhood and he still has trouble facing the reality of his father's death. Luckily, Torey is very patient with Tomaso, but other teachers and students may not always be so. Tomaso will struggle will frustration of being behind his grade-level, but he is catching up quickly so this will not be a problem for long. He will also be frustrated as other children tease him about how he speaks about his father. The other students don't understand Tomaso's past, so they may not know the effect of their words. Teachers should monitor the interactions between Tomaso and the other students to make sure it doesn't become toxic.
Personal Struggles
Personally, one thing that I will struggle with when teaching Tomaso is his outbursts of anger. During the part of the book when Tomaso threatened Torey with scissors, I was astounded with how patient she was throughout all of this. Tomaso poses a huge danger to teachers and other students in the classroom. With the levels of anger that Tomaso has, he may really hurt someone when he is in one of his moods. To help me deal with this challenge, I will try to calm myself down before addressing him and try to be understanding of his condition.
References
George, B. (2005). BBC - Horizon - 2005 - Living with ADHD [Video File]. Retrieved from http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x22698p
Hayden, T. (1981). Somebody Else's Kids. New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers.
Bhandari, S. (Reviewer). (2016, May 18). Oppositional Defiant Disorder. WebMD. Retrieved from http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/oppositional-defiant-disorder#1
Wright, P.W.D., & Wright, P.D. (1998-2017). Wrightslaw. Retrieved from http://www.wrightslaw.com/
Pictures:
Somebody Else's Kids Book Cover: https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51NtZr1npWL._SY344_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg
Oppositional Defiant Disorder: https://hrexach.files.wordpress.com/2015/02/od7.png
