Expectations (tag Professor Brooding) on Crotalus Commons

Liz and Ileum Spurn

December 10, 2019 10:31 PM

Expectations (tag Professor Brooding) by Liz and Ileum Spurn

OOC - some of the summarising would normally be godmodding but I also write DH Skies

IC
Liz did not bite her fingernails. She enjoyed biting her fingernails. It was stress relieving, and she was vaguely keyed up for a fight. But other people tended to take it as a sign of nerves or bad manners and she was already half expecting all these people to call her a bad mother, or at least think it, and whilst seriously, screw them was the accurate response to that, she did not want to give them more ammunition.

She wished she had done this sooner. She had meant to do this sooner but... Well, just because she was a good parent did not mean she was a well organised one. Now Theo was here. Theo was here and he seemed excited, and she did not want that to go wrong in anyway, but certainly not in the ways where she was either going to have to remove him from these people or hex his teachers until they broke down and agreed with her way of doing things. Because that was the thing. They had to agree with her way. There was no other option.

They were in the deputy headmistress' office, and her husband had been talking to the woman about a few basic things like study skills and planning. That seemed to be going okay. Ileum had always been good at helping with that stuff, and Theo's homework diary was charmed to cough pointedly at him if he hadn't looked at it in a while which along with the fluffy cover meant he would probably pay it enough attention. It was going so-so. The deputy headmistress seemed to accept their information but seemed to think they could 'develop things' further. As if they hadn't already found practical solutions to things that weren't really problems.

They had also asked for her to send for the potions teacher. Liz sized her up as she walked in. Young. Not an inicator of not having a stick up one's butt but not being an old white man was always a good start. Liz wondered what was being made of her. Odd, maybe. Eccentric. Sometimes people meant that as a good thing, sometimes not. Her hair hung to just below her ears. It was currently dark brown with frequent streaks of pink. Her jacket was the one she had seen Theo onto the wagon in, a patchwork of all the softest fabrics they could find in order to give the best hugs. Predominantly dark colours, but still a bit of an eyeful. She could have changed but she had spent her whole life teaching Theo not to censor himself for other people and was damn well going to set an example on that front. Ileum had added a tie and a suit jacket to the brushed corduory shirt he'd worn for Theo.

"Thank you for seeing us," her husband was saying, gentle and polite, after the Deputy Headmistress had explained who they were and that they wanted to talk about their son, Theo. He was good at that, the introductory small talk bits. They had accents on their side because Americans automaticially thought British people sounded posh, even if her own accent would never have received the same accolade back home. "We meant to do this at the end of last term. My faul-" he caught Liz' arched eyebrow and cut himself off. He was not allowed to blame himself for being ill. This brought a slight fond smile to his face, "I wasn't well," he finished.

"So, here's the thing," Liz stated bluntly, "Theo has difficulties with certain textures. I don't mean he doesn't like them or is 'being fussy' when I say that," she explained, giving the terms that warranted them sarcastic air quotes. "I am talking about them geuinely freaking him out and causing him discomfort. Even if that doesn't seem possible or logicial to you, for him, it really is like... I don't know. Being covered in slime, being pricked all over with nettles - pick something that would make you uncomfortable and roll with it. I guess it could come up anywhere, so it'd be good for all the staff to know about it, but it's probably going to happen more in your subject than anywhere else. I don't care if he only finishes half a project. I will not be mad at you or the school if he doesn't do well in potions. I will get mad if you force him beyond the point he can handle and trigger him into having meltdowns."

13 Liz and Ileum Spurn Expectations (tag Professor Brooding) 0 Liz and Ileum Spurn 1 5

Mary Brooding-Hawthorne

December 10, 2019 10:54 PM

Like a Muggle IEP! by Mary Brooding-Hawthorne

It wasn't exactly unusual for Mary to be summoned to the Deputy Headmistress' office, but it wasn't commonplace either. Usually, it meant that there was something going on that would impact the staff as a whole and Selina was speaking to staff members individually about it, or it was something that particularly required the expertise of a potionsmaster. There were occasionally times in it specifically warranted Mary's involvement, such as when young half-veela girls were in need of some resources, but that was less common. Mary was not a Head of House, nor a counselor, nor anything else particularly important. She was just Mary.

