Re: George’s Legacy
Part 4 – Retarded?
2002 – 2009
It was Jenny’s bed time first. Mary brought her up and changed her into her favorite set of pajamas. Jenny thought it was neat-o that she got to sleep in a big girl bed. She went potty and then climbed into bed. Mary read her a bed time story and before turning out the lights, Mary picked up Tommy’s favorite blanket sleeper and kissed Jenny and her dolly good night. Then it was Tommy’s turn.
Mary carried Tommy up and laid him down on the changing table. She undressed him and cleaned him up since he had on a wet Pull-Up. Tom wasn’t paying much attention when his mom grabbed his ankles for a second time and lifted them. He figured she just had more to clean, but he was lowered immediately. Before he could figure out what was happening, his mom was fastening the tapes on the diaper.
“Mommy,” Tom asked? He was confused.
“Yes dear?”
“Am I a baby now mommy?”
Mary was surprised by this question. She expected yelling, kicking, and screaming. Tommy was calm. Mary thought about the question as she finished fastening up the diaper and started to put on his blanket sleeper. In her mind, he has always been her baby boy, but in this situation, she wasn’t going to tell him that.
“You have always been mommy’s little boy, but you are not a baby Tommy. Why do you think you are a baby?”
“Only babies wear diapers and sleep in cribs.”
“Oh honey, even kids older than you wear diapers. Diapers are for little boys and girls who do not or can not use the toilet. Since you will be in a crib at night and you can not get out to use the toilet, I thought a diaper would be best. The Pull-Ups leaked last night. I hope the diaper will not leak.” Mary purposely avoided talking about putting him in a crib. He was correct there, only babies slept in cribs.
“Silly mommy, seven year olds do not wear diapers.”
“Tommy, there are a lot of six, seven, eight and even nine year olds that wear diapers.” She figured there was no way Tommy would believe that even adults wear diapers, but he might believe kids just older than him still wear diapers.
Tom did not believe his mommy, for he knew only babies wore diapers. He had never seen anyone his age in a diaper. Older kids never wore diapers or Pull-Ups. Even little Kindergarteners always used the potty and never wet their pants. He had to be a baby. That had to be why mommy, daddy and teacher put him in Pull-Ups and now a diaper. Tom was about to say this to mommy, but he was distracted when mommy sat down in the rocking chair in the room with him on her lap. She reached over to the shelf next to her and picked up a bed time story. Before she had gotten far into the story, Tom fell asleep in her arms. She just sat there for a while before she got up and put him down to sleep in the crib.
Before leaving, she stood looking at Tommy. He looked so cute and little sleeping there in his blanket sleeper hugging his teddy. He did not look like a six year old in a baby crib, he looked like he belonged in the crib. It was just the right size. She knew he was small for his age, still wearing size 5 and some 4T clothing, but she didn’t think he would fit so nicely in the crib. She wondered if she was making a mistake putting him in a diaper and in the crib. She knew he needed the diaper, but was it right to put a six year old in a diaper. His teacher had sent him home in a Pull-Up, but to put him in a diaper? Jenny needed a regular bed, but was it right to put Tommy into her crib? Was she going too far? He was acting more like a baby every day. She was only giving him these things after he had shown her the need for them (everything except the crib), but what was really going on. Was he acting like a baby because he was being treated like one? A six year old should have thrown a fit over being put in a diaper. Tommy didn’t. He just accepted it. He didn’t ask about the diaper, he basically just asked if he was still a big boy.
George walked in and hugged his wife. “Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, I was just thinking.”
“How hard did he fight the crib and diaper?”
“He didn’t.”
George looked at Tom with a quizzical look. “Are we doing the right thing?”
Mary didn’t know how to answer that question, so she just hugged George and led him out of the room. They looked in on Jenny before going down stairs to watch some TV.
That night George had another strange dream. It started with a deep heavy voice: “Meet Mr. George Freemor. He does not live solely in the real world, he lives simultaneously in both the real world and the Twilight Zone. George needs to beware of what he says and thinks, the world around him is impacted by his perceptions.”
