My 6 students:1teacher:1aide class houses numerous reading levels from kindergarten to 5th grade.  These students have Autism, Pervasive Developmental Disorder, and/or Asperger’s Disorder.  While my students’ emotional levels seem to match their chronological ages, I must choose reading books that match their ability levels for independent reading time.  Usually, I try to choose numerous books, that focus on positive character traits or another area of importance such as proper hygiene) so that the students have a good selection to pick from.  One of my students, Corey, is an extremely neat and well-groomed 11 yr. old African-American boy, except for an occasional nose picking.  When this occurs, I direct Corey to our “Hygiene desk”.  On this desk are tissues, hand sanitizer, moisturizer, and bathroom anti-bacterial soap.  Corey must use a tissue, wash his hands with the bathroom soap, use the hand sanitizer, and them moisturize (if he wants, as the hand sanitizer is extremely drying).  All of the students know the routine.  Recently one of the other students called Corey a name, “Deep-sea nose diver”.  The other students smiled or laughed, and Corey’s 1:1 paraprofessional informed me that some of the other students (from another class) called him this name during their shared gym time.  I tried to explain to Corey that nose picking is “inappropriate”, and that “We try to use tissues at all costs, but everyone has done it at least once- even if it was when they were very, very little.”

Corey was still very upset; so for his independent reading I chose the book Marvin Redpost, Why pick on me? by Louis Sachar.  I wanted Corey to identify with Marvin, a third grader, that was being called “nose-picker” and “booger-eater” by his classmates.  At the end of the book, Marvin finds out that everyone has picked their noses- even his classmates, even the principal of his school.  “ ‘ What’s so bad about picking your nose?’ asked his father.  ‘ I’ve picked my nose.’  ‘ It’s not something you want to do in public,’ said Marvin’s mother.  ‘But everyone has done it.’  He looked at his mother.  ‘You too?’  ‘Sometimes a tissue just won’t get it,’ she said.  ‘You blow and you blow, but nothing comes out.’”(Sachar, p. 46)   I chose this book so that Corey could increase his understanding of human behavior and to show him that he is not the first or only person to encounter such problems (Cornwell & Auslander, 2003).  I introduced the book to Corey by having him read the title and look at the illustrated cover (Marvin with fingers pointing at him as he holds a lunch tray and looks upset).  He brainstormed about what the title meant- none of his ideas were about nose picking, but they were about being bullied by others.  I asked Corey to read the first four chapters so that we could see if his title ideas were right.  Corey finished the first four chapters and came to see me smiling.  He explained to me that the story was about being called a “nose picker”.  He asked me if he could draw a picture about it during free choice, after math.  I agreed, and after math he drew Marvin Redpost and himself in the gym with fingers pointing at them (much like the cover).  It was easy to see that Corey did identify with Marvin Redpost.  I assigned him the remaining chapters (Chapter 5-10) over the weekend, and asked him to write a five to ten sentence paragraph about it to share to the class with his drawing.  Corey shared his summary on Monday morning.  His classmates loved how the story ended, with a class survey about nose picking.  We all examined his drawing.  We even made our own “Nose picking survey”.  Now, we are learning about germs, and once again about the importance of clean hands!  I am hoping that the whole class benefited from Marvin Redpost’s story, and now have improved personal and social judgment.

Corey, thanks for remembering to wipe the booger off your finger before shaking hands with our guest.
 

Remember:
 You can pick your friends, and you can pick your nose, but never pick your friend's nose.
 

If you go to a cosmetic surgeon and select a new nose from the catalog of potential noses, are you considered to be a nose picker?
 

Oh Boogers!  How do I get back to the page on bibliotherapy?