Doman Kids Special Feature! Featuring Ella Claire, the teacher

Here we highlight the talents of kids and individuals on the Doman Program. Each person has a voice to share. This feature supports the voice and dreams of the children on our program. Their voice is an invaluable contribution to the world around them while they work hard on battling their neurological problems.

We are excited to start off with our first contributor - Ella Claire, the teacher.

Ella Claire loves to teach. She is a great learner though, and learned to speak while on the Doman Program. Along with speaking in English, her family’s first language, she also learned Spanish from her mother. Her mother knew Spanish, but did not speak it very much. Ella Claire has since taught her mother to speak in Spanish!

Her mother shares, “She (Ella Claire) has fun teaching. She makes it okay to make a mistake. I can always correct it next time. She taught me to become comfortable speaking in Spanish.”

Ella Claire has also taught her grandmother Spanish. Her grandmother was nervous in the beginning having spoken only in English most of her life. But with Ella Claire’s help she is happily speaking a second language. Grandma says, “Ella Claire is patient, knowledgeable and encouraging. She makes learning fun. She took away the intimidation of learning a new language for me.”

In Ella Claire’s words, “I am really patient. I like to make sure that students can learn well. It is an art to teach. It comes to me naturally. I love engaging with people and learning what they know. I am grateful that I can share my gift with you.”

On our most recent evaluation visit, Ella Claire spent some time teaching Spanish to staff member Niyati Patel. See video below -