George then heard his own voice echo in his head, “My son is no retard. What do you expect us to do, put a diaper on him and put him in a class with retards that have to wear bibs and fed like a baby. No way! I am not having both my children in diapers.”
The deep voice could be heard again, “For a long time George has perceived his son as retarded, even though he wasn’t. He believed children should be toilet trained by their 3rd birthday, and only retarded children wet or messed their pants after that age. When the school said his son needed a little extra support at school in order to learn, George’s perceptions took the forefront. As a kid, he had always called the kids in special education Retards. Poor George is unable to get that perception out of his head. George’s son could have been anything George could have imagined. As George’s perceptions come more to the surface, his children grow to meet those perceptions. They will learn what it really means to be in The Twilight Zone.”
Jenny appeared from behind a mist. “Daddy it is okay, only one of us will be in diapers. I don’t wear diapers anymore, I am a big girl.” Jenny then picked up her dress and proudly showed her daddy the little girl panties with Winnie the Pooh on it. Jenny then disappeared into the mist.
The mist started to clear again, showing the same classroom as the last dream with the retarded 6 and 7 year olds who behaved like babies. George saw Tom playing on the floor with a stacking rings toy. He kept putting them on in the wrong order so only one or two would fit. A teacher came up to him and brought him back to a bathroom to change his diaper. She lifted him on to the changing table and quickly changed his wet and messy diaper, while Tom giggled and played with a little plastic toy horse. When the teacher was done changing the diaper, she stood him up on the floor with his pants still down around his ankles. “Be a big boy Tommy and pull up your pants,” the teacher said.
Tom looked down at his pants and up to the teacher, then he looked straight at George and said as he pulled up his pants, “Look Daddy, me big boy!” When they were up he started clapping and jumping up and down yelling, “Me Big Boy! Me Big Boy!” The image faded behind some mist as George heard the teacher say, “Good job Tommy, you are such a big boy.”
George woke up in a sweat. Mary was still asleep. He got up and went in to see Tom. Without thinking, he walked into Tom’s room and saw Jenny sleeping in the bed. George smiled at his daughter. He was so proud of his little girl growing up so fast. He kissed her on the forehead and went to look at Tom. He was also sound asleep, sleeping like a baby. Tom was hugging his teddy bear. George went up to him and lowered the rails of the crib. He kissed him on the forehead just as he had done with Jenny. George thought about the dream as he pulled the blanket up to keep Tom warm. He was confused. He didn’t really perceive his son as retarded, did he? George lifted the railing to the crib and stopped to look back as he reached the door to the room. George tried to view his son as a doctor, lawyer, or even a policeman, but he couldn’t. Looking at Tom wearing a diaper and sleeping in a crib was too much. No matter how hard he tried, he could only view Tom as a stupid retard. As George left the room one thought stayed in his head, – – – If he was anything other than a stupid retard, he would have fought to stay out of a diaper and the crib.
The next morning Mary walked into the nursery to wake Tommy up. She lowered the side rails of the crib and lifted him and his teddy bear out. Tommy was not really awake, but this did not stop Mary. She put him down on the changing table and started to change his diaper. It was wet, but unlike the Pull-Ups, it had not leaked. Mary cleaned him up and without thinking, she put another diaper on him. With him still half asleep, she decided to leave Tommy in his blanket sleeper. She carried him down stairs to breakfast. As they entered the kitchen, she saw Jenny sitting in Tommy’s booster seat, eating breakfast exactly where she had left her.
“Is it yummy Jenny,” Mary asked? Jenny shook her head has she continued to eat her oatmeal with her spoon. Mary looked at Jenny sitting in Tommy’s booster seat. She had a bib on that was spotless, and her face and hands were clean. The cup on the table with orange juice in it had about half as much as when she left, and Jenny had not spilled any. Jenny wasn’t near done with breakfast so Mary had to find a place to put Tommy till she was done eating. She looked around and spotted the highchair. She wasn’t sure if she should, he was six years old. She decided to put him in the high chair, but she left the tray off. She readjusted the chair so it would fit under the table. She buckled the straps before pushing the chair in so Tommy could eat off the table.
