- Where/How did you learn to advocate for your child?
- What are the realities on inclusion?
- What is my philosophy on inclusion?
What follows is my attempt to answer their questions.
Learning to Advocate
I learned to advocate for
my child, first and foremost
from my mother and my sister. I grew up watching Mom advocate for my
sister; constantly trying to convince the schools that they should
expect more out of
Lori. I watched her demand that the bus come and get her, even if it
broke
down. She had a right to go to school too (this was before 1975). My
mother taught me about dignity for Lori in everything she did. And Lori
taught me to advocate for her when
the frustration became too much that she couldn’t get her intentions
across
with her body language, partial words, and emotions. My son taught me
to advocate for him with
every skill he struggled to learn, every new skill achieved, and every
poor decision I allowed him the
dignity to make.
As
a sibling, I chose the field of exceptional education for a career. No,
really, it chose me. It became my passion growing up. Prior to the
birth of my son, I went back to school for a Master's degree from
Syracuse University where I learned to ask questions from leaders in the
field like Wolf Wolfensberger, Frank Laski, Jan Nisbet, Michael
Callahan, Ernie Goldstein, and Doug Biklen. To complete my Master's
program, I interned in D.C. at the government relations office of
TASH.
I realized I knew just enough to know that there was a lot I didn't know, but enough to speak confidently about what I spoke.
I realized I knew just enough to know that there was a lot I didn't know, but enough to speak confidently about what I spoke.
The Realities
and MY Philosophy of Inclusion.
The
realities are that we live in an imperfect world. That people come
from different experiences
and different walks of life. Our
children, both those with and those without disabilities have to make
their way
in this imperfect world. It is from this
truth that we begin the journey of education for all of our children.
Education is more than reading and math. It is accessing opportunities
and methodologies
with which to learn and learning from our experiences of the world
around us to
become our best selves.
Inclusion begins with dignity and expectations. Failure is
nothing if not the opportunity to risk and learn with dignity. Failure is no
longer the opportunity to learn, but has become the end of learning. We know from the ‘Pygmalion effect’ that
children will rise or fall according to our expectations of them. Once a child is labeled with deficits,
instead of building on strengths to learn, we begin to expect less of their abilities
and we teach instead to their weaknesses.
As much as we acknowledge that all children learn differently, we still to
teach to one cookie cutter approach. Differential
instruction is a wonderful theory, but useless unless put into practice. Accommodations and modifications are rarely something
that a teacher knows how to assess the need for or to use, let alone identify and
plan for a lesson. We have so many strategies and technologies available to
learners and teachers, but strategies and technologies are worthless without training.
It has been my experience that unless the parent can provide the
type, style, and model of accommodations or modifications necessary for a
student to succeed alongside their same age peers in the general education
classroom or is willing and able to take the district to court, success for
their child is more miss than hit. I
thought 94-142 (IDEA) was passed in 1975. Is this really 2012, 37 years later? How is
it that a child with a disability still does not have access to a free and appropriate
public education?
Can inclusion happen? Clearly, yes. Is it occurring in Florida schools? Yes, in
the occasional classroom, in the occasional school. Is there sufficient and systemic leadership
at the state, district and school levels? Not by a long shot. Students with cognitive disabilities, whether
striving for a general education diploma or a special diploma are falling by
the wayside while we ‘raise’ our Florida Sunshine State Standards, and force
our students with disabilities out of our general education classrooms in the
name of grading our ‘highly qualified’ teachers.
With that said, all children have the right and the ability to
be educated with their same-age peers and accessing the rich academic curriculum
and gifted teachers that we have available in our public education system. It
is not until this becomes the expectation rather than the exception that we
will realize the wealth of potential yet to be tapped.
