When we talk about communication with students not using verbal speech, what often comes to mind is interpreting student behaviors or changes in affect to express pleasure or displeasure. I had an experience with one of my students several years ago that has changed my view. We were sitting close together on the floor during her physical education class. The adaptive P.E. teacher, Ms. Terri, had finished the formal part of the lesson, and students had time to explore different items. Various materials such as balls, frisbees, hula hoops, and bean bags were around the room. We were seated in the area with bean bags, a couple of other students, and the paraprofessional from her classroom. The teacher walked around the room checking on students, providing assistance, and answering questions. When she came to our area, she was carrying a small hula hoop she had picked up earlier and was displaying how she moved her arm to keep the hula hoop spinning around it. My student's eyes got a little bigger; she looked to the paraprofessional and back to the teacher, then she looked to me and back toward the teacher. Ms. Terri had now added another hula hoop. The student again looked to me- toward Ms. Terri-back to me with her eyes wide, her jaw dropped. She lifted a hula hoop lying nearby, then let it drop. The student looked back at me then at her teacher. You could see it on her face, at this moment, she was amazed at what her teacher could do and wanted to check to see if others were witnessing this magical moment with her.
Yes, the student had a change of affect. Yes, her behavior was the way she was communicating. Yes, she appeared to be expressing her emotions, and yet, she was telling me so much more than "I like this." I felt we had a whole conversation in those few moments, and it was more than her making her preferences known; it was seeking interaction and sharing a memorable event with another. Since then, I look for when my students want to connect with another person, not just to express wants or needs, but to just "have a chat together."