Jenny ignored this whole process, like it was normal for Tommy to be eating in the highchair. Tommy, still half asleep, didn’t say anything. Once he was settled, Mary went to get Tommy some breakfast. She put some oatmeal in a bowl and sprinkled in some fresh blueberries. She filled a glass half full of orange juice, and put some toast in the toaster for him. She couldn’t stop thinking about how nice it was to have two dry beds this morning. She didn’t have to clean any wet sheets or pajamas today. As she started to bring the oatmeal over to Tommy she stopped half way there. She looked at the oatmeal and then at Jenny and Tommy.
“You know Jenny,” Mary said, not really expecting Jenny to say anything back. “If I give him this, I will have a very messy pair of blanket sleepers to clean. I don’t really want to deal with that this morning. I think it is time for Tommy to wear a bib again. After the last few meals, he definitely needs one.”
Mary went back to get a bib for Tommy. When she put it on him, all he said was, “I love you Mommy.”
When she put the oatmeal down in front of him, the first thing he did was reach in with his hands and eat some of the blueberries. In this process, some of the oatmeal dripped down onto the table and his bib.
“You see Jenny,” Mary said. “I guess it was a good thing I put the bib on Tommy.”
“Tommy messy. Jenny clean.” Jenny said with a big smile on her face.
“Yes dear,” Mary replied chuckling to herself.
A few minutes later George came down to breakfast. What greeted him at the table was not what he expected. “It figures,” he said quietly as he rolled his eyes and sat down.
“Did you sleep well honey,” Mary asked when she saw him?
“No,” George replied. “I had another strange dream last night.”
“Really,” Mary inquired. “What was this one about?”
George knew Mary did not like him talking about his beliefs of being in the Twilight Zone, especially in front of the kids. He decided to be careful about what he said. “It was about the kids and how fast they are changing.”
“Jenny sure is growing up real fast isn’t she? I don’t even think she needs a bib any more for meals, and she does fine without a sippy cup. It is amazing isn’t it? A week ago if you told me my brand new three year old would be toilet trained in a week, I would have laughed at you. But look at her now, she is in cloth training pants, and I would guess that by the end of the week I will have her in regular little girl panties. She doesn’t even wet the bed at night anymore.”
“Yeah,” George agreed, “she is growing up fast.” And to himself, he thought – – at least I have one NORMAL child, and one stupid retard. He looked over at Tommy just as he was putting his juice back down on the table, causing it to spill in the process.
As the day went on, Mary started to get worried about George. He had spent all day Saturday just watching the kids, and now he was spending all day Sunday doing the same. She had expected him to complain about Tommy being in diapers, a highchair, the sippy cup she gave Tommy at lunch time, and the crib. He didn’t. George just sat watching the children. He wasn’t playing with them, helping with them, or doing anything except watching them.
“Are you okay honey,” Mary asked George one time after bringing Tom back from changing his Pull-Ups (she had put him in a Pull-Up when she got him dressed after breakfast).
“Yes,” George said hesitantly. “I was just wondering if it was my fault Tommy is acting so much like a baby.”
Mary was confused by this, it didn’t make any sense to her. “What do you mean?”
“My dream said Tom acts like this because I think he is retarded. My dream told me he would act like a normal six year old, if I could just view him as one.” George explain as he watched Tom playing with one of Jenny’s infant toys, one of those pop-up toys where you push or turn something and a figure pops up.
“What are you talking about honey,” Mary inquired? Mary had never viewed Tom as retarded, and was surprised George did. “Tommy is just delayed in certain things, he isn’t retarded. It is not your fault George that he has delays.”
“I am not sure about that. I said I didn’t want two kids in diapers at the school meeting. Well, I don’t have two kids in diapers. Jenny got out and Tom went in.”
“He needed the diapers George.”
