Ruby is sitting in a high backed chair, on top of a pale pink cushion. She is twiddling a mechanical (always and only the mechanical, not the Ticonderoga) pencil in her left hand, and her gaze is fixated upon it, as usual. You can tell she’s happy to be here, because she grins and giggles between the slight rocking motions.
Her instructor Lili begins reading the lesson for today. The topic is the musician Sixto Diaz Rodriguez, whom I had never heard of before today. She reads quietly about his history, his unexpected popularity and then pauses.
“Ok,” she says as she skims the lesson, “let’s spell….‘wildly’”
Ruby knows what to do. I can tell by how she shifts and lifts up her right arm. I watch as she works to point with her first finger. Her instructor lightly supports Ruby’s elbow, reminding her to keep it upright.
“And the first letter is?”
And we’re off. Ruby knows what letter she needs and glances at the board. Her eyes return to her fiddling pencil…