Section 11

It’s to help kids like that that Brannan and her volunteers put together an informational packet on secondary trauma for parents to give to teachers, explaining their battle-worthy idiosyncrasies and sensory-processing sensitivities. They’re common enough problems that the Department of Health and Human Services got in touch with Brannan about distributing the packet more widely.

This type of claim is called a causal claim. The author is describing that due to how common that type of trauma is for kids, the Department of Health and Human Services assisted Brannan with distributing the informational packet more widely.

Brannan gave the packet to Katie’s kindergarten teacher, but thinks the teacher just saw it as an excuse for bad behavior. Last fall, she switched Katie to a different school, where she hopes more understanding will lead to less anxiety.

This type of claim is called an evaluative claim. Katie’s teacher made the judgement to switch her to a different school due to the bad behavior that she displayed. This decision was made without giving thoughtful consideration to the informational packet given to the teacher.

Though Brannan hopes Katie will come out of childhood healthy, she still says, “She’s not a normal kid. She does things, and says things. She’s a grown-up in a six-year-old’s body in a lot of ways.” She certainly looks like a normal kid when she comes down from her room dressed for tap class. In a black leotard, pink tights, and shiny black tap shoes, she looks sweet as pie.

Her teacher is making an analogy claim on Katie’s behavior without considering the reasons why she acts the way she does. She is making an analogy on the way Katie acts and comparing it to how an adult acts.

Katie is sorry—God, is she sorry, you can see it in her face and guilty shoulders, but she seems to feel like she can’t help it.

The author is making an evaluative claim. It is being evaluated that Katie is apologetic by the way she is holding and presenting herself.