“Maybe, but is that because of me?”
“No George, it is not because of you. Tommy has always had trouble controlling his bladder and bowels.”
“Yeah, but is that because . . . .”
“George, no!” Mary was not sure how he figured it was his fault. She was angry at him for pushing on Tom that certain things were babyish before he was ready to outgrow them, but Mary knew Tom had developmental delays and that was not because of George. It was just a coincidence Jenny got out of diapers at the same time Tommy went back in. It had nothing to do with the comment George made at the school meeting. Mary however, could not get one concept out of her mind. Could Tommy really be retarded? That would explain a lot, but could it really be true. The school psychologist at the meeting said he wasn’t, but was she correct?
Just then, Jenny came up to the two of them with Tommy in tow as she held his hand. “Mommy, Tommy went poopy in his diapers.”
“Tommy is wearing Pull-Ups, not diapers Jenny.” Mary said as she stood up and took Tommy’s hand. “Thank you Jenny, you are a good sister to Tommy.”
As they started up the stairs, Mary heard Jenny talking to George, “I am a big girl Daddy. I go poopy in the potty.”
************************************************** ******************** Part 5 – Back to School
2002 – 2009
On Monday morning Mary got Tommy up a little early to get him ready for school. She decided to wait till after breakfast to get him dressed. At breakfast, just like all the meals on Sunday, Mary put Tommy in the highchair. She still wasn’t using the tray, but she did put a bib on him and gave him a sippy cup. While Tommy was eating breakfast, Mary sat looking at him trying to figure out what she was going to tell Mrs. Arrons, Tommy’s special education teacher. Mary had told Mrs. Arrons she would call on Monday.
Mary changed Tommy out of the diaper and put a new Pull-Up on him. She thought about the Pull-Ups being pink and for girls, but she just shrugged, they still had tons of little girl Pull-Ups left. Jenny was never going to come close to using them all, so Tommy would have to use them up. She grabbed five of them and placed them aside to put in his school backpack. Getting him dressed faced Mary with a new challenge. Issue number one, all his clothes were in his room where Jenny was still sleeping. Issue number two, the first pair of pants she put on Tommy were not going to be appropriate for school, all the other kids would be able to tell he was wearing a Pull-Up. Mary wasn’t trying to hide them, but she didn’t want to make them too obvious.
Once he was dressed she sent him down to play as she got his backpack together. She put the Pull-ups in and a tub of baby wipes. She put the pair of pants Mrs. Arrons sent Tommy home in on Friday, along with two other pairs. She made sure he still had a clean shirt and socks in there just in case. Mary felt more like she was packing a diaper bag than a school backpack. The only thing missing was a bib and a sippy cup, but that would be inappropriate for an elementary school. Mary chuckled at this thought, for Pull-Ups and baby wipes were extremely inappropriate for elementary school but she was still sending her son to school with them. When she started to think about what the other kids in his first grade class would say when they find out he is in Pull-Ups, she almost changed him into underwear. She wasn’t sure about sending a six year old to school in Pull-Ups, but Mrs. Arrons had put him in them on Friday, so it must be okay.
As Mary stood at the bus stop with Tommy, she looked around at the other kids. Here she was, about to put her baby boy who is still in diapers on a school bus for first grade. – – – A kid in diapers on a school bus? – – – This just seemed too strange to Mary, she couldn’t do it. As the bus approached, she took Tommy’s hand and walked back home.
“What’s wrong? Didn’t the bus come?” George asked as they walked back into the house?
“I couldn’t do it George. I couldn’t put a kid in diapers on a school bus. I am going to bring him to school today.” She told Tommy to go play while she got Jenny up and dressed. George hugged and kissed them both and headed off to work.
