My pet peeve is with the helpers. Why, oh why, do they feel they must rush to show my students the answers to the picture bingo game instead of giving them time to process it themselves? I wouldn't even treat a baby like that, and these are adults.
One long-time lady there, I shall call her Missy, is wheelchair-bound, cannot speak (she can squeak out "Hai!" though, which she does with great enthusiasm), can only use one arm, and is a bit spastic, as in that one arm is hard for her to control smoothly. For years, the helpers thought she couldn't understand anything and she would sit at a table to the side, doing nothing. Then one day, they started letting her come to my simple English classes, but even then, they treated her like she was a doll and did everything for her. They pointed to the answer (not always correctly), and put the markers on her picture bingo card for her.
One day she sat beside me, and I noticed that she understood what I was saying. I tried to keep the helpers from "helping" her; she would point to the object I said, and then try to put a marker on it. (We use goishi, plastic "stones" used in the Chinese game Go, as bingo markers.) She was way too spasmodic to do it, but she obviously understood. Great awe spread through the helpers.
As time passed, I noticed that she was the only one who remembered the English words for things (this includes the helpers), and would point to the object when I said the word and before I showed the picture to everyone.
I have also seen gradual improvement in her eye-hand coordination. Now she can gently place the markers right on the correct pictures (most of the time). I've stopped the helpers from clearing up her stones afterwards so that she can have the satisfaction of putting them back in the box. I started her off with just five or so, and now she enjoys putting all 25 of the stones away by herself.
Gratifying progress.
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