been thinking about Eridian special education and disabilities.
Do you think they have classroom aides?? I think that would be fun. An adult shows up to class and Grace is like ?? And the adult says come. We have to meet.
It turns out one of his new students is 🎶🎵🎶🎵🎵. Grace says hi and they don't sing back, only tap tap tapping on the ground. They understand, but they can't sing, the adult with them says. The two of them have their own methods of communication with gestures and taps, but the adult is here to help them communicate when they need. They also get upset easily and have a hard time self-regulating. Eridians typically can multitask at five different things at once and have conversations about multiple things at once with their many vocal sacs, but this student has a hard time following multiple conversation threads. The adult is here to make sure they're able to get access to the class like their classmates.
A light goes on.
"Oh," Grace says, "Oh! You're a paraeducator!"
Grace wasn't involved in the SPED program, but he remembers them, all of a sudden. There was one that mostly sat in the back on their phone, but there was one who would ask for copies of the curriculum so they could prepare adaptations ahead of time. Gen ed teachers don't have enough time to prepare all the IEP adaptations that they should. It was good to have the help.
(His new student turns out to have a great time. He only speaks with one conversation thread at once, so they actually have a much easier time following him than they do other Eridians. Another light bulb goes off, and talking to Rocky produces in relatively short order another device for translation, modified for a young Eridian to bring with them. And that's how AAC devices get invented on Erid.)
