Reflections on the Workshops Conducted

Preparations for My Workshops

In deference to my memory of Timmi, I invested tremendous time and effort to modify the presentation of my workshops. Particularly, for the slide shows, I inserted photos, enhanced the presentation of materials and introduced additional resources and materials to create a dynamic and varied workshop. Throughout this preparation, I was acutely conscious of how much of my work is a cumulative product of my ongoing and evolving journey to raise and homeschool Sebastien. Ultimately, what makes my workshops unique and special is that they are infused with my love, passion and commitment for my life with Sebastien.

Although he is not present at any of my workshops, there is no question that he is an integral part of their every aspect. From his photos that speak a thousand words to the participants, his work samples from our homeschooling programme to the stories of Sebastien’s exploits (both positive and negative), Sebastien is a vital partner in my work. Without him, these workshops could not have existed. And my ongoing journey with him offers me endless training that keeps feeding and challenging my spirit of creativity. How do I keep on growing with Sebastien? How do I continue to find new ways to build on his growing consciousness, his improving functioning levels and his adolescent confidence, in the face of his continuous (though evolving) deficits?

Implementation of My Workshops

The blessing of my work comes through most powerfully after I have implemented them. This year, my workshops have left me with intense feelings of gratitude for the work I do. In two workshops, I can genuinely sense that the participants were enthused and moved by my work with Sebastien. I salute them for their dedication to their work with students with special needs. After all, they have actively chosen to dedicate their work lives to a challenging situation; whereas parents and caregivers of children with special needs like me were thrust, against our wills, into these situations. For their willingness and passion to enter this field, I celebrate them.

In doing with my training with these professionals, I have been greatly humbled by their credentials and professional training that they have received. At the same time, I can also see that for many of them who have not been exposed to a full-time life and the universe of special needs, as I have (along with many other caregivers), they are honestly fazed by the task of interacting with and teaching such children.

What I thus sought to do was to chip away at their sense of the unknown by giving them a glimpse into the perspective of individuals with special needs. I have also attempted to highlight the fact that teaching a child with special needs is not rocket science; it simply requires an open mind, a vast reservoir of love and a dogged sense of curiosity. These ingredients are vital in pushing you to keep thinking outside the box, to figure out the way to make that connection with a child who acts in ways that appear foreign or even disturbing.

Ultimately, suspending that tendency towards the norm is the key, I have discovered, to forging that special connection with these uniquely wonderful children with special needs.

P.S. I am glad to say that with the completion of these first three workshops of the year, I am likely to have an additional workshop for parents of autistic children from a primary school; along with two autism workshops for teachers at a special needs school, as well as a primary school. More details will be provided upon their confirmation.