Monday, August 03, 2009

How do I deal with this?

I'll admit that I'm desperate for help.

There's this girl in a class I teach. I suspect that she's dyslexic. Sometimes I observe her doing her own work. What I saw: she was doing her geography homework - and she was copying the textbook. Word by word. Everytime I gave these girls some individual work, I noticed her friends are actually the ones doing the writing for her.

It calls for an investigation. I asked her friends about her, but I still haven't asked the teachers. I found out she had trouble reading. She had trouble distinguishing sounds and making sense of spellings. Dyslexic? There is a probability that may be so.

I found out even more beyond her impaired ability to read. It was test week during my first arrival at school. I was assigned to invigilate the Maths and Science test for this particular class. As I was doing my rounds, I noticed her arms. They were riddled with scars. There were some short and thick ones. But most were long thin lines criss-crossing her arms. A friend of hers told me that she had family problems. I was also informed that earlier this year she cut herself on her arms; she explains the reason for the long thin scars which caresses along her arms like a slithering snake making its way up a fair and smooth branch.

She didn't seem depressed. She was smiling a lot. She participated (and interrupted) during my teaching session. Well, she's quiet most of the time. Somehow, the more I look at her the more I saw. In her eyes I saw a quiet struggle. A struggle she took her sweet time fighting. She pushed forward but did not pushed hard. It felt like there's something big on top her - trying to crush her - but she's only holding it off where it only stops inches away from crushing her into singularity.

I have little experience with these kind of troubles. I live a normal happy life; to tell them I can help them would be a tad too difficult. I was also informed that she went in and out of counseling.

What do I do? How do I deal with this?

7 comments:

RiEn_Akio said...

Huhuhu...
This is tough...

Well, I think...
FIRST and FOREMOST, DON'T think about this too much to the extend of putting extra stress on your shoulders... Remember; you're a human being, not superman!

One way you can help is by getting her to open up to someone, and hopefully the counseling helps too...
But getting her to open up to someone takes time... So be patient... Remember; she doesn't trust anyone at the moment... and she is aware that she's a "hot" topic...

You're on the right track at the moment... Just continue observing her... watch for any changes; good or bad... And discuss with the teachers that knows/is teaching her. Ask for their advices. That'll help you too. ^_^

Miss Jess_Lyne said...

Poor girl:-(
Huzen, for starters, maybe you can do small things like praising her for the little things that she does well, like good handwriting or ask her questions that you know that she can answer (then u praise her). make her feel noticed and appreciated for her effort (but don't 4get ur other students la). dia mcm ada suicide tendencies kan, she needs help pronto. Like niza said, get advice from the teachers and see where u can go from there.

Sara Alishar said...

Poor girl.

Sara Alishar said...

My little brother used to be dyslexic. The teachers called my parents to school and showed them a piece of article about this kind of syndrome.

Then, we found out my mother was dyslexic too when she was younger. It was funny back then.

Do some research of both: dyslexia and depression. You, Irwan, musn't do this alone you know. Discuss with your colleagues.

Eric G said...

JEN, TRIP EMO TU.

Zen said...

Niza,

yeah you're rite. Im no superman. I don't have to do everything.

Jess,

Yep, done that. thanks.

Sahara,

I see it runs in the family. I'll find time for the research and a new resolve: I'll never work alone.

Eric,

jan ko begitu ba.

Aik? ada akaun suda? Kenapa aku tidak buli tinguk?

Eric G said...

haha, gmail ja tuh.