I was a dance teacher when I first began working with people who have disabilities. I had thirty students. These were teens and adults up to the age of 40. We learned new steps together. We laughed together and we shared a love of music and fellowship. I had one pupil, Dan, who didn't appear to get much out of the class. I never had eye contact with him. When I left the class to travel down the stairs to reach the main floor of the building, he moved worriedly as a blind person might do in unfamiliar condition. One day his parents met me shopping downtown and told me that they were so grateful that I was teaching the class. They said that my class was the high point of their son's week. Were they just being polite? A week later, a snowstorm held me up and I was later than usual pulling into the school parking lot. Ahead of me by one row of cars, and over to one side, was my student, Dan and his worker. I could see his face as he moved toward the building. He was excited. I watched Dan run toward the building in anticipation of his weekly treat, my class. I cried as it hit me that though I could not see in class all that Dan got from the class, it surely meant a lot to him. Dan did indeed love the class. He was getting enjoyment out of it. Today when I teach courses at the College to students, I remind them that children can stand on the sidelines and seem to be uninterested and yet they can be learning at the same pace as those who are in the middle of the activity. When I teach this, I think, yes and this is true for those with disabilities too! Teach with the wonderful enthusiasm and you are bound to reach your students. Do your job with a love for others and you will be successful no matter what your job involves. What can we learn from the passage?
The writer was doubtful when hearing what Dan's parents said. Dan didn't get much out of the dancing class. Dan received more attention in the writer's class. The writer was impatient with Dan at first.