Chris Brown
Spirit of Support Award 2008
Submitted by Rhonda Ely
At about 5 years of age we learned our son Logan had Aspergers
syndrome. This came after two years of struggles and wondering, did
we just cause our son some kind of emotional trauma? So for the next
few years we struggled to learn what it was and how to deal.
When Logan was in the 3rd grade he had Chris Brown. I had
apprehensions that his first male teacher might just be intimidating
for Logan and he might not understand.
As it turned out Logan ended up feeling safer with Mr. Brown than
with anyone who had worked with him so far. You encounter, along
this journey, some teachers who are eager to embrace the challenge
of a developmentally challenged child, eager to try and others who
just roll their eyes, but once in a great while one comes along who
just has a divine instinct and you thank your lucky stars for those.
Mr. Brown was just such a teacher. By mid year Logan was easily
taking little cues from Mr. Brown like tapping his desk or, shoulder
that could calm him and bring him right into line. Many times during
IEPs I would look at this teacher and say “you have the instinct”.
During the next two years at South school, even though Mr. Brown
wasn’t’ his teacher Logan could always come find him if he was
having a bad day and Mr. Brown could immediately calm him down or
sometimes Mr. Brown would just see him during the day and know he
needed to talk and he would say “Logan, what’s up bud. Do you just
need to talk”?
Even during the years Logan went to the middle school, Mr. Brown
continued to give of his own time to come to IEP meetings to help
give the next teachers the insight that gave Logan the best chance.
I would say the year Logan had Mr. Brown was the turning point
between Logan just struggling and him knowing {there is hope and
this is something I can cope with}.
Even now as a freshman in high school Logan remembers that Mr. Brown
went above and beyond the call of duty because he saw something of
value in him when so many of his peers were calling him names. Logan
still faces challenges every day. One such day, recently, he told
the lady that works with him every day that she and Mr. Brown were
the two who had really showed an interest in his well-being. This
comes 6 years after he had Mr. Brown in class as a teacher.
My husband and I are very grateful for all the educators who try so
hard to accept this challenge, and so many do, but some really make
a difference. For an Aspergers child that can be life saving. For
this reason we would like to nominate Chris Brown for the spirit
award. He made a difference for Logan. Logan says “thank you Mr.
Brown, you rock”.
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Copyright Coulter Video 2008
