That's so funny that the PTSD article was posted and I read it before one kid came back to school -- his first day back -- and blew UP. He was upset that he still has so many credits to complete in order to graduate. He refused to sign his orientation paperwork (threw the papers on the table) and started dropping the F-bomb, blaming previous schools and teachers for not giving him the credits he believes he earned. It was going to escalate when I calmly but firmly asked him to leave.
It is so nice to have that option. My students are mostly 18-22 SDC, and we are in an alternative program. If one of them acts a fool, I can just say, "Go home."
Anyway, an hour later he walked back in, and while he didn't apologize, he was sweet as pie. All went well.
Then I talked to a troubled parent and then to a student who has a crippling anxiety disorder and is feeling nervous about returning to school. I do not quite know how therapists do it. It is a LOT of work to deal with emotionally disturbed folks. I don't think you realize it until you have a break -- like summer break. It was a tough summer, but with the exception of one of my mother's friends and, I suspect, her twice weekly housekeeper, I did not interact with people who have serious mental illnesses -- or at least illnesses that are obvious and require effort on my part when communicating.
When you teach SDC Special Ed, the most average General Ed student looks like a genius, and when you teach the ED population, you get used to that too and think very little of it. But, in fact, there are serious challenges to this work, and they do take a toll.
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