3-17-09

People We Admire and Respect

Catey Metcalf Turns a Challenge Into a Career

By Chuck Bingaman, Walpole Correspondent

            We see her as a friendly, efficient Burdick’s barista, handing out lattes and hot chocolates most afternoons in our popular Walpole café.

            What we don’t see is Catey’s challenging work four days each week as a para-professional teaching youngsters with disabilities at a public school across the river in Vermont.  And what is even less visible is Catey’s difficult dyslexia that prevents her from understanding soft vowels and makes reading very problematical.

            But Catey, who has struggled with and worked around her disability since having it identified in first grade, is using her experience-based understanding of kids with disabilities to empathize with and teach them on a one-to-one basis.

            “I always wanted to teach.  My grandmother was a para-professional working with children with learning disabilities long before they were called para-professionals or learning disabilities,” says Catey.  “Being dyslectic myself and having a learning disability makes it easier for me to understand and relate to the feelings and struggles such kids go through.”

            “College,” she notes, “was just not my thing because reading was so difficult.  But being around these kids enables me to further my education.”

            So, four days each week, Catey spends 6 or more hours working with 7-year old Aaron (not his real name) teaching him reading, spelling, math and other subjects.  Aaron has muscular dystrophy, a progressive disease that attacks the muscle tissues and interferes with muscular control.  “We have a whole reading program for him that includes lots of repetition. I love him.  He’s a sweetheart, even though when we began in December he told me he hated me because I made him do such hard work! Fortunately, we’ve turned that around!”

            Now in her third year of work, Catey has also had extensive experience working with autistic children and she stresses that autism has a wide range of manifestations.  “Every child learns differently, and we have to re-arrange how we teach with each one so it fits their needs and aptitudes. I was always a hands-on learner—still am—and learning from a book was very difficult for me.  It’s the same with Aaron, so I’m constantly thinking of physical ways to help him learn. And it’s working!”

            But it can be very challenging, physical work.  Metcalf notes that she’s been bitten, kicked, scratched, punched and spit on over the years by children working out their frustrations and sometimes anger with their challenges.  “But at the same time it’s very rewarding! You just keep going! When it’s a tough day for your child, it’s a tough day for you. When it’s a good day, it’s a really good day for you!”

            The hardest part? “Not being able to speak directly and often with my student’s parents under Vermont school regulations.  But I do have to provide a log of Aaron’s activities and learning in a diary style notebook that I send home with him each day.  And, his mother often sends it back the next day with questions and notes. So we do have an ongoing communication about him.”

            The most rewarding part?  “Seeing Aaron understand things and succeed!” says Catey.  “Everyday we see some progress in something.  Just last week he clearly mastered the concept of his birthday. That’s got lots of elements to it, if you think about it!”

            Metcalf, 27, comes to her work from a long history.  Growing up on Long Island she lived with several relatives that had dyslexia and other learning disabilities.  And, one of her fondest childhood memories was working in and raising funds for a camp for children with disabilities.  “Plus,” she adds, “I worked for some time in a classroom with autistic children, and the teacher was awesome! I learned to know them as individuals that I could relate to even though their behavior was different from mine and other kids I knew. Now, when parents bring kids into Burdick’s that have autism or other challenges, I can often sense it right away and connect with them in ways that let them feel at ease and have a good time.”

            Someone to admire and respect?  You bet! Catey Metcalf tacks on 32 hours of work each week at Burdick’s Café to her 26 hours at her Vermont job.  It adds up to an impressive young woman who is setting an example of industry, creativity and commitment for all of us. And making a profound difference in the life of a child with major needs!

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