As I have mentioned previously, I
just recently found out that one of my students spent the first 2 years of his
life living in poverty, isolation, and neglect. Both of his parents abused
drugs, and they left him in his crib, alone in his bedroom. From what we were
told, parents would go in a couple times a week to give him food, but that was
it. When CPS found him, he was naked in his crib with feces everywhere, and was
extremely malnourished. Because of how he lived this first 2 years of his life
he was severely delayed cognitively, physically, socially/emotionally,
adaptively, and in the area of communication. Luckily his great aunt adopted
him, and immediately started getting him early intervention services. Other
than cognitive and communication, he is developmentally where he should
be.
A previous student of mine who I
had from 2nd grade to 6th grade (now in 8th grade), has been experiencing some
severe social/emotional struggles this year. Back in December it was learned
that he had attempted suicide and had a plan to try again. He was hospitalized
for about 4 weeks and is now receiving counseling. He struggled with being
quarantined and out of school for so long (March-September), he lost two family
members to Covid, upon returning to school he had to quarantine two different
times due to being in direct contact with someone who was positive, and several
of his classmates/friends had to quarantine on different occasions. I have
heard at church and in the news that mental health issues are higher than they
have ever been due to Covid, and quarantining.
The things that children have to
face on a daily basis is heartbreaking.
Oh my goodness, my heart aches for the little one you mentioned above. I cannot imagine what that poor little guy went through, but I am so glad that he was rescued when he was and sounds like he's in a much better home now. I hope that with the proper help and resources, he will be able to go on and live a successful life with all of the happiness he deserves.
ReplyDeleteIt is so hard for me to hear stories like this. I want a baby so badly and seem to be having so much trouble. Then I hear stories like this about a baby being neglected and I am filled with so many emotions. It's hard to have hatred towards the parents because they where struggling themselves. Yes, it's not right how they where treating their child but they where not in the right mind set. They might have thought that's all he needed. They may have felt they where doing the right thing. The parents minds where all about their drug use. They where focused on themselves and their wants and feelings of needing drugs to stay "normal". This is so sad.
ReplyDeleteIt is so important as educators and caregivers to build relationships with our students. We have to make ourselves available to them so they feel they can talk to use about anything. We also have to make sure we are always on the look out for different emotions, actions, and "out of the normal" behaviors children are showing.
It’s always heartbreaking to hear about children dealing with trauma in any level. I am happy that a relative wanted him and have been doing her best with ensuring that he gets the services he needs. As adults, it has been tough trying to cope with the pandemic. The pandemic has been extremely difficult for children. The younger generation is used to be out and socializing with peers. Children with delays are struggling even more because some of them are unable to really express their feelings. As professionals, we have to be vigilant even through the pandemic to serve the children the best we can.
ReplyDelete