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Students build on ability caught within 'disability'
The scene could be unfolding in a high school classroom anywhere.
Kids are debating whether working at Wendy's or Blockbuster is better. A teacher tries to pry answers related to a critical-thinking assignment out of a student.
One big difference in this classroom: There are only seven kids.
The bigger one: Merit Academy in Indian Trail serves only kids with learning disabilities. The curriculum is a mixture of academics and life skills, with an emphasis on career readiness for older students. The teaching is full of techniques to help maintain student focus, and one-on-one instruction that differs from mainstream schools.
Only a few private schools in the Charlotte region -- maybe a half-dozen -- cater exclusively to this group of students, many of whom are undeniably bright and capable, but whose learning disabilities require alternative teaching approaches.
Headmaster Susan Stinson, one of the school's founders, said parents of children with attention deficit disorder, developmental delays and brain injuries are eager for help and don't know where to turn when their children founder in traditional schools.
"They get ostracized, they get frustrated, they don't make any progress," Stinson said of the students. "Parents are looking for this type of education for their kids." Even if it means a lot of driving. The children come from faraway counties including Lincoln, Stanly and Lancaster, S.C.
Merit Academy has 13 students, though in better economic climates, enrollment has been as high as 24. The tuition at the nonprofit school costs $11,000 a year -- a lot, though a bit less than a few other area schools that serve the same kids. Stinson admits she's struggling with this year's $250,000 budget. The school offers minimal financial aid.
Some kids stay at Merit a year, learning the skills they need to return to a mainstream school. Others stay for years.
There's also a safety issue for some children with learning disabilities in mainstream schools, Stinson said. The children sometimes have poor judgment skills and are vulnerable to bullies, fights and sexual abuse.
Stinson says she knows firsthand of the frustrations facing parents of children with disabilities. Stinson, 46, is the mother of Laura Stinson, an Observer community columnist who has osteogenesis imperfecta, or brittle bone disease, and uses a wheelchair.
When Susan Stinson lost her retail job in the mid-'90s, she got her master's degree in special education. In January 1998, Stinson started the school, then named Village Park Traditional School, with two other women. They had three students. The following year, they opened with 23.
With a walkie-talkie clipped to her skirt, Stinson walks through the school, a leased auxiliary building and modular building behind Indian Trail Presbyterian Church. She peeks into the sensory room, where Alison Graham, 7, is playing with a ball.
Most people can process smells, noises and the feel of fabrics without becoming anxious or upset, Stinson said, but that isn't true for some of the school's students. Those children need the sensory room -- with a trampoline, brightly colored toys and textured paper -- to help them learn to adapt to the stimulus of everyday objects, she said.
In the elementary classroom, Emily Hayes, 8, carefully traces letters into sand with her teacher, Nancy Chorney (who is also the assistant head of school, financial officer and nurse). At another desk, Emily will type the same letters into a computer. The two tasks create a multisensory approach to teaching, Stinson said. Touching the sand provides a connection that helps the learning of letters, and typing at the computer sharpens tactile and visual skills.
"We present concepts in the different modes because not everyone learns just by hands-on, visually or by hearing the material. We teach to the different ways of processing information," she said.
The older kids are quick to describe problems they've encountered in other learning environments. "I like it better than public school because I don't get picked on that much," said Belle Craig, a ninth-grader. "I feel like I'm not the only one with a disability." Belle has been at the school for four years; a car accident when she was 2 left her with a brain injury.
Jessica Martin, 18, is the school's only senior. She plans to go to a community college to study both nursing and Spanish. She has been at Merit for five years and, like Belle, has a brain injury that she thinks contributed to some rough interactions with other students. Jessica's Merit diploma will be the same as a traditional high school degree.
Stinson says she believes the school keeps students' education from stalling. "I don't want anyone to feel sorry for them. There's no reason to," Stinson said of the students. "They're capable individuals. If you're willing to work with them, they have the desire to succeed."