Julia

Billy, will you read your problem for us? Billy had 23 marbles. His brother gave him some more marbles and then they had 48 in all. How many marbles did his brother give him? How do we write your problem, Billy? Like 23 plus n equals 48. 23 plus n equals 48. Now, how do we find the value of n in this problem? Ann? Well, if we know the sum of the two addends and we know one of the addends then we subtract it from the sum to get the one we don't know. Juliet, do you agree with Ann on how to solve this problem? Billy, is that the way to solve your problem? Yes, that's right. Yes, the plus sign tells you what to do. Now, look at the problems in your book. The top of the page, section A. You see they have different signs. Some are problems in addition, some in subtraction, some in multiplication, some in division. The sign in each problem tells you what to do. Now, I want you to work the review problems and make sure you pay attention to the signs. Julia, I've worked the problem. Ann let Julia do her homework. Not the problem from the board, Julia. Here in the book. Page 323. You see that little girl over there? She's the one that really worries me. Oh, isn't that the Nelson child? What's wrong with her? I'm beginning to think she may be a child. It's just beginning to show up. She seems so DULL AND APATHETIC. COME ON, JULIA. THE BELL RANG. PUT YOUR SPELLING BOOKS AWAY NOW, CLASS. Review time is up. Time for the spelling test. All you should have on your desk is a piece of paper and a pencil. Now, remember, if you don't understand, raise your hand. All right? The first word is whose. Whose. Chased. Chased. War. War. Engine. Engine. Tent. Tent. Belt. Belt. Popcorn. Popcorn. Fence. Fence. Now what was it you wanted to talk to me about? I'm very worried about Julia Nelson. She's never been a very outgoing child, but lately she seems more and more withdrawn. I can't seem to get any response from her. Some days she doesn't say half a dozen words and her attention span in class is short, too. She doesn't seem to be ill. No, there's a slowness and general lack of response. I really think she may be a child with a handicap that's just beginning to show up enough to be recognizable. Is this just in class? How about on the playground with the other children? She doesn't make many overtures to the other children and for the most part they seem to just ignore her. They aren't actively unfriendly or cruel or anything like that. It's just that she doesn't make any particular impression on them. Is this something that has just happened or has she been this way all the time? Well, it's recently become a problem. I don't think I noticed anything unusual at first. I do feel if she's allowed to go on this way she could become a disruptive element in the classroom and interfere with our normal routine and I don't want that to happen. What is it you think ought to be done? I'd like the psychologist to check her. If she is the sooner she can be placed in a special education program, the better it will be for her and for the other children in the class. It would certainly be helpful to know just what the situation is with her. I'll have to make the arrangements and let you know about it later. And of course, how long do you think it will take? It will probably take a couple of weeks to make the arrangements and get the appointment. Then another week to get a report back. That puts us into the first part of next month. I do feel the sooner she can be placed into a special education class, the better it will be for everybody. Let's get a little more information about her before we make any decisions, shall we? Your observation in the classroom is consistent with my own findings. So, you see, when you pointed out Julia's increasing isolation, Miss Dawson, you called attention to a problem that does need immediate attention. Then you did find that Julia is No, no, that isn't the problem. Actually, I found her to be somewhat above average, although this isn't indicated by her level of achievement or by results on group intelligence tests. What is it then? I discovered it had been several years since Julia's last hearing evaluation. So, while she was at the clinic, I had the audiologist check her. He found a definite hearing impairment that's probably been coming on rather slowly for quite some time. But surely I'd have noticed something like that. It's probably been coming on so gradually that you didn't identify it. What you did notice, of course, was Julia's progressively withdrawn behavior. Do you recommend that Julia be placed in a special education program? No, not at present and certainly not full-time. There are very real reasons for keeping Julia with her group in her regular classroom. Wouldn't it really be better for Julia to be in a special class? If she can't hear, she will miss so much of what goes on in a regular class. We have to make sure she can hear. A desk hearing aid may be necessary and you'll have to change some of your classroom procedures, too. Change procedures? She already sits at the front of the room. That's just one factor. Actually, there's a whole cluster of problems here to be considered. We need to identify them and then go on to give Julia the kind of help she needs. Now, I say we, actually it's you, Miss Dawson, who knows Julia the best. You're with her every day. The primary responsibility for helping Julia rests with you.