And Mary was still getting used to her short hair; it hung neatly from beneath a pointed, green velvet hat. Her dress matched, except pearly white buttons which decorated her sleeves and bodice. It was one of her favorite gowns, as it reminded her rather of a peacock, without all the pomp. As such, it was an outfit that lent her some confidence as she knocked on Selina's door and subsequently entered the office.

"Professor Skies," Mary greeted with a nod of the head. Selina made further introductions and Mary shook each of the parents' hands. She eyed Liz' hair with some envy, as she would have loved the sort of confidence to wear her own hair with colorful streaks. It was not a risk she was willing to take, between the impression she would leave with students who already sometimes thought she was too young, and the possible reactions between hair dyes and potion fumes.

Liz and Ileum had accents like Tabitha's and Mary couldn't help smiling at the familiar tip of their words. They reminded Mary of Tabitha in other ways as well, particularly in the dual-natured caring that revealed itself both in gentleness and in directness. What was unlike Tabitha, and possibly because she was not married to Liz and Ileum, was the fact that they seemed already prepared for defense.

Okay, so maybe it was a bit like Tabitha.

"I have worked with others who have benefited from accommodations for brewing potions, and am happy to work with you both and with Theo to find out what works best for him," Mary smiled, glad she had years of traveling and meeting people under her belt before having come to teach at Sonora. "My primary goal is that Theo receives the education that will be the most useful to him; if he would be more comfortable learning about the theory of potions but not brewing them himself, that accommodation can be arranged." She looked to Selina to confirm this before continuing. "Can you tell me more about what tends to trigger his discomfort? We don't usually touch the potions we make in class, but we do work with ingredients hands on to prepare them for whatever we are brewing in class. Do you think that these might trigger reactions for Theo? We can look into the possibility of having his ingredients prepared in advance."

Mary was soft, smiling, and perfectly gentle. She was understanding. She knew that she came across that way in most cases, and was grateful for it because it often allowed her to begin by working with facts and competence. Worrying about making a good impression as a professor was more important to her than making a good impression as a human, although she hoped that she did both.

22 Mary Brooding-Hawthorne Like a Muggle IEP! 1424 0 5

Liz and Ileum Spurn

December 11, 2019 5:19 AM

I just call it not being a butt to my kid but whatever works by Liz and Ileum Spurn

"Right," Liz agreed, her tone a shade lighter than neutral. Professor Brooding was saying things that she found encouraging, although she wasn't quite willing to assume it would all be easy just yet, "What's useful for him," she echoed with slight emphasis. "I don't see that he's likely to pick a career with lots of hands on potions things. If he changes his mind about that, then we address how he manages."

Liz had not expected these questions. Or rather, she had not expected them yet. She had been expecting to fight through a thicket first - 'Is it really necessary?' (yes), 'Why is he like that/what's wrong with him?' (He just is/nothing), 'Have you tried...?' (probably not because it's probably a crappy suggestion) and some attempt at varying degrees of politely worded versions of 'Maybe you're just a bad parent?' (no, I'm feaking excellent, thank you). Once those battles were over, then she maybe expected to get to how they went about not being buttholes to her child.

They were already there. She had long felt that the obvious answer to 'My son is severely distressed by the following easily avoidable situations' had a pretty obvious solution. She had met various teachers who she had been able to bring round and more than a few hopeless cases. But none who just... got it. It seemed too good to be true. A lot of them sung a fine tune about accommodation without meaning it, or still struggled with it in practise. She was reassured by Professor Brooding's practical examples but not quite willing to fully believe just yet.

"We organised his ingredients before he came to school," she explained. She extracted a small green tupperware box and a sizeable yellow one from her handbag and red one of similar dimensions to the green one from an inside pocket. She placed them all on the table, with a gap between the red one and the others. They all said 'Theo' on the lids, the first two in fuzzy stick on letters, the last one merely in pen. The yellow and red boxes had accompanying colour-coded gloves and tweezers.

"Green ingredients are ones he's willing to touch all the time. Yellows are maybes - it depends on various factors. How many there are at one time, whether he's having a good day - all the usual things that throw kids off, tired, hungry, getting sick. Red is absolutely not."

