Thomas the Train

Let me first paint a picture for you. Think of a 17 year old young man who was probably 6'2-3" and 200 lbs. A big kid. He had a boofy curly fro, 80's glasses with one of those fabric elastic bands to keep them on his face, wore a Winne the Pooh t-shirt that had an extra panel sewn on the bottom to make the shirt long enough (he was big!), wore black sweats and old man velcro shoes. He carried a suitcase around with him full of Thomas the Train books that were memorized and well loved- crinkled and taped together again and again. He was autistic with a big heart and has the social skills of a 4 year old, which made him absolutely charming and one of my favorite students of all time.

If you think through the implications of a line backer sized kid who had the social skills of a 4 year old, it sets ya up with a lot of funny stories to tell. For example, one day he disappeared. I went out in the hallway to find him and there he was with about 4 other students doing Ring Around the Rosies. The other 4 students were wide-eyed because a) they didn't even know who he was b) he wouldn't let them stop playing. Or there was the daily occurrence of him skipping down the hall on his way to his next activity. And I can't forget the day I was at lunch and over the walkie talkie system an administrator said "Ms Sangster- M needs you in the lunchroom. He won't eat until he can show you what's in his lunchbox."

The best part was when he got in trouble. He would run to the corner of the room, grab one of his Thomas the Train books and 'read' it (which was basically quoting it from memory) while peering over the top at me, trying to see what I would do next. Or another method he used when he got in trouble at his desk, was that he would make me disappear by covering his eyes. It was too much trouble to actually get OUT of his desk to go to the corner for his books because when he would stand up, often the desk went with him.

I wonder how M is doing now? I sure miss him. He made each day a delight and won over the hearts of everyone around him especially when he took them on a bear hunt.