Lucia has a beautiful mind that recalls precise and fascinating details. Over our ten years of working together she often surprises me with the colors and nuances of what she remembers. She is disciplined and dedicated. She applies herself fully to the tasks at hand. Sometimes her shyness and anxiety in social situations prevents her from connecting with others. Her fears around safety can make it difficult for her to experience new things. We started learning Capoeira together at SPOTS. When Covid began we migrated to one-on-one sessions, first via zoom, then at the park.

In encouraging her to use her words, we began each session with a conversation about how she was feeling, what her day or week was like, and what she would like to work on. The exercises she enjoyed most were role-playing and improvisation. Tapping into her creativity, I asked her to make up characters she wanted to play, and to assign characters to me as we played through situations where she met a new person at school, or hosted a picnic for her family. We imagined putting on masks and inhabiting these characters, which allowed her to feel less afraid. In learning to host others, her homework was to research the kinds of food, drinks, music, and conversation topics her guests would like, which opened discussions during our sessions and allowed her to relate at a deeper level.

In fostering her connection to nature, I asked her to pick out leaves on the ground and spend time with them. Through touching and observing the leaves, then drawing and coloring them, she was able to apply her intricate mind and deepen her other senses. When Lucia accomplishes a task or makes a breakthrough, her excitement is immediate and infectious. She not only surrounds me with that joy in the moment, she is able to surprise me and bring me back to it in my own times of challenge.