Published: December 18, 2008 06:47 pm            

Southeast teacher shares expertise with Saudis

During Billie Abney’s first visit to Saudi Arabia — also her introduction to the Middle East and its culture — she wanted something to take home and something to remember forever.

The tangible item? A desert rose rock.

Her lasting memory? A camel ride.

Abney, a science teacher at Southeast High School, traveled to the Saudi Arabian capital of Riyadh during the fall to speak at a conference on Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).

The seminar was sponsored by the ADHD Support Group of Saudi Arabia and The King Faisal Hospital of Riyadh. Joining her on the trip were sister Chris Dendy and nephew Alex Ziegler. Dendy is also an expert in the field, having written five books and produced several videos on ADHD. Despite doubts about how they would be received in a foreign land, Abney raves about the hospitality of the Saudi Arabian people.

“It was like being at home,” said Abney, a native of LaFayette. “These people are the most kind, humble, sweet people I’ve ever been around. It was wonderful.”

Abney can relate to children who have trouble focusing on schoolwork because of ADD/ADHD. She’s an adult living with ADHD. She was the keynote speaker at the International Children and Adults with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (CHADD) conference for teachers, parents and physicians last year in Washington, D.C. Her lecture attracted the attention of Dr. Soad Al-Yamani of Saudi Arabia, resulting in an invitation to visit and speak at the international conference.

Because of a back problem, Dendy was reluctant to take the almost day-long flight to Saudi Arabia. Abney also had reservations about traveling to the Middle East because of much reported civil unrest in some countries. But, believing it could be the trip of a lifetime, Abney persuaded her sister into taking the trip.

“I was nervous,” Abney said. “I had people say to me, ‘What are you doing? Why are you going?’ You know, it all fell into place, so I thought, ‘This must be meant to happen.’ I’ll be honest, I was having some nightmares before I left.”

The highlight of the trip was the camel ride. Abney said she’s ridden horses “off and on most of my life,” so the prospect of a camel ride intrigued her.

“There’s a lot more swaying,” Abney said. “These camels were just kind of, ker-thunk, ker-thunk, ker-thunk.”

Speaking with the teachers and physicians during the day ranked close to the camel ride. Abney said they were quite interested in learning more about ADD and ADHD. Abney and Dendy lectured each day from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., then used an Internet-based video chat program called Skype until 5:30 p.m. to talk with students and teachers back at Southeast.

“Their teachers really don’t know much and that’s why we went,” Abney said. “They were sitting on the edge of their seats. It was a wonderful experience that we were able to help these people. Then they go back to their communities, their cities and start programs.”

Safety was never a concern. Abney and her group were escorted to the seminar, museums and other places in Riyadh. Their hotel — a Holiday Inn — was surrounded by a concrete barrier and had security measures such as keycard access to the elevators that eased their fears.

Abney is in her third year teaching anatomy, chemistry and physics at Southeast. She was a chiropractor for 20 years before deciding the grind of that job wouldn’t allow her to do it forever. She’s discovered several techniques to keep her students engrossed in classwork. Most are based on movement and not being confined to a desk. Students perform lab work as often as possible. When Abney is lecturing and the students appear to lose interest, she’ll call for a coffee break.

“There’s just a lot of movement in class,” Abney said. “They’re not necessarily sitting down anymore and taking notes for an hour and a half.”

Technology is also an important part of her classroom. Class lectures and test reviews can be downloaded to audio devices. Abney reasons that some students are better audio learners than visual learners. Text messaging games helps students learn vocabulary.

        

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