Chaos vs. Work in progress: the Eyeopener!
What a great class we had today: seven families, seven teens, seven completely different personalities. It is always a hit and miss with this class: all depends how each one of them feels on a given day. Bringing together and trying to harmonize their diverse backgrounds and characters is a rather tough task at times.
Meet the group for today:
Mr. A – the Gentle Observer
Mr. P – the Quiet Genius
Ms. N – the Smiling Angel
Ms. B – the Drama Queen
Mr. M – the Silent Feeler
Ms. S – the Delicate Princess
Mr. J – the Music Enthusiast
Each of them brings a unique quality to the class, considering they all have somewhat similar yet different diagnoses of Autism (dyspraxia, visual impairment, lack of verbal communication, etc) yet syncing them all to the same music, my count, the same timing, speed and direction, sometimes seems like waiting for a miracle, which happens at the most unexpected moments.
Today was one of those days! Class was chaotically disorganized: P was stuck, N was running around, B was so loud that I could barely hear myself, M was stressed squeezing his hands and cringing teeth, J, A and S seemed ok yet couldn’t get the steps right. As the first half hour of the class passed, I started feeling disappointed with myself for not being able to organize them well, I felt I was loosing control of the situation. So I decided to give them a break, for all of us to take a breath.
During the conversation break, two of the kids with nonverbal Autism, typing, complemented me on how well I was handling it all with my patience and subtle approaches specific for each teen. What a surprise for me to read those words! It reminded me how the perspectives forming our perceptions vary for everyone.
When I used to compete professionally, and at times complained about my performance compared to the high results, one of my mentors and coaches would always say “Are you the judge now?! You don’t know how your performance comes across, despite your internal feelings.”
Power of words is incomparable. Although internally I was feeling disappointed with myself and my ability to run a class, for the kids it was absolutely the opposite. Hearing those words from them, reminded me again of how our perceptions vary, and what we consider to be the truth is only a perspective; what we see as a failure, may look like a success for another. Therefore, the key is to never give up and keep trying. Just like all of us in our ASDance Teens and Parents Class. With each step of challenge we get one step closer to success!!! Just keep the rhythm and keep moving.