Book Review--Beautiful Child, by Torey Hayden

Another great book by Torey Hayden. Published in 2002, Beautiful Child is a chronicle of more of Torey Hayden's experiences teaching children with special needs. At the center of this story is Venus, an extremely unresponsive 7-year-old child. Venus never spoke or seemed to listen to others. Torey intially thought she might be deaf. However, lack of hearing was not the issue. Though usually unresponsive to others, an accidental bump was capable of sending her into a screaming rage.

Venus's family life was very far from ideal, as her file and home visits confirmed. Her mother, who had a history of prostitution and drug abuse, had nine children, Venus being the youngest. One of the elder children, Wanda, aged 19 or 20 and mentally retarded, frequently brought Venus to school and seemed to take a great deal of responsiblility for her, though her cognitive deficits made that a serious challenge. The nine children had three different fathers, the first of whom had died in prison. Venus's mother gave birth to a stillborn baby after the second man beat her severely. This man had also been convicted of child abuse and charged with animal cruelty. Venus's father, the third man, also had a string of convictions. His were for burglary, drug charges, and most disturbingly, pedophile activity. Though out of prison at the time, he was banned from having contact with the kids. Venus's mother had a new live-in boyfriend, who was pretty much like the others before him.

In the beginning, four other students shared the classroom with Venus--Shane and Zane, twins with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome; Billy, an angry, aggressive boy; and Jesse, who had Tourette's Syndrome. Later, Gwen, a girl with High-Functioning Autism, joined the class for just the afternoon. The mix of students was so volatile that at first Torey needed to seat them each at their own table and had them remove their shoes upon entering the classroom. Fights broke out every day. Torey had an aide to help her, but their very different approaches turned into another source of friction.

It is fascinating to see how Torey gets the group to get along and make some impressive strides academically. Even more fascinating, she manages to engage Venus and get her to start making some academic progress.

Progress was extremely slow with Venus. It was hampered by her horrific home life and poor attendance. In addition, she spent some time on homebound due to violent behavior on the playground. Furthermore, Torey's principal and her aide objected to some of her methods in engaging Venus, criticizing her choice of materials and their educational value. I could see their point in this, but what Torey did with Venus really worked, in that she was able to develop a relationship with Venus, who then started finally being able to complete some academic work and make some progress.

I always feel hopeful after reading one of Torey Hayden's books. Though many of the kids come from awful situations, their ability to overcome the severe obstacles in their lives and Torey's dedication and commitment in helping them gives me great hope for the future.