Something about Mol had me immediately. I don't know if it was her joyful smile or her beautiful eyes but i knew she was a child I wanted to work with. So much has changed since those first weeks.
At the beginning, it was all about playing with her. We read fairy tales I wasn't sure she understood, made various princess related crafts and attempted to play board games. I knew she was bright but I didn't realise until much later just how clever she is. In a way, I regret not beginning to work with her properly earlier but I realise that the time we spent together just playing was important. I learnt how she communicates, I started to see how much she could understand and it gave me the chance to think about what I wanted her to learn. I can safely say she has supassed my highest expectations.
At some point I realised just how bright Mol is. I started working on reading with her using matching puzzles. She could do them all instantly. I was concerned she was only reading the first letter so I gave her options starting with the same letter and she still did it with ease. I googled how to teach non-verbal children to read. I followed the instructions anticipating it would take at least a week for her to be able to tell me a word on a flashcard independently. Boy was I wrong. I showed her once and she was off. Of course she made a few mistakes now and again but she was reading 90% of them correctly. I continue to work on reading with Molly every day, now working on sentences and grammar. I am slowly learning to abandon any expectations I have of her and just see what she can do. I have been doing an activity this week wich involves choosing a word to complete a sentence. Initially I was reading the sentence to her and just getting her to read the options for the missing word. Yesterday I decided not to read the sentence to her. She completed the sentences with the same accuracy as when I was reading them to her. This girl will go on to achieve so much, I can't wait to see what.
Molly brightens my day every time I see her. Her whole face lights up and she grins from ear to ear. She has the best laugh and cracks up when I pull faces at her or pretend to do something stupid (or actually do....). She's a very sensetive child. She cries when something happens she doesn't like and she starts tearing up if I make a joke about going somewhere without her. It's in those moments I can see the scars from her childhood and I realise yet again just how amazing this young lady is.
Her communication skills have just exploded recently. Every day she says something that makes me laugh. Today she used her communication book to say 'me, drink, you, please'..... She was asking/telling me to get her chai wich is normally just gives to the adults! I got her some and she was thrilled! She has also learnt to trick me. I was looking for he book we were reading together and had just given up when she said 'book, behind' then looked at the door. 'Is it behind the door Mol?' With a very serious face she nodded yes. As soon as I pulled back the door, she burst out laughing! She thourght it would be a great way to get out of school work. This girl has such a big personality.
I like to think that I am making a difference to her life. I hope she can continue to communicate so effectively once I leave and that she will have many more words at her disposal. I hope that she can read well enough that she can occupy herself with a book and learn about all the things I would like to teach her but don't have the time to. But overall she is having a bigger impact on me. She has taught me so much about expectations. She has taught me about determination. She forces me every day to be more creative. She highlights how what we say does not always come from our mouths, that so much can come from the way we look at something or a gesture or a facial expression. She reminds me that people can do so much more if you give them the chance. I think back to that first month when I hadn't realised just how incredible Molly is. It makes me wonder how many people I don't give a real chance to. It is so easy to discredit people. To say that because they can't or don't do something the same way as other people they can't do it at all. I love Molly so much and wish I could bring her home with me. Instead, I will bring the things she has taught me home as these are thourghts that will be with me forever.
She's getting so good at counting! All I needed to do was help her move her finger!
The first book she read by herself. Can't be sure she read every word correctly but certainly enough to answer my questions.