Mary quickly got Jenny up and changed out of her dry night time Pull-Ups. This process was only slowed down by Jenny having to run off to the bathroom to go potty. Jenny was put in a pair of cloth training pants with little pink flowers all over them. Mary initially grabbed a pink pair of overalls with snaps down the legs (Jenny loved them), but then put them back. Mary didn’t know why, but she wanted Jenny to look really nice and did not want her to look babyish. She put Jenny in a pretty little dress with frills and lace. When Mary put Jenny’s hair in pigtails, it was the crowning effect to make her absolutely adorable. As Mary carried her down stairs to get the two kids in the car, one thought came and went very quickly – – – at least one of my kids won’t look like a baby.
Ten minutes before school was to begin, Mary pulled into the school parking lot. A lot of parents were dropping their kids off, but most of them were not getting out of their cars. At the office, Mary asked for Mrs. Arrons’ room. She was told it was down the first hallway, third door on the left. Then the office secretary turned to Tom and asked him to show his mommy to Mrs. Arrons’ room. Tommy started down the hall in front of Mom and Jenny. Mary had to call him back, when he was going the wrong way. Mary just shook her head as she took his hand and brought him down to Mrs. Arrons’ room. As they walked in the room, they saw Mrs. Arrons sitting at her desk typing on her computer.
“Hi Mrs. Arrons,” Tom said.
“Well, well, well. Good morning Tom. I was expecting to get a call from you this morning Mrs. Freemor, what a nice surprise to see you. And who do we have here?”
“I’m Jenny,” she said with a glee to her voice only a toddler has.
“Hello there Jenny,” Mrs. Arrons said as she kneeled down in front of her. “And how old are you?”
“I’m this many,” she gleefully said holding up three fingers. “I’m a big girl. I wear big girl panties.” Jenny said as she pulled up her dress to show off her training pants.
“Jenny!” Mrs. Freemor said trying to push down her dress.
“It’s okay Mrs. Freemor,” Mrs. Arrons interrupted. “She is just proud of her big girl panties.” Mrs. Arrons turned back to Jenny and said, “Wow, they are very pretty big girl panties. Have you been getting all your pee-pee and poopy in the potty like a big girl?”
“Yup,” She said with a big huge smile. “I got lots of Pull-Ups for my Biwthday, but I gave em to Tom cus’ I big girl and use potty. Tom doesn’t, so he wears Pull-Ups.”
Mrs. Arrons now stood up and turned to Mrs. Freemor who had a very red face after Jenny’s last comment. “How can I help you this morning Mrs. Freemor.”
“I just had a hard time putting a kid in diapers on the school bus. Your not suppose to send kids to school in diapers.”
“Diapers,” Mrs. Arrons questioned looking at Tom and then back at Mrs. Freemor. “So did you decide to go with diapers instead of Pull-Ups?”
“I’m sorry, he is in Pull-Ups. But they are for all practical purposes . . .”
“Yes they are, but it is better for the kids if you distinguish the difference between the two.”
“Tom, take Jenny and go over to the toys and play.” Mrs. Arrons said. She waited for the two of them to go off to the toys before continuing. “So, how did the weekend go?”
“Well, Tommy only used the toilet twice this weekend, and both times were on Saturday. I have been putting him in diapers at night, because the Pull-Ups leak at night. He is not happy about wearing the girl Pull-Ups, but we bought a lot for Jenny and she will not be using them. She has been dry at night for a week now, and over the last five days, she has been dry and clean during three of them.”
“My, oh, my. You have had a busy last few days. How is Mr. Freemor handling all of this?”
“He has found it hard to have his 3 year old using the toilet and his 6 year old back in diapers, I’m sorry Pull-Ups. Not to mention the rest of the issues with Tommy.”
“I know you didn’t expect when Tommy was born to send him to school in diapers, but he is not the first child I have had over the years in Pull-Ups.”
“Do you have other children at the moment in Pull-Ups?”
“Not this year,” Mrs. Arrons said looking at Tommy. “I have a few kids who occasionally have accidents, but Tommy is the only one on my caseload with accidents frequent enough to need Pull-Ups. I usually have one or two each year in Pull-Ups. Mrs. Freemor, I am curious about something you said and I question where we are going with this. If Tommy isn’t using the toilet, we have a very different issue to address here. I stress to the parents and child that Pull-Ups are for children who use the potty, and diapers are for kids who don’t.”
