Imagine that. You treat someone like a human being, set high expectations, and they respond positively to that. Glad to see people like yourself out there working with these kids. Too may authority figures in children's lives these days (not just special needs students) treat them like second class subhumans, then they wonder why the children "misbehave" or perform poorly. They just want to be treated with respect, and I think we owe it to them to do so.