"But they were on his list, so he said we had to buy them because it was a rule," Ileum chipped in. Theo's adherence to rules was one of the things he suspected would endear him to teachers, so long as they were able to understand that his idea of the concept could be at variance with other people's. "He'll keep hold of the other two boxes but he asked if the red one could live somewhere other than his room."

"We're not sure how it's going to go exactly, mixing things together," Liz admitted, willing to open up on the question marks given that Mary seemed helpful, "Probably fine? There's nothing he is super attached to in the green box, just things he's fine with, so he probably won't mind them getting mixed up when they have to. He's also quite interested in potions as end results. He tends to be better with practical than theory, so he wants to participate to some degree. He will let you know if he's not fine with something," she added. Typically this involved removing his hands from the area and yelling 'I do not like that texture' at some volume. She didn't think it was a signal anyone was likely to miss. That had never been the problem. "He just needs someone who's willing to listen."

"He's pretty much guileless," Ileum added, "He can be a bit distractible but if you ask him whether he is doing his best, he'll tell you - even if the answer incriminates him. And then he'll knuckle back down if he wasn't. So long as he likes you," looking at Professor Brooding's dress and hat, he strongly suspected she would form a positive first impression, and that they would also have to explain some of the rules they had given Theo about touching other people so that she was prepared. "If you keep telling him to try harder when he already tried his best, he gets frustrated. Understandably," he added.

"And that's kind of similar to the yellow box. I mean, everyone's best is different on different days," Liz pointed out. "Some days his best is five. If he gives five, then we're proud of him. It's not worth more than giving ten on a ten day because they were both his best."

13 Liz and Ileum Spurn I just call it not being a butt to my kid but whatever works 0 Liz and Ileum Spurn 0 5

Mary Brooding-Hawthorne

December 12, 2019 7:30 PM

I shall not be a butt, I promise. by Mary Brooding-Hawthorne

Mary nodded along as Theo's parents spoke. She had a growing sensation that she was working with some pretty amazing people here. Not every parent was willing to accommodate their child's needs, and especially not to stand up for them to ensure others accommodated their child's needs as well. Plus, they were giving Mary solid, actionable ideas. She could do that. They could work this out together. It was significantly easier this way than getting a student who just wouldn't touch something or didn't like it and couldn't explain why and there had not been any request for accommodations. That was not helpful.

Ileum's understanding of the fact that some items were required, no matter how yucky - an understanding he surely shared Liz - was encouraging as well. Mary was a professor after all; her job was to teach and she had to be able to do that.

"I can keep the red box in my supply closet, and can assist with those ingredients as needed. Students often work together and can help each other with some of those tasks as well," she offered. "The only thing I ever ask of my students is that they try their best. Everyone has their off days, and it wouldn't be healthy to push yourself beyond your capacity when that's the case. I can definitely work with Theo to make sure he's doing his best and not feeling stuck being asked to do more."

Mary took a moment to peek at the boxes. "We do have some lessons focusing explicitly on the preparation of ingredients. I can still follow the red-yellow-green system on those days, but do you know how Theo might feel about de-carapacing a scorpion, or collecting mucus from a flobberworm, or seeds from a puffapod?" She tried to give examples with various textures and various levels of grossness, as she wasn't sure whether Liz and Ileum would think of such things on their own. She wasn't sure what their experience was with potions after all. "If there is an ingredient we are working with in his red box, there may be something equivalent from another box, and I'd be happy to substitute his assignment in that case, or give students the option to select which they'd prefer to work with."

It was easy to get along with these two, and Mary was particularly glad that Selina had called her to this meeting. She smiled at each of the parents. "I can tell you love Theo and really want him to succeed. That's my goal as well, and I'm glad we can work together to accomplish that. Every student has different needs and I am happy to match what those are to the best of my abilities."

22 Mary Brooding-Hawthorne I shall not be a butt, I promise. 1424 0 5

Liz and Ileum Spurn

December 14, 2019 7:32 PM

Excellent by Liz and Ileum Spurn

“Just as he is,” Liz confirmed with a slightly firm air when Mary Brooding pointed out that she clearly loved her child. She was never quite sure how to take those comments. Sometimes, they were just a comment – praise for her parenting, that she was doing a good job in looking after her son and filling his life with happiness. Those she could take. She didn’t need anyone else’s approval for how she raised Theo, but when she got it, it was admittedly sort of nice. So long as she trusted the person giving it. So long as it was just that. Sometimes, there was a little extra something to that comment. The idea that she was doing so well in spite of Theo being a bit different, like she had made some active choice to love him and try for him in spite of that. When the comment carried the cadence of ‘Well done you for coping with him!’ it felt like less of a compliment and more just… a bizarre misunderstanding of what being a parent was, in general, or being Theo’s parent in particular. She did not mind being praised for doing a good job but she did mind being held up like she was some special creature for loving her child exactly the way he was, when that was just supposed to be the default, and when who he was was a totally awesome human being that she wouldn’t change a thing about. “We like Theo being Theo. And he’s very good at it,” she added, with a slight smile, which invited Mary to be part of that. Because she had said she would do her best. Because she was nodding along with systems and with not pushing beyond reasonable. Because she wasn’t patronising them or their child. She was just taking them in her stride.

“Flobberworm will be bottom of that list. That’s just slimy and sticky inside and out. Unless the scorpion has spiky bits on but most them are like, smooth-hard right?” she checked. “But… I guess they’re squishy on the inside? Which ones are puffapods again?” she asked her husband, more than the professor.

“The ones with the sprouting seeds. They’re quite soft, I think? Theo’s basic rule is soft is good, rough is bad. Smooth and hard is fine. But he’s a little bit adverse to squishy or slimy things too,” he explained.

“He’s motivated to try though. I think he’d do most of those things, so long as he could approach them slowly, or take a break if it was too much. The things he doesn’t cope well with are prolonged contact with rough things – that’s why all his clothes are soft – or texture surprises. He needs to work out how something is going to feel, and whether he is okay with that. Like, in elementary school, they had this nature day and one of the activities was putting your hand in a box and trying to guess the objects by feel, and it just made him panic. But when they were all out on the nature table, he was happy to explore them a bit.” He had not loved the pine cones, but he had put one finger on each little prong one at a time and got a gold star for it, which he’d been very proud of. “He likes telling his cousins about things he’s done, so you can remind him that he’d be able to write to them about it. Not like bribery, just… as encouragement,” she added. It was more detail than she might have gone into with someone else, but Mary Brooding did seem to understand.

13 Liz and Ileum Spurn Excellent 0 Liz and Ileum Spurn 0 5

Mary Brooding-Hawthorne

December 14, 2019 9:09 PM

I do believe so. by Mary Brooding-Hawthorne

Mary couldn't help wondering at Liz's defensive streak. It seemed learned to her, and Mary hated to think of what she had dealt with, to think of what each brick in her wall was made of. That was not her business though, nor the reason she was there, and she listened with interest as the parents spoke, nodding in agreement with Ileum's explanation of puffapods. She was rather surprised at just how helpful the two were being. 'Help, my child doesn't like your class' was not a very reasonable thing to discuss because it meant very little to Mary. She hadn't particularly liked Divination, but she'd gotten through it and moved on. However, 'join our team, my child will achieve greater success with support' was perfectly reasonable. Mary wished she'd thought to bring a notebook, but most of what they were saying was fairly easy to make a mental note of; it struck her that Theo's likes and dislikes seemed very patterned. She wondered if there was something she might take advantage of in that regard and planned to look at her curriculum soon to see if she could introduce greater routine into it.

"Students also work in pairs fairly often, and Theo could take notes from his partner's observations or descriptions," she offered not sure she could firmly agree to not introducing flobberworms to the class. That being said, she didn't have any desire to push a student beyond their capacity for the sake of checking a box in her lesson plan either. "It sounds like he will be a good guide to his own comfort when you aren't here. I'll make sure to listen to him and pay attention to his needs in that regard. Thank you for bringing this to me," she added the last with a sincerity that she hoped they could recognize. "I don't often have the opportunity to find out the best way to approach students and I think that everyone would do better with a little personal touch. It sounds like he's going to do great."

22 Mary Brooding-Hawthorne I do believe so. 1424 0 5