“Well, a week ago he was using the toilet about 75 percent of the time. I think the current set back is due to his little sister being so successful in her toilet training. The more success she has, the harder time Tommy has. It must be hard for him to see his baby sister do something so easily that he has struggled with for years.”
“Yes, children often have set backs when that happens. The other thing that causes set backs is actually putting them back into some type of protective undergarment. The child becomes less stressed over their control issues and tends to have more accidents. If you combine the two issues together with Tommy, we may be fighting an uphill battle. Staying dry and clean may just be too much for him at this time.”
“What should we do Mrs. Arrons? Should we just put him in a diaper and stop pushing him to use the toilet?”
“NO!” Mrs. Arrons said adamantly. “I see Jenny is still in cloth training pants instead of panties even though she has stayed clean and dry three of the last five days. Well, let’s give Tommy a week in Pull-Ups before we go either way. We ask and encourage him to use the toilet, but do not send him to use it. I will track his use at school and you track it at home. We’ll talk regularly throughout the week to track the progress.”
Buzzzzzzzzzzz – the school bell rang throughout the building interrupting their conversation.
“Oh my,” Mrs. Arrons said. “I am sorry Mrs. Freemor, but I have only ten minutes before kids arrive in my room and Tommy needs to check into his first grade room before he comes back here for reading. I assume he has extra Pull-Ups in that backpack you are holding.” Mrs. Arrons then turned to Tommy and said, “Tommy clean up quickly, you have to get to class.”
“Yes, he has five Pull-Ups in here along with changes of clothes. There is also the pair of pants you were kind enough to lend Tommy on Friday. Take everything in the backpack out and store it here. I will check the backpack everyday and send what is needed. As soon as we get some boy Pull-Ups, I will send a bag to school. Until we use up all the girl Pull-Ups, I will just send a few at a time.”
“Tommy hurry up,” Mrs. Arrons said. “You can send a package of the girl Pull-Ups if you want. The other children will never know whether his Pull-Ups are for boys or girls. If you want to talk more, I would be happy to meet with you later in the day or tomorrow, but I really have to get ready for the kids.”
“Oh, I’m sorry Mrs. Arrons. I know I should have called first, but I just couldn’t put a kid in Pull-Ups on the bus. He seemed so babyish compared to the other children at the bus stop.”
“If you want to meet an hour before school ends, I would be happy to meet with you then.”
“That would be great. I will see you then,” Mrs. Freemor said as the two kids came back to the adults.
“Tommy, you need to quickly go down to class. You are late. I will see you during reading.” Mrs. Arrons said.
Mrs. Freemor said goodbye and took the kids down to Tommy’s first grade classroom. She dropped Tommy off without telling his first grade teacher about the Pull-Ups. She felt strange leaving the school without mentioning to anyone about the addition of a bib and sippy cup at home. She knew the crib and highchair were inappropriate for a six year old and she had no intention of ever mentioning those to anyone at school.
At reading time, Tom was sent down to Mrs. Arrons’ room. He got lost on the way. One of the fifth graders found Tommy hiding in a corner crying. He took him by the hand and brought him to the office, and then they directed him to bring Tommy to Mrs. Arrons’ room. The fifth grader, named Mike, got Tommy to stop crying before they reached Mrs. Arrons’ room, but she could see he had been crying.
“Are you Mrs. Arrons,” Mike asked upon entering the room?
“Yes,” Mrs. Arrons responded as she went up to Tommy and kneeled down in front of him. “What happened?”
“I am not sure, but I found him scrunched down in a corner of the Intermediate Wing. He was crying and appeared very scared. I brought him to the office and they directed me here.”
“Thank You. That was very nice of you,” Mrs. Arrons said. “And what is your name?”
“Mike Simmons, mam.”
“Well Mike, you did a very good job rescuing Tommy.”
