My Personal Research Journey

A Small but Mighty Person

      I want to share a story about a child I had that will forever impact how I operate as an educator and individual.  At the time, I was an infant teacher working in a classroom of eight children zero to age one and a half with two teachers, including myself.  I remember my Director telling us before we had a meeting with the family prior to the child starting, that she had a lot of things going on and it would be a challenge.  But I was not prepared for the challenge ahead.  The parents informed us their daughter, Charolotte, had been born as a micro preemie at less than two pounds.  Her digestive system, vision, lungs, and muscular system did not develop typically because of her prematurity.

    Charlotte entered our care at the age of seven months.  At the time, she had a feeding tube directly connected to her abdominal area with a regulated pump in an attached backpack.  This backpack needed to be right next to her at all times in order not to pull the tube out of her abdomen.  Because her digestive system was so underdeveloped, she did not digest all of the liquid that entered her body.  Periodically, as the pump released milk she would throw up uncontrollably for minutes on end, several times throughout the day.  It was absolutely heartbreaking to watch!

     Charlotte also had glasses to help correct her vision.  She was not a fan of these glasses at all.  Charolotte tried to pull them off all the time and would get frustrated with the strap that secured them onto her face.  If she was to get any illness, the family had to rush her out of state to the closest NICU to get breathing treatments and preventative antibiotics for her digestive system.  We live in a rural area with no NICU support.  And finally, she had just mastered sitting up and reaching for objects around her on her own upon entering our care.

      With all of these things to consider, us teachers had our heads spinning on how we could support this child successfully and inclusively in our setting.  So we broke down each challenge one by one on how we could make it work:

1. We purchased small backpacks that looked just like hers to offer the other children in the classroom.  We also found plastic tubing that was similar to hers that was attached to the backpack.  This helped us offer the curious mobile infants and toddlers a backpack and tubing  of their own to explore, rather than exploring Charlottes, which would be life threatening if removed from her body.
2. We contacted our local optometrist and requested them to donate children's glasses frames for the exact same reason.  The mobile children were very interested in her glasses, so we could offer spares to them to explore instead.  The teachers also chose to wear their glasses, rather than contacts for a time period.  We were pretty lucky both teachers wore prescription glasses!  Charlotte really got a kick out of this, seeing everyone else with glasses too.  She eventually stopped taking hers off and accepted them through this integration.
3. We practiced family style dining in our classroom and included Charlotte in every meal.  She started with just holding a utensil and rubbing her lips and tongue with it while the children ate.  Then, we started adding purees onto the utensil for tastings for her.  And eventually, she was able to start digesting purees as she took in small amount without regurgitating it back up.

       With all of these things in place, we were able to create a rich environment for Charlotte to thrive and be a part of.  It was just awesome to watch her progress in our classroom.  However, we did have set backs.  I can't sugar coat that this was not tough for the classroom and family to manage constantly.  At about age one year old, Charlotte started wanting to crawl, pull herself up to furniture, and cruise.  This became impossible to keep following her with her backpack that she was not strong enough to carry herself yet.  Her family had to make three emergency trips out of state to the NICU because she pulled her tubing out trying to use her body in motion.  Like I said before, this could be life threatening for her.  They had a five hour window to get her there once it happened.  After the third time, the medical professionals decided to create a new pump that was not always attached to her.  But rather just have a port that could be used periodically, rather than constantly.

      This adaptation fueled her development at warp speed.  This was the turning point that she began babbling and imitating sounds she heard around her, she started walking, and digesting first foods like puffs and purees.  The family left our center when Charlotte was two years old.  Her parents were able to get professions right down the street from the NICU she frequented so often out of state.

       To be a part of this with Charlotte, like I said before, I will never forget.  She was so determined to develop and grow.  We were able to make it easier on her body and her social-emotionally to do so.  Charlotte brought out a passion in me that I didn't know I had.  I was so determined to make it work for her and got frustrated when we hit roadblocks because I cared so deeply about her success.  I still think about her all the time and wonder how she is doing and what kind of progress she has made into elementary school.  And as I work with other teachers, I always encourage them to think outside of the box.  Sometimes it takes inventive thinking to turn a challenge into a success.  I hope this story inspires others in their educational challenges with students, families, and colleagues.