Hopes and Expectations

Abstract

This chapter serves as a preface to Elizabeth and Lawrence’s narrative of their experiences at Chesed. It describes portions of two conversations, occurring during the third and fourth videotaping sessions among Elizabeth, Lawrence, and myself. Topics of discussion include but are not limited to Elizabeth’s educational background, the resistance of parents to acknowledge their children’s learning challenges, the stigma associated with having a child with learning issues in a private mainstream school, personal transformation, their perceptions of Simon before and after he became a student at Chesed, and the social emotional toll Simon’s learning difficulties have had on them all. The reason I chose these portions of these conversations to be presented together in this chapter is because, for the most part, they represent narratives of times prior to Simon’s enrollment at Chesed and also because together I find them useful for discussing Lawrence and Elizabeth’s hopes and expectations for themselves and Simon prior to the years of tumult and trauma they would experience as a result of his (and their) alienation and rejection at Chesed.