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A Teacher to Remember
I am now 41 years old. I try not to bully anybody or give offense if I can help it. One particular teacher planted this seed in me all those years ago.
When I rolled into Social Studies in my power wheelchair on my first day of junior high at the Henry Viscardi School, I never dreamed how one person would change my life so definitively. After the lesson on the first day, Mr. Catherall said to me as he was putting my books back in my bookbag that Andrew was a good name. This struck me as very odd that a teacher would comment on whether my name was good or bad, but he asked, “Do you know why I said that?” I responded, “No sir, I don’t.” He looked at me and said, ”Go look on my door.” Due to my cerebral palsy, I have vision problems which sometimes makes it difficult to read, but this was not one of those times. When I rolled out and looked. The door read ‘Andrew Catherall.’ I came back in smiling and said, ”Yes Mr. Catherall, it is a good name.”
The next week however, was not a good week for me in class because Mr. Catherall assigned a spelling test. Although I had no cognitive delays due to my disability, the same processing problem that makes it difficult to read also greatly affects my spelling ability. I failed the spelling test that Friday. Mr. Catherall was disappointed in me for failing the test. Over the next few weeks, he clearly saw that I was gifted in history and told me I probably had a processing problem with…
