"After three years of kindergarten—years I can only describe as torment," recalls Aimone's mother, "I couldn't wait for my son to start first grade. I was at my breaking point. I'd watch him at school, always stuck in a corner with his own teacher, cut off from the other children. And whenever I'd suggest to the nun that maybe things could be done differently, she'd say: but he's a different kind of child! The battles were endless, and I felt like I lost every single one. So I held onto a hope for normalcy. I dreamed of Aimone in a regular classroom with the other kids. But then the neuropsychiatrist told me, 'Madam, it would be better if your son attended the Specialized School in Zingonia.' It was like a punch to the chest. Like hearing for the second time: your son has problems. He has a serious disability. I wanted nothing to do with that school. Not in a million years would I have sent Aimone to a 'specialized' program.
Then I talked it over with my husband. We weighed the pros and cons together. 'At least he won't be stuck in a corner of the classroom anymore,' he said. The truth was, we didn't know anything about this school. We couldn't even imagine how much Aimone might actually learn.
Everything here is different from kindergarten. This is the right school for him. He's with the other children during certain hours—at recess, in the gym, during playtime. But at the same time, he has a program tailored to him, one that lets him develop his own abilities, communicate more clearly, and show us what he wants. He's started using augmentative communication aids, and he uses them here at school too. What's wonderful is that there's continuity between the therapy he gets outside and what happens in the classroom. And there's continuity for us parents as well: the neuropsychiatrist, the physical therapist, the psychologist—they're the same people from the local health service. So there's more coordination, a bigger picture. They see him at school, not just in the office. And they listen to the teachers, the support staff. We all work together for Aimone—but also for ourselves. If I could do it over, I'd send him to the Specialized School right from the start."
- Aimone's mother, 1999
(1) In an upcoming issue, we will explore this educational approach in depth.