I remembered something from the 5th grade. It was an exciting day, because I got to be in the big kid school. We were in a small modular pod set apart from the junior and senior high areas, but it still counted. While my memories for this time period are limited - yay trauma - there are a few things that remain quite clear. Every Friday we were given a challenge of some sort. It could be a puzzle or skill testing question, and whoever was the fastest to solve or the first to answer correctly got a prize.
It was never anything fancy, but we were kids. A unicorn eraser that smudged rather than erased was easily the highlight of our little days.
One day, we were orated a problem that went something like this:
A mountain bike was stolen in the neighbourhood. The owner reports not seeing anyone suspicious in the area the evening prior, but the bike was missing the next morning. Having spoken to the neighbours, no one has anything definitive to say. However, Miss. Smith mentioned seeing a teenager riding a bike as she was unloading her groceries. Operating on this information, the police are interviewing students at the local school to see if anyone knows anything.
After a few interviews, they bring in Timmy. "Timmy, we're investigating the disappearance of a bike downtown. Can you tell me what you were doing last night?"
Timmy scoffs. "Ya I was hanging out with my friends."
"Did your 'hanging out' happen to bring you all to the downtown area?"
"Nah, we were over at the theatre."
The officer smiles, "Always nice to see a new movie. What did you do afterwards?"
With a reticent eye roll Timmy replies, "I went home."
"I see here you live near 4564 85th Street, is that correct?"
"Yes."
"We spoke to a Miss. Smith who also live in that area. She reported seeing someone riding a bike through. Could that have been you?"
"No, I don't even own a mountain bike officer."
There is more back and forth with increasing protest from Timmy. Ultimately, Timmy is arrested.
We were asked to determine the reason that Timmy was arrested. There were many responses to this, and no one got the answer correct. I won't make you suffer. Timmy had foreknowledge that the type of bike stolen was a mountain bike. As kids, we were all very impressed by the imaginary police office noticing a small detail like that. As an adult, I have a different reaction for two reasons.
That's circumstantial. It relies on inference rather than evidence.
Giving this puzzle as a verbal exclusive is a massive limitation to comprehension by all students without notetaking systems that are tailored to their individual needs. I didn't have mine figured out till my first year in graduate school, and it makes zero sense to anyone except me.
Why is this bothering me now? Well, when it came to be my turn, I didn't have the language to explain my limitation. I'd mostly written out the prompt, and the teacher wouldn't repeat a section that I'd missed. Apparently, I should have been listening the first time. Lovely. When they finally gave the response, I didn't have the language to say "Hey, that's circumstantial evidence at best." It was very frustrating.
I find these sorts of #reflections useful towards #deconstructing #mentalhealth. Lately I've been working on mapping out the path of realization for ASD/ADHD and the more recent development of synesthesia. What have you reflected on lately?
M
Comments