Danielle (not her real name) has been on my mind all day. Yesterday during "motor lab" (recess) I connected with her. She is six years old and has Down syndrome. She was not in Phyllis' class, so I did not have the opportunity to meet her until recess. She was kicking a soccer ball into a small net. I went over to meet her and we connected immediately. We started playing basketball. She is about 3 feet tall, so she wanted me to lift her to the basket so she could make it. There was an eight foot basket in the gym, so I held her up and she scored. I did this until my arms were so tired, I felt like I could no longer safely lift her. When it was time for her to go back to her class, she gave me a hug. I wondered if I could adopt her.

Down Syndrome children are sociable and loving. Autistic children, in contrast, are on the other side of the sociable scale. They very seldom make eye contact and find it very difficult to be sociable.

Children with special needs are so interesting. Naive as I am, I wonder what it would take for them to learn. What would it take to heal the neural pathways in their brain so they could speak and read and write and be sociable.

Next week I will be doing everything I can to get a teaching job for the fall. It should be interesting. My first preference is the Katy Independent School District, because that is my home. However, the main thing is to get a job so I can teach for one year successfully in order to get my permanent teachers certificate.