“I have a lot of experience rescuing little crying kids. I have a four year old little sister who cries whenever she is scared. Tommy here was a little harder to get to stop crying, but the same tricks that work with my little sister worked with him.”
“Thank You Mike. I will take Tommy from here. Let me get you a pass back to class. Who is your teacher?”
“Mrs. Johana”
As Mrs. Arrons handed Mike a note for his teacher, she said, “Mike, if you ever see Tommy in the hall by himself, could you please bring him to my room?”
“Sure, no problem Mrs. Arrons.” Mike then turned to Tommy and said, “Now Tommy, have a good day and try not to get lost again.” He then tickled Tommy under the chin before leaving.
Tommy waved goodbye, but did not say anything. Mrs. Arrons brought him over to her desk and tried to get out of him how he got down into the Intermediate wing. Tommy was not much help. He told her he left his first grade room and he couldn’t find her room. She sat him down at his desk and gave him some work to do. In the back of her head, she started to figure out ways to make sure there was always someone to escort him from place to place. At the same time, she was trying to figure out how his schedule would need to change to allow her to check his Pull-Ups about every two hours.
As the morning went on, Mrs. Arrons was noticing something strange with Tommy. He didn’t seem to know how to do many of the things he could do last week. He wasn’t even consistently spelling his name ‘Tom’ correctly. When she sent the other primary kids off to recess, she took Tommy to the bathroom to check his Pull-Ups. They needed changing as she expected. Tommy had not used the toilet so far that morning. Mrs. Arrons had asked him several times if he needed to go potty, but he always said “No”.
At Lunch, Mrs. Freemor was getting Jenny’s lunch ready when a scary thought entered her head. She went over to the refrigerator and looked at the school lunch schedule. She breathed a sigh of relief. Tom would be having chicken nuggets for lunch, with pees and apple slices. Mary knew Tommy’s decreased eating skills would not be an issue with this lunch. She looked at the rest of the week. It was on Wednesday that his eating skills would be an issue. Mary turned back to Jenny, who was sitting in Tom’s booster seat. She hoped Tom’s eating skills would increase before Wednesday, so she wouldn’t have to discuss the issue with the school. She didn’t want to tell the school about putting a bib on a six year old or giving him a sippy cup.
The rest of the school day revealed a different child to Mrs. Arrons. Due to some of the oddities she was seeing with Tommy, she decided to do some observations of him at Recess and Lunch. Other than the testing she had done on Tom to get him into Special Education, she had only worked with him for a week, but she could tell something was different. She went to the files to check the test results to make sure she remembered them correctly. Work samples, test results, and information from parents and classroom teacher did not appear to match the child she was seeing today. Even the IQ test placed his skills much higher than what she was seeing. This was curious, but there was not enough for her to bring this issue to Mrs. Freemor’s attention yet. Maybe Tom was only having a bad day. Maybe Tom always had trouble on Mondays. The Monday effect was common with some of her kids, but this appeared different. He seemed more – – immature than before. He is more clingy and appears to get frustrated more easily. Maybe tomorrow will be different.
Mrs. Arrons had no luck getting Tom to use the toilet. He was wet every time she checked and her plea to have him tell her when he needed changing was ineffective. He didn’t even appear to mind going around in poopy pants. Just before her meeting with Mrs. Freemor, she sent the other children back to class and changed Tommy again. She now remembered why she would recommend diapers to a parent when a child wasn’t using the toilet. This was the fourth time today she had to take off his shoes and pants, just so she could put on the new Pull-Ups. In diapers she wouldn’t have to take these off each time. It was so much easier and faster to change a child in a diaper. Even during the changing, he appeared different. Last week she got him to help in the changing process, but today, he didn’t appear to understand what she was asking him to do. She had to treat him more like he was functioning at a 24 month level. The testing put his personal / social skills at a 4 year old level, somewhere between 48 to 54 month level. All this puzzled Mrs. Arrons, even a mildly mentally retarded child Tom’s age should be functioning more around the 36 month level, and Tom according to the testing was not mentally retarded.