ing his areas of strength both behaviorally and intellectually. The first meeting, whatever else it contains for the child and his teacher, will be the beginning of intensive and sensitive observation by the teacher of the child, and undoubtedly also by the child of the teacher.

The child is accepted in the classroom upon the premise that his weaknesses are not faults but are areas of need, and that his strengths are not static virtues but are foundations upon which to build. To make accurate and reliable interpretations of these behavioral patterns is the first goal of the teacher. For this purpose, daily records of minute detail are necessary if the teacher is to have a comprehensive fund of material upon which to base her judg

ments.

While the child is becoming acquainted in the classroom at whatever level of participation is comfortable to him, his teacher is observing; making notes; looking for avenues of accessibility; and gauging his tolerance limits, interests, responsiveness to peers and the depth of his need to behave as he does. The teacher will provide a variety of situations both within and without the classroom; both in groups and in solitary play. Thus the teacher begins to know the child by what he does and is better able to anticipate his behavior in different situations.

Close and attentive notes made of the child's responses to these situations may yield a significant behavior pattern with consequent insights. Anecdotal records may show the way to accessibility. The child who explores seemingly aimlessly, day after day, who picks things up and puts them down without examining them, has a totally different pattern of response from that of the child who dumps the blocks on the floor, moves to the flower pot, pulls off the leaves of the plants, brushes a little more abruptly than necessary against his neighbor, and kicks the chair out of his way. The ease (or lack of it) with which the child learns where and how to fit into classroom procedure gives some notion of how the child learns. But the child who for no known reason remains mute where children would normally talk presents the real enigma.

The teacher working with a new child must have certain broad goals: how to make the child's world more meaningful and pleasant; how to make concrete the verbal material which is mouthed to him; how to make the stresses of inadequacy more tolerable; how to stimulate without destroying; how to enhance self-respect through respect for others; how to increase basic respect for self and recognition of self through achievement which can be interpreted by the child as a step toward adequacy. These broad goals may seem subliminal in the regular classroom. However, the real content of the daily program, its play activities and its structured learning situations, must be arranged with these goals as guides.

General goals serve as guide-lines in planning the daily program. In order to implement general goals specifically, it is wise to make active use of the information which the child has communicated by his behavior—reading and rereading the observational information until a pattern takes shape and reveals the manner in which a child may be reached. For any particular child, these goals must be broken into realistic specifics, even to the point that learning to hang up a jacket, to identify a toy, to sit during story-time become major and significant gains for the child. The ability to participate in planned activities; to wait a turn; or even to pick up a cup of juice-these are major achievements and advancements in self-esteem for the child who has resolutely rejected any occasion for social conformity or personal growth. The specific goals for each child at any particular stage of his development must be ambitious, realistic, and have meaning for the child, valuable to him in his own estimate of himself or valuable in that they enable him to belong more naturally in his social environment.

A premise underlying the broad education for these children is that teaching and learning involve as much of the child as he is able to give at any moment to his total environment. This process begins with the child's picture of himself and of his world, whatever it may be.

Teaching and learning with the child do not mean merely planning an academic program in which to place the child, but build

ing a program in which the child can each day learn more about himself. When he knows himself and what he is capable of doing, he can then develop fundamental concepts on which to base his thinking. To begin to think is to begin to relate to others and to the environment. Only then should he be expected to function in an academic program.

It is the responsibility of the teacher to take the time to help these disturbed children to become aware of themselves. The teacher will dare to develop unconventional methods and techniques which she feels will be more suitable for the child. The sensitive teacher will always be looking for answers to questions such as the following:

Under what conditions does the child seem to be most distressed?
For example, is it when the mother comes, or when she leaves?
Are there situations which seem too much for the child to bear?

Do they bear any relationship to each other?

How does the child show his frustration?

What attracts the child?

Some children are fascinated by sound, others scream and become upset with sound; how does this child react?

What motivates the child's learning?

Is he hyperactive?

Does he feel everything within his reach?

Does he mouth everything he handles?

Does he become disturbed when given help?

Does he react when not given help?

Is he upset by the slightest separation from the group?
Does he actively seek separation from the group?

A child may not always respond consistently to the same or similar situations. It is important that he be observed in as many different settings as possible. In addition information such as that derived from birth, general health, behavior and family histories, age and circumstances surrounding onset of blindness, opportunities for learning experiences will be used in teaching and learning with the child.

Severe disturbance of a blind child demonstrates that for him the world is not well organized, it is not secure and pleasant enough for him to move freely either physically or intellectually, and he is either inadequately stimulated to intellectual curiosity or in some manner frustrated or made fearful in his search for a constant and meaningful reality. The teacher's attempt to learn with a child in these situations is more fruitful if accompanied by insightful communication and identification with him. The child's confidence in himself increases as he grows in his ability to move freely, to be independent in self-care, and to communicate with meaning.

Each child then helps to suggest his own appropriate program by revealing his areas of need. The child who made no verbal, vocal, or physcial response to anything said to him, was the same child who, when offered a baby bottle to feed to the new lamb, flung the bottle across the room and burst into tears. The unresponsive and almost non-verbal child who laughed loudly to himself, rhythmically pounded the table with a block, twirled wheels on the tricycle interminably, was the same one who, when finally isolated from the group, cried miserably, "My teacher can't hardly stand

Such revelations contribute to the insights which the teacher uses in reaching the child and in helping him to explore the world around him. Moreover, the inadvertent verbal openings which a child may give, encourage the teacher to help him verbally explore those feelings which he was able to express previously only through his antisocial behavior.

VI. The Curriculum

The major purpose of education is to produce behavioral change. In developing a curriculum certain behaviors may be anticipated in long range planning, but there are always unexpected changes in the child's needs and in his environment. Development of a day-to-day plan based on the child's revelations of his needs and upon the teacher's observations and insights, requires great freedom and flexibility. Techniques which are appropriate with Johnny in September are not necessarily appropriate in November, and the planning of the teacher and of the administration must not only allow for this change but also show awareness of its significance. Sometimes the results of this necessary freedom and flexibility may seem to a casual observer to be disorganized, to have no design, and to reflect the mood of the moment. Understanding of these processes by all concerned leads to greater security for the teacher, the child, and the administration; it also gives cohesiveness to the program by enabling all persons having contact with the child to respect and explore this new developmental phase. At times these children may make such rapid progress that the teacher must be prepared to discard preconceptions of developmental stages. At any given time, the program must be implemented at the level upon which the child is operating.

Just as at times the child will appear to progress rapidly so also will there be times of apparent regression. These latter times must be expected, planned for, and accepted as a normal part of the growth pattern of the child. They must be understood to represent genuine growth, retrenchment or stabilization of the child, and not necessarily permanent regression. Furthermore, the child who has