Review of One Child by Torey L. Hayden

Introduction: An Overview of the Story

Torey L. Hayden's One Child is a very sensitive report of the relationship that grew and developed between Ms. Hayden, a special education teacher, and one of her pupils, a six-year old girl named Sheila L. Sheila was a tragic example of a child who has been abused and neglected. The daughter of a 14-year-old mother, Sheila was born in poverty and raised in abuse, including being abandoned by her mother on a busy freeway when she was just six years old.

This abuse led Sheila to violent behavior, and she was arrested for the act of setting a playmate, a young boy, on fire. She was then sentenced to be committed to a state hospital for evaluation and therapy and was considered to be totally unmanageable. Ms. Hayden was asked to take Sheila into her Special Ed class until a space in the hospital opens up. When Sheila came to class the first time, she was dirty, unwashed, and totally withdrawn. She refused to speak or participate in any way. The book details the incredible way that Ms. Hayden was able to work with Sheila and teach her not only to socialize but to gain respect for herself. There are many emotional and impressive scenes and several important educational ideas in the book, five of those scenes will be discussed here.

The first event to be discussed was the description of Sheila's first day in class and her interaction with Ms. Hayden and the eight

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being so moved or so horrified by a book. Anyone who loves working with children would find it hard to not be moved by the terrible way Sheila had been treated by her family. The book was definitely inspiring for the following reasons. While always wishing to help others, I have also had the idea that there are some people who cannot be helped. Certainly a bad judgment, but also a natural one. As I was reading it, I kept asking myself, "What would I do" if I were confronted by any of the situations that Ms. Hayden faced? I must admit that I do not believe I would be able to be as strong as her. In this book, I learned a lot about teachers, and the act of teaching. First, I learned that as a teacher, it's very dangerous to make assumptions that all children are alike. Each one is different and each one has amazing potential. And apparently, anyone can be reached, can be communicated with, can be taught. That surprised me a lot. Second, I learned that as a teacher, it's all right to get involved with your students, to care for them and to worry about them. That's part of the learning process. I've been wondering how I might apply this book to the classroom I will someday have. I think the first way would be to mak
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Some common words found in the essay are:
Ms Hayden, Ms Hayden's, Little Prince, Sheila Sheila, Sheila I'm, Reaction Book, Special Ed, ms hayden, June We've, Significant Events, Hayden Sheila, significant event, i'm hurt, learned teacher it's, learned teacher, reading book, words source, source misunderstandings, teacher it's, instance ms, words source misunderstandings, ms hayden sheila, hayden sheila,
Approximate Word count = 1803
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page)

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