Analysis of "One Child" by Torey Hayden

Summary

One Child by Torey Hayden is the fascinating story of Torey's experiences while teaching a "special" class. The class is for children who have special needs and do not fit into one of the other special education classes. It was known as the "garbage class." In this class there are children of all sizes and abilities. Some of the children are violent, some do not speak, and others just can't manage in another class. There were eight children in Torey's class.~

Assisting Torey in teacher this class were Anton, a Hispanic man who lived in the migrant camp. He was not very well educated, and definitely not a teacher. Some days Whitney, a fourteen-year-old junior high student, would come during her study hall to help out.~

One November, Torey read an article about a six-year-old child who took a neighborhood child, tied him to a tree, and set him on fire. The child was taken into custody. That January, that little girl was placed in Torey's class. She had been committed to the state mental hospital, and until there was an opening, she would remain there. Her name was Sheila.~

Sheila was a tiny child for her age. She was dirty and smelled of urine. Her long hair was knotted, and she wore the same overalls and shirt everyday. She was violent, as the incident in November proved, and she didn't speak. Sheila's mother, who had been fourteen when she had given birth, had recently abandoned her and her father. She had taken Sheila's younger brother, Jimmie, with her.~

Over the first few days in class, Sheila caused quite a bit of ruckus. There were tantrums and violent attacks. She killed the fish in the class fish tank by gouging their eyes out. Soon, though, Sheila started to improve. She began to talk to Torey, and then in class. She spoke in an usual way of speaking that resembled an African-American speech-pattern. She was not around African-Americans, though. She didn't do any schoolwork at first, though. Sheila eventually did some math problems with blocks and revealed her high ability. After further investigation, it was discovered that she had an IQ of around 180, which is extremely high.~