Posts Tagged ‘inclusion’
Bad Timing
Want to hear about bad timing? My nephew, my little sister’s first child was born around 4 am on August 7, 2014. At 10 am that morning I was told that my 10 week old fetus had no heartbeat. The next day, my 31st birthday would be spent physically ridding my body of the baby I had prayed for…for a year. I have a photo of me holding my beautiful nephew Jackson that day. I genuinely felt such happiness for my sister and brother in law but in the picture…
Read MoreI Wish We Didn’t Have to Fight
Sometimes I wish we didn’t have to fight; fight for services, for inclusion, for equality. But I know that is not the case. We will always have to fight because my 4 year old, nonverbal son diagnosed with autism will never be fully accepted by everyone, and that makes me so incredibly sad. I am reminded of this from time to time and every time it stings. This week I was reminded again how the neurotypical world doesn’t quite understand and accept my son. Franklin has been in an Early…
Read MoreI Was So Scared of Different
I used to be so scared of different. Of standing out. I preferred to blend in. Not rock the boat. But you kid. You changed all that. You were born to stand out. To be different. When you were little I’d get so scared. The fear would paralyze me. We’d be in a waiting room or at a park. Everyone else would be sitting. Or playing quietly. You’d be flapping. Or making happy noises. Moving chairs. Eating sand. Twirling. Never sitting. Screeching. Grunting. Laughing at sounds or colors. You’d drop…
Read MoreShow your Kids the World
When we bought a house in a neighborhood full of kids I told my husband we are either making the biggest mistake ever…or we are going to change Cooper’s life. At the time, Cooper paid no attention to kids. He hated noise and chaos. He didn’t like a full house. Overnight Sawyer made friends. In and out they came. So many kids Cooper’s age. Older and younger. Our living room and kitchen full of little voices asking for snacks. By the end of day one we found Cooper in the…
Read MoreIs HE Going to be in our Class?
Today we had “Back to School Night” and I was nervous all week thinking about it. Every year when my oldest has a new teacher, I hope and pray that they are kind, understanding, and teach the other students about inclusion and things that make us different…and that its okay. We walked up to the list for 2nd grade, I ran my finger down the list to find his name, and we proceeded down the hall to her room. Max was making loud noises, he held my hand, he has…
Read MoreTo the Parents Who Don’t Understand, Just Ask…
Last year about this time I posted a blog about inclusion. See, I am not a strong proponent either way as I feel everyone should be included to the best of their ability no matter what their extra needs or disabilities. Certainly, a child with disabilities should not bring trauma to your own typical child but reality is, my own children have had more struggles with typical children than they ever have with a child with extra needs and actually have learned more from them than their typical peers. That…
Read MoreI Saw You Today
I saw you today. In fact I saw several of you. I was the mom picking up some groceries with my son. My autistic son, that’s all he is. No need to walk on eggshells around us, we were just fine. But I’m not sure you were. When he made unusual noises as I stood at the deli counter you were allowed to smile at me and say hello. It would’ve gone a long way to put me at ease. It wasn’t necessary to look past us as if we…
Read MoreWhat your Child’s Teacher wants you to know…
Dear parents, I guess emotions are running high at this time of year; excited for back to school and some peace and quiet, but nervous about how your child is going to settle back into routine, what will his new teacher be like, will her SNAs be kind, will they understand him, will they manage if he has a meltdown? I imagine some of these questions are going around in your head at the moment and as a teacher I can tell you that we understand. We understand that these…
Read MoreTurning Invisible
I remember when my son and I turned invisible. It wasn’t fast. It wasn’t overnight. It happened slow at first. And then one day, I felt like we were gone. There were no playdates. No conversations at Kindergarten drop off or pick up. He wasn’t involved in sports or clubs. His interests never changed. No new hobbies. No hobbies at all actually. He’s never had a birthday party invitation. Time was a continuum. No start or stop. No new grade levels. No spring, summer or fall activities. If we went…
Read MoreWhen People Stare at you
I used to get so upset when people stared at you. You’d be flapping. Or making happy noises. Screeches. Grunts. High pitched screams. One second you’d be on the floor and the next running only to drop to the ground, roll, laugh and pat the ground. Or you’d be melting down. Screaming. Either way it almost sounds the same. Loud. I’d look around. Make eye contact. And look away. I’d think in my head, stop. Stop Cooper. Stop drawing attention to yourself. To us. Everyone knows. But it’s not for…
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