Inclusion spirit week
Do you have a child with a disability? If you do, I’m almost positive that at some point in this parenting journey you have felt a pain of, “I just want him/her to be happy. I want other children to see them past their disability and for just who they are.”
Do you have a child without a disability? Have you ever been sad with your child when maybe they felt left out. If you have, I can confidently say to multiply that feeling by infinity and you’ll have a small understanding of how awful it feels.
Infinity. Infinity.
My daughter Ashlynn is now 12 and started middle school. She’s only ever been invited to one peer’s birthday parties. Despite being happy and kind with a smile so bright it could rival the sun, it’s always been a struggle for her to be included. A natural born socialite, Ashlynn was born with disabilities that have effectively worked as barriers between her and her desire to be social. How much does she long to feel included? I can’t really say for sure but anything I can imagine I’m sure we can multiply it by…infinity.
Infinity. Infinity.
Inclusion is not something new. Disability advocates including special education staff and others have been trying to do this successfully for decades. Though we’ve come farther than when I was in high school, where the kids in special education only had a hallway and never attended general education classes; simply sticking them in general education classes wasn’t including them either. As time went on, we have been learning. Inclusion is not just a place. If it were, kids on the outside would have LONG been included by now. True inclusion then is really a culture. It’s in a culture of people who all viscerally buy in to this idea that EVERY one matters. It’s a culture of many many people beyond disability advocates who accept we all have way more in common than we do not. So what are the possibilities then of an entire culture of people practicing inclusion? I’m no expert, but I think the answer is probably, infinity.
Infinity. Infinity.
That leads me to this new middle school my daughter Ashlynn is at this year. Even just walking through the doors, one gets the sense that THIS building houses a culture of inclusivity. It’s literally written in signs on the walls and throughout the building. In the girls bathroom, positive affirmation notes are hung above the mirrors. I remember washing my hands and wondering if instead of hating my reflection every day as a middle schooler how it might have helped to then read a positive affirmation above it? In hallways, inspirational messages are posted throughout like this.
Ashlynn at 6th grade orientation at Infinity Middle School
Middle school is full of so many changes. Changes to our bodies, our cognition and a way of navigating the world. Imagine a child going through that but reading that sign above Ashlynn every day. Could it change how they feel? I don’t really know for sure, but even if it helped ONE child, it’s worth it. Who knows how many that child would go on to help? Maybe the answer is more like infinity.
Infinity. Infinity
Ashlynn has thrived her sixth grade year being included in general education track and basketball. Her science teacher modifies her school work on his own. He takes responsibility himself for scaffolding her work instead of relying on the special education teacher. The dean of students who helps with traffic flow in the morning took to Ashlynn “helping” her do traffic duty. Every morning Ashlynn happily smiles and waves on the cars along side the dean. It would be impossible not to notice how Ashlynn is being included every morning by teachers, parents and students alike. You know what this fosters? Inclusion times INFINITY.
Infinity. Infinity.
The year culminated into something called the first annual “Inclusion Spirit Week.” Excuse me? I’ve worked in special education since 2004 and I’ve never ever heard of anything like this. To make it work though, all members of the community had to believe in and practice inclusion, because as I said, inclusion is not a place, it’s a culture. It’s a culture like spirit week for school pride! It’s a culture like team spirit. It takes a collective group of people, disabled and non disabled, advocates and non advocates who truly believe inclusion matters.
To be clear, inclusion week was not just about kids with disabilities. I’m writing about it because my child happens to have one. No this week had themes of not letting anyone sit alone, or how to be a friend when you see someone sitting alone and more.
The assembly featured games and incorporated ALL members of the student body participating in games against the teachers. That’s where Ashlynn came in. She was on a basketball team of students working to get more baskets in one minute than the teachers. She was paired with a peer buddy who helped her alongside other general education students working to defeat the teachers. How much did this mