Ever so slowly, Sheila begins to open up. No matter what Sheila does, Torey remains consistent and calm. Torey works first on getting Sheila to sit with the group, then to work on a few basic academic tasks, and then on her hygiene.
Torey does not place demands on Sheila and allows the little girl time to become comfortable in her new surroundings. Torey remains astonishingly patient as she continues to work with Sheila. From this point on each day will be a struggle of trying to break through Sheila's tough exterior. The other students are appalled by Sheila's behavior and spin out of control. On her first day Sheila plucks the eyes out of all the goldfish. She brings a whole new level of chaos to a room that Torey has worked extremely hard to civilize. When Sheila first arrives in Torey's room she refuses to speak or to move. The story made the newspaper, and as Torey read it she felt an odd connection to the little girl. At six years old, she is being shuffled to Torey's room because she has just burned a three-year old after tying him to a tree. Sheila appears to be the worst case of the bunch. Most of her students are severely below grade level for their age and several hold no real hope of advancing far academically. The children in Torey's class have disabilities that prevent them from being placed in the regular special education classrooms and so Torey teaches the "garbage class".
Torey Hayden is a special education teacher who seems to have a special knack for working with the children who are unclassifiable. Over the course of five months, Sheila transforms under Torey's care into a more self-assured and happy child, headed for the second grade instead of the state hospital. Even the school does not pose the potential for a "home", since Sheila is only waiting to be transferred to the state hospital.
She has been shuffled between relatives and institutions before landing in Torey Hayden's secluded annex classroom. Sheila has been forgotten by the system, her family, and society itself. One Child is the story of a lost little girl and the extraordinary teacher who works to find her.
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