An Interview With Wye River Upper School English Teacher Jamie Caron
In addition to teaching writing mechanics, literary devices, and reading analysis, Jamie Caron provides his students with a genuine understanding of what it can be like navigating academia with a learning difference.
A teacher of 8th and 9th-grade English, Jamie Caron joined Wye River Upper School’s faculty in 2023 as a graduate of the University of Virginia with a Master of Education focused on Literacy (Chair’s Fellow) and a B.A. in English from Skidmore College. Jamie also boasts two decades of first-hand experience traversing mainstream school systems designed for neurotypical students as a neurodivergent person.
In a recent interview, Jamie described how his personal experience influences his approach to teaching.
How do you describe yourself to your students?
I'm just me. I talk to my students about myself when and if my personal experience relates to the class topic. I don’t see any reason to beat around the bush if it seems helpful to speak to my specific qualifications, I do. I’m on the spectrum. I have ADHD.
What did it mean for you to be a student on the spectrum with ADHD?
There were a lot of struggles. My success in class was polarized. I was a terrible math student and problem solver in that way. But I was always a strong writer with a unique voice. When I was struggling with things that I didn’t enjoy and I wasn’t good at them, to begin with, I didn’t put much thought into them. I didn’t hyper-focus on those challenging subjects. And I didn’t have the language to describe that to my parents or teachers.
You certainly have the language now. When did you acquire it?
Like many, I had a kind of personal renaissance in college and found out a lot more about myself. I learned more about the things that made me unique, and what I can do with those things. I embraced those qualities and played to my strengths in college.
I took things I was invested in and expanded my horizons from that vantage point. I learned to process and understand things that I wasn’t necessarily familiar with in a more understandable way.
For example, I took a visual art class– a subject that I don’t naturally excel in– as a follow-up to a film and comics class I enrolled in after taking a course in my main interest area, which was English. I worked outward from my base interest rather than starting in an unfamiliar place, and that helped me explore more things I otherwise might not have.
How does your experience as a neurodiverse learner inform your teaching?
The kids respond really well when you’re open and honest with them. A lot of kids think people who are older than them have no clue what they’re going through, and it’s important to acknowledge that we only know a little bit about what someone is experiencing at any given time. Meeting the kids with curiosity instead of authority is a good place to start.
I try to relate. I bond through particular interests to create more buy-in from my students. If a student doesn’t like reading but likes video games, there are a lot of video games with narrative elements that I can draw from as examples.
It can be hard to put yourself in the shoes of a neurodiverse student if you’ve not been one. I hope that my students see me not only as a teacher but a person that they can learn from. Seeing yourself is important. If they’ve never seen a person with the same struggles in a relative position of power, they may assume, unconsciously, that they aren’t capable- that that’s not for them.
Do you have any advice for parents of neurodiverse learners?
Meet your kids where they are. Sit down and try to listen to them. Even though they are changing all the time, they probably have a grasp of who they are right now and what they need at this moment in time. Trust them. Ask them: What can I do? Try to work on solutions together, it's a both-sides thing.
Understand that there is nothing wrong with your kid; they are capable. They may just need support in things that you don’t. It doesn't make them less competent, it just makes them different.
What piece of advice do you find yourself offering to students the most?
Work with what you’ve got. Don’t try to be something you’re not to make other people feel more comfortable. And lean into your strengths. Use them as guides to navigate your course.
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