Somebody Else’s Kids: Tomaso

The 1981 novel, Somebody Else’s Kids, tells the story of the author, Torey Hayden’s yearlong journey of teaching four “problem students” with varying disabilities and needs. In this novel, Hayden explains how she worked and struggled to find the best ways to reach each child and help them to work to their full potential. One particular student, Tomaso, displayed aggressive, inappropriate behavior and had difficulties regulating his emotions. Tomaso had witnessed the violent death of his father and brother at the hands of his step-mother when he was five years old. Afterwards, he had been moved around the country and through several foster homes, eventually ending up at Hayden’s school at the age of ten. He had been put in Hayden’s classroom because his aggressive behavior had become too much for the other teachers to handle.

When Hayden reads Tomaso’s files, she discovers that he has a record of “antisocial behavior,” (Hayden, 1981, p. 78) and she often refers to him as emotionally disturbed. After reading the novel, it became obvious to me that Tomaso showed some classic signs of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in children.  According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (2015), children with PTSD often exhibit aggressive behavior, anger, low self-worth, and isolation. Tomaso clearly displays these symptoms, and also relies on a reoccurring fantasy that his father is still alive and will soon be coming to get him. While the diagnosis of PTSD was never given to Tomaso (PTSD was not added to the DSM until the 1980s), it seems to fit his symptoms and history.  I would use information about children with PTSD to inform how I would plan his instruction in my class.

Because Tomaso’s difficulties in the classroom stem from emotional disturbances, the accommodations that best fit his needs may be of a different kind than accommodations that you typically think of for students with physical or learning disabilities. Also, because of Tomaso’s mood fluctuations, accommodations that work for him at some points may not work for him at others. For example, when comfortable, Tomaso enjoys interacting with other students and is often more successful and motivated when given responsibility. When he was given the task of being another student’s designated reader, he took the responsibility very seriously (Hayden, 1981). However, when Tomaso gets frustrated or over stimulated, he can become aggressive. During these times, it is necessary that Tomaso have a quiet, private place to calm down, away from other students. For particularly challenging assignments that may frustrate Tomaso, it might be beneficial to allow him to work at his own pace and to not work in groups if he becomes frustrated. One particular trigger of Tomaso’s aggression occurs if he feels like he is being made to look stupid or foolish. If Tomaso was working with a group and began having trouble with the assignment, there is the potentially that this could spark into an aggressive episode. It would be imperative for me as a teacher to monitor Tomaso when working with groups in order to dispel any bouts of anger before they flare up into dangerous behavior and to find a place where I could allow Tomaso to have a break from stimulation (in the form of challenging classwork or other students) if it begins to overwhelm him.

Parts of Tomaso’s behavior issues also have roots in his dramatically low self-worth and self-esteem. Several times, Hayden (1981) writes about how Tomaso actively tries to make her dislike him and seems flabbergasted when another student brings him a birthday present. The five years he spent moving around the country, through foster homes, have made him believe that no one wants him and cause him to push others away. This behavior could make it difficult for me to build a relationship of trust and respect with him. Low self-esteem can also negatively effect motivation in the classroom. In order to mitigate the effects, I would make an effort to build up Tomaso’s confidence with his course work by providing him with prompt and positive feedback when he completes assignments and follows the rules of the classroom. Verbal reinforcement of good behavior will help to increase Tomaso’s self-confidence as well as help to strengthen a positive student-teacher relationship. Another accommodation that would be helpful for Tomaso’s self-confidence would be to provide him with choices to make about his assignments. By providing Tomaso with the opportunity to choose what he works on in class, he will feel a sense of control and responsibility over his education. It could also help prevent him from being given assignments that will cause anxiety and frustration, which could lead to an aggressive episode. Positive reinforcement and being given choices of activities are both accommodations that would help mediate the problems caused by Tomaso’s low self-esteem.

A further accommodation that could help to meet Tomaso’s needs in the classroom is to work with him to make a list of expectations at the beginning of the class. The Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching and Learning (2016) suggests taking this approach with students who display disruptive behavior in the classroom. Especially at the beginning of the time that Tomaso spent in Hayden’s classroom, he did not only display aggressive behavior, but he also often acted inappropriately, using many curse words and lewd innuendos (Hayden, 1981). By creating a list of expectations together, Tomaso and I could clearly outline which type of behaviors where appropriate for the classroom and which are not. This would make my expectations for Tomaso’s behavior clear from the start of class as well as give Tomaso the opportunity to provide his own input into what is expected of him. This could have the added bonus of making him feel as though his opinion had weight in the classroom, helping his self-worth, as discussed previously. This accommodation would also allow me to give Tomaso a chance to express his expectations for me as a teacher. He could state what he needed from me to be successful. This could give me additional insight into how to adjust my instruction for me. 

To continue with the theme of communication, I also think it would be helpful to institute a policy of debriefing following any emotional outbursts. Hayden made a point after calming Tomaso down to discuss with him what had made him angry and occasionally how to prevent himself from becoming angry in the future (Hayden, 1981). This could prove to be difficult because you run the risk of making him angry all over again, but calmly discussing the incident would allow Tomaso to explain and reflect upon how he felt and the actions he took as a result. This could also help me as a teacher to better understand what triggers these episodes in order to prevent them in the future. The other positive outcome of a debriefing is that it makes it clear to the student that they are important to you as a teacher. This care was important to Tomaso in Hayden’s (1981) story, even if he didn’t seem to understand why she would care.

  There are other potential issues that could arise with Tomaso that I am still unsure about how I would handle them. Many of the accommodations discussed here have the undesirable effect of singling Tomaso out from the other students, which could hurt his self-esteem, even as I try to help it. Tomaso is very concerned about the way that other people, both students and teachers, perceive him. He never wants to appear weak or like he needs any helps. The very suggestion of giving him extra help could potentially push him to anger. As a teacher, I would need to be tactful in the way that I carried out these accommodations from Tomaso so as to not make him feel separate or lesser than his peers. Another potential issue is Tomaso’s reoccurring fantasy that his father is still alive and will be returning soon. Tomaso often uses this fantasy as a coping mechanism when he is feeling uncomfortable, or as a way to distract himself from negative thoughts. In Hayden’s classroom, this fantasy caused problems when both Hayden and the other children confronted Tomaso about it not being true. In my own classroom, there is the potential for this same thing to happen. Currently, I am unsure what the best approach would be when Tomaso begins to brag about things his dad has done or made for him. I would need to consult more qualified professionals for advice about this behavior.

Ultimately, while there are many things to be concerned about when considering the best ways to provide appropriate instruction for Tomaso, he is also a lively, passionate, and caring child. He was willing to help his other classmates and encourage them. If I had Tomaso as a student, I would try my best to work with his strengths in order to help him succeed. It would be critical to develop a good relationship with him and keep the lines of communication open so that I could prevent any aggressive outbursts before they occur.  Finally, I would involve Tomaso in choices about his education so he could feel a sense of responsibility and control. It would be a challenge, but I think it would be possible, with a few accommodations, to provide for Tomaso's needs and give him the quality of education that he deserves. 

References 

Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching and Learning (2016). Addressing Students' Needs: Importance of Knowing Your Students. Retrieved from http://www.cirtl.net/node/2543
Hayden, T. (1981). Somebody Else's Kids. New York: Avon Books.
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (2015). PTSD in Children and Teens. Retrieved from http://www.ptsd.va.gov/public/family/ptsd-children-adolescents.asp