Special Needs Adults Making Stunning Pottery

Cecilia Zoch and her husband Henry were at the Gray Legacy Services Christmas Party with a full table of beautiful pottery they have helped teach the residents how to make. Here’ a story Cecilia wrote about the process.

In August 2022, Ken Gray, President, of Gray Legacy Services of La Grange, and Founder of the Mary Gray Foundation, a nonprofit organization for adults with developmental disabilities contacted me for my services as a potter to set up a studio and to teach pottery classes to his clients of Gray Legacy Services. I enlisted the help of my husband, Henry Zoch, who is also a potter. Gray shared his desire to see his beloved clients learn how to work with clay. He wanted them to have something productive and meaningful to do during their stay at the dayhab in La Grange.

Excited for this new opportunity to help special needs adults, we agreed to teach pottery classes. A clay work area was created. There were 12 students involved. The students began to work hard. They learned that their attitudes were evident in the final product of their work. They had to learn to concentrate during class, respect others, and that talking distracted their creativity. The students’ first reactions showed little patience with the clay or the process. “The clay is stuck to my hands. My hands are dirty! This is wet!” were their regular comments, however they quickly learned how to control the clay to create items.

Students learned that they had to take responsibility for their work. Each had challenges. “My wrists hurts.” was met with, “Try it this way and see if that helps.” Another would say in frustration, “I can’t do this!” The important question we ask is, “Do you want to work with clay?” Their strong affirmation to participate in clay was essential in order to produce results. They have learned to pay attention, to work hard, to concentrate, to cooperate while learning new skills. And they have done all this so well! Producing pottery is only a small portion of what takes place each Tuesday and Friday at pottery class. Life skills, conversation skills, listening, evaluating, having patience, learning to try again and again are all part of what is being learned - all because of Mr. Gray’s care and concern for those in his care with disabilities.

Initially, our goal was only to pass on some of our love for pottery and skill for working with clay. Surprisingly, it has blossomed into so much more for the students and for us as teachers. Now our goals are to see the incredible, heartwarming changes – in conversation skills, listening skills, perseverance, patience and yes, beautiful pottery that have taken place in our classroom since 2022 to be available to more and more students. Gray’s clients are pottery students ready for classroom learning, and we as teachers have made many new friends.