May 4, 2015, Prescott-  I made another visit to Miller Valley School today.  Being with rambunctious six- and seven-year-olds, and actually getting them to accomplish a day’s learning, is among the finest of days spent.

Kids carry their inner selves so openly, and this is a superb thing.  Those who love, can draw the pain out, and elevate their loved ones.  It’s said that the child who needs love the most is the one who presents the most unlovable persona.  This, I have taken as an article of faith since my own childhood.

By that, I don’t mean to imply that I was a difficult person, as a child.  Rather, I found that the bullies, the disquiet ones, the recluses, all had a feature that made me want to work harder to understand them, just as I, an autistic, before such a label was in use, wanted to be understood.

We all want someone to chase away our night.  The boys whom I had to list for the regular teacher to make parent contact are very bright and, in many ways, delightful people.  They don’t fit easily with others in a class setting, and a sense of darkness is a good part of their life experience. They clamour for an externally imposed discipline, and mine is a rather gentle, firm approach, directly addressing the underlying.

I felt that, at the end of the day, no one felt demeaned or diminished, but knew the security of limits.