I was privileged to know the whole family of the Diggens. We eventually became close enough that my husband and I had dinner at their home on one or two occasions. They are really wonderful people! We have known them a long time now.
They initially found me when homeschooling got rough because Jack reached school age.
Firstborn advantage
Jason was the firstborn and the child who got the best prenatal care and the longest time without siblings, so that his parents poured into him, language, love, limits… Jason has, to date, always been brilliant, secure and successful. He was easy to homeschool, and eventually the state paid for part of his college education because he did so well on the GED test to prove he was ready to graduate (I think he was 16 years of age when he began college.) Today he has a PhD in psychology and is married with two elementary aged children. He helps care for the rest of his siblings.
No Screen-time, helped her reach her potential
Jasmine was born with a sweetness, gentleness and kindness that is extremely attractive. All of these kids have always been physically beautiful, but she has always been internally lovely! Jasmine learned to read early and spent a lot of time reading for pleasure, sewing, crafting and caring for younger siblings. Until Jasmine was entering the 5th grade no one noticed that she had some sort of neurological differences. When we began the process of taking her through the hoops that were then required by our state, the local authorities refused to let her qualify for the “special ed services” umbrella because she was reading on or above grade level. Her psycho-educational profile was classic for a mildly cognitively delayed learner, but her reading defied logic. None of the rest of her learning was going that well, but reading was her outlet, her introvert recharge in a stimulating family. The family chose not to own a television and could not frequently afford to go to a theater for a movie. If she wanted a story, she had to make it up or read it. I called the Educational Service District official, who in Oregon at the time, would ultimately decide if Jasmine had to be “demanded back to public school” or not, and explained her situation to the woman there without giving her Jasmine’s name, and that woman understood exactly what was going on. She paved the way for Jasmine to continue to legally homeschool and I was able to begin to support her learning as well as her little brother Jack’s.
Special need for notice, as are all siblings with siblings who have bigger needs
Judy was and is probably their classic “middle child”. She has never “needed” anything more than to be a part of a good family. She found her own relationship with Christ at an early age. She taught herself to play the piano and began to compose worship music by the age of 13. She is also lovely inside and out, but she set up her key supports outside the family. She is now the only one living on the west side of the country. She is happily married, raising small children – extremely happy with a husband and serving God a long way from her family. She has never needed my academic support, but as the sibling of many with very different learning profiles, she received the benefit from my fondness, affection, and attention whenever I have seen her family.
Autism and a cognitive delay bring challenges
Jack brought the family to me. Jack smiles! As a youngster he didn’t use many words, just a lot of happy faces and gestures to communicate. He appeared to be content no matter what was happening around him. When tested it was shown that he had a cognitive delay and autism spectrum disorder. We started him on supported learning and from the beginning we found him speech therapy. He would require support for social skills for a long time and still requires family support as an adult. I find his company delightful! Academic subjects were never going to come easily for Jack. We certainly gave it much effort over the many years I supported the family.
Special need for notice and I don’t want to
James was more typically developing, but liked to hide behind other siblings and not bother to learn. Eventually, I had to customize a reading program for him to get him started. He has had very little struggle once he became a reader, academically, but being sandwiched between a high needs older brother and a different needs “baby” brother, he had emotional needs that had to be addressed before he could become the healthy adult he is today. I can not claim much credit for James’ success. I want to say his family and extended family have provided the needed support to push him and communicate unconditional love.
Communication disorder
Jasper is the baby. Dad (Jordan)’s job changed as Jasper was young and his grandmother took over teaching all the kids younger than Jason for a while. Mom (Joan) went back to work full time to support Jordan’s return to higher education so he could make career advancement and one of their parents stepped in to keep homeschooling going. Jasper needed speech therapy and a little academic support, but not much.
Grandparents as homeschool teachers is a great arrangement!
Grandmother Janice came to my home weekly for at least a year, and I tutored her with the kids. I got to know them all at that time, because I was helping Janice understand how to teach each of them, so I was allowed to teach them all.
Over the years since they moved out of our area and grew to adulthood, I have heard from this one or that here and there. I talked to Joan last week as it happens and learned that Jasper is 23 years of age, working and living with older brothers, sharing care of Jack with James and working a job. None of those younger kids are yet married, but all the older ones are and there are several grandkids.
There was a time when all of those kids knew that Jesus loved them and were developing gifts and talents as their personalities drove them. Few of them would have been “top of the class” academically had they attended school away from home, but not having the classroom peer point of comparison, they have all been able to thrive as just being themselves. I think that may be one of the biggest strengths of teaching those with learning differences at home.
Advantage of being a homeschooling family
I have a dear friend who is not connected to this family, but who grew up on an IEP and labeled intellectually or cognitively delayed. She is now a functioning adult, married happily, raising a well adjusted grade school aged child and doing quite well, but there is a deep wound in her soul from having been called “retarded” and singled out for her learning challenges.
As far as I know none of the Diggens carry this wound. I think that is wonderful, because several of them required my assistance to get them through school without the state demanding them back into classrooms, but they are all happily functioning adults!
Interventions used
Multisensory learning
Black ink on white paper
Using manipulatives to explain concepts, and letting the student touch things to secure memory
Repetition, practice, review
Limited screen time – reading as recreation
Loving limits from adults in their world
Prayer and trust in God
They read as soon as they knew how. The older children read aloud to the younger ones often and built a community. They spent lots of time with adults in the extended family who loved them and experienced loving limits from multiple adults. Did any of these kids experience trauma? Struggle? Trouble like their public school peers? Actually yes, several of them had trauma visit them in the neighborhood, in the workplace… Particularly those with neurological differences they sometimes struggled to know which people were trustworthy and who were predatory. Life has not been “Mayberry happy” for them any more than any other family, but I think Joan and Jason, as well as Jordan should be credited with amazing success in the face of many obstacles. I did walk along beside this family for the key school years. It was a privilege to serve them.