The remarkable story of one special needs teacher
and her struggle to help an abused and tormented child

At just six years old, Sheila had experienced unimaginable pain and misery. Abandoned by the side of a busy motorway aged four, she rarely spoke and never cried.

Already labelled as unmanageable and untreatable, the violence of her own early life led Sheila to commit a vicious crime on another child. One night, she took a three-year-old boy from his parents' home, tied him to a tree and set fire to him. The boy survived. The US authorities decided Sheila should be placed in a state hospital.

But a shortage of places led to a 'temporary' placement that proved to be a turning point for both Sheila and the teacher who found herself entrusted with managing her. Already Torey Hayden was struggling with a class of eight children with diverse behavioural problems - a child with Sheila's history was really the last thing she needed. However, despite grave reservations about being able to cope with another demanding and difficult child, Hayden agreed to take her on - with remarkable results.

Her struggle to find a way to reach out to Sheila is chronicled in One Child (Element, £5.99) a remarkably candid story of the change that took place over six short months.
When Sheila arrived at the door of Hayden’s classroom, she refused to talk or take part in any classroom activities, spending the first few days huddled in a corner on a chair.

The other children - with more than enough problems of their own - struggled to cope as she gouged out the eyes of pet goldfish during a lunch break, wrecked worksheets and wrought havoc on school life.

But Hayden, assisted by two dedicated but professionally unqualified helpers, determined to persevere with a child she could see was frightened and scarred by a life of neglect and abandonment. Sheila had been left on the side of a highway aged four by her 18-year-old mother, who dumped her daughter but kept her younger son. Eventually the father was located and Sheila was placed with him in a migrant camp in rundown living accommodation with no toilet or running water. The father, a heavy drinker, was unsure how to deal with his daughter, and from the book, is clearly in need of as much help as the child he has labelled 'crazy.'

Hayden is the first person to ever take Sheila's side. Despite her own shock at Sheila's actions, she gradually gains the child's confidence and within a few weeks Sheila starts to join in with classroom activities. A breakthrough comes when Hayden notices Sheila stacking blocks and asks her to try simple sums using them. Sheila comes up with the answers in seconds, and Hayden begins to question a previous diagnosis that she is severely retarded.

As the weeks go by, Sheila's ability begins to shine through to the point that she is discovered to have an astonishingly high IQ of 182 - off the scale of ordinary and a huge problem for a child living in her circumstances without any kind of intellectual stimulation.

As her schoolwork comes along, so do her social skills. Hayden goes the extra mile to ensure the child is accepted among her peers. When she arrives stinking of stale urine and wearing the same dirty clothes every day, the other children struggle to even be near her. But Hayden organises it so that the child can wash when she gets to school while one of her helpers takes her clothes to the launderette.

It's a remarkable story that certainly restores any lost faith in the resilience of children and the kindness and dedication of some individuals. The events happened over 20 years ago, and in the US, but for the British reader some facts are even more shocking.

Sheila's heavy-drinking father appears to be left in sole care of the child without any kind of support, so much so that she is regularly left alone for long periods. Corporal punishment is still in evidence in the school environment - though not carried out by Hayden - which seems archaic (especially for an already abused child with such complex problems).

One Child is really a story of one person's selfless concern for a child where others have failed her. Hayden dedicates many extra hours to ensure that Sheila gets time to talk, to discuss and to learn about life. Her father, who loves the child in his own haphazard way, starts off suspicious and ends accepting that Hayden's work has helped his daughter.

The crux comes when a place at the state hospital becomes available. Hayden decides to fight it all the way, believing that the child will suffer if she is hospitalised. She recruits her lawyer boyfriend to act for Sheila and is triumphant when the judge rules in her favour.

Things seem to be running smoothly when a horrific act of sexual abuse on Sheila by a visiting uncle causes her to almost bleed to death. After a month in hospital she returns to class only to find that Hayden is moving on and that the class is being dissolved. Sheila, it has been decided, is to return to mainstream education.

It's a book of heartwarming highs and harrowing lows, a story of resilience, courage and of going with your gut instinct. It is also a story of love, of learning to love and of loving enough to let go. For a child like Sheila who has been abandoned before, that's the toughest part. Ultimately it is a triumphant story as Sheila finally accepts her place as a regular kid in a regular school, albeit in a class of children two years older than her.

The big question remains: what happened next? The answer, not surprisingly, comes in a follow-up book The Tiger’s Child to be published in May. Both books have already been published some time ago in the US. Hayden is new to the UK audience but certainly has a lot to say about working with challenging children.

In some circles she is now seen as a master of method in dealing with troubled, abused and tormented youngsters. Interested readers who want to find out more can check out her own official website: www.torey-hayden.com