Sensitive Periods In Adjustment And Development Case Study

Torey L. Hayden is a teacher of a special needs class, working with severely emotionally disturbed children, that the school district calls the “garbage class”. “There were classes for the retarded, classes for the emotionally disturbed, classes for the physically handicapped, classes for the behaviorally disordered, classes for the learning disabled, and there was my class” (Hayden, 1980). There were eight students in the class; Peter who experienced severe seizures from a neurological condition and had increasingly violent behavior, Tyler who attempted to kill herself twice, Max and Freddie who were brothers, Max had autism and Freddie was intellectually disabled, Sarah was a victim of physical and sexual abuse and she was an angry, defiant,
Progressing in development is difficult when these students cannot make any stride in the right direction or even know what should be expected of them. Their academics are impaired because they do not possess the patience to sit there and focus on the work at hand because they are continually distracted. The importance of early developmental stages demonstrated by Sigmund Freud and his concept of “sensitive periods in adjustment and development” gives the reader some sort of explanation of why Sheila acted and behaved the way she did. The lack of love Sheila experienced by her parents, especially her mother, in the early stages of her life affected Sheila for the rest of her life. During infancy their brain is physically changed or wired by their relationship with their caregiver, typically the mother has a greater impact; most commonly known as the attachment theory. There are many clear indications portrayed in the book that Sheila’s mother did not give Sheila an adequate amount of love and attachment orientation early on in her life. Another reason is the clinginess she relayed onto Torey, her teacher. “Those without an attachment orientation tend to avoid relationships and have high levels of self-reliance” (Smart 2012) helps demonstrate the reasons why Sheila was hesitant to talk to Torey at first, she avoided her presence at all costs,
I believe the message Torey was attempting to get through to the reader is that everyone is different, some are challenges, but once we get to know the person, everyone should have the experience of being loved. No child is destroyed so much that some effort to care for them cannot change them. I think Torey really expresses the idea that just because a child does not have a diagnosed disorder doesn’t mean that something is not wrong. Sheila grew up with two parents who were nasty to her and did not care at all for her. Sheila would often ask Torey why she is nice to her, she did not understand the concept of caring. Although Torey did not cure her, she sure made Sheila’s life progress in a positive way. Sheila even skipped second grade, her academic skills were so advanced all she had to work on was her behavior with other students and diminish the need to seek revenge. Torey has a good heart, she wishes the best for everyone. She really takes pride in that fact that Sheila was uncontrollable, wild, unreachable and abused child and Torey had the power to utilize Sheila’s intelligence and stop the justice system from sending her to the state hospital which would result in her becoming even more crazy than she already was. Torey wrote this book for others to see hope in the world, one person can make a major impact in so many different