From the perspective of a truly great teacher

I won't lie, much of my son's education experience seemed to be a battle of one kind or another. It was exhausting and depressing and although it's been more than a decade since he was last in school, occasionally (very occasionally) I beat myself up for not doing enough to fight that battle. I was cleaning up my laptop at the end of a tiring day and stumbled across this comment that I had captured from one of his teachers. It certainly lifted my spirits: so few people bother to take the time to understand my son, even fewer are willing to see his value. Here's what she wrote. It might not seem much to you, but it meant the world to me.

Although Devon joined the class during Term 2, it is hard to remember what the class was like without him. It seems as if he inadvertently became the voice of reason and the unofficial timekeeper among the students. His idiosyncrasies have become an important part of the fabric of our blended culture and each of us lose a bit of our being when we are forced to accept the fact that Devon will not be in our class in September. Hearing him say phrases such as "It's 1:45, Ms <name>, we have to go to the Computer Lab" or "Today is Tuesday, Ms. <name>, you forgot to put on the Wii" or "That's not right, you shouldn't put that there!" or "Oh oh, you shouldn't have done that, you are in trouble" will resonate with me for a long time. 

Observing how his resilience motivated others to take risks has had a profound impact on me.

There were times when Devon was scared and confused; there were times when he completely lost his spatial sense, but he trusted the familiar face that he saw and the familiar voice that he heard, and he regrouped. Whenever Devon had to leave an activity that he loves to participate in something that did not include his classmates, he was hesitant, but he trusted our promise that we would be there when he returned, and that he would get a chance to participate next time. His classmates watched and learned from Devon's reactions that change can be seen as an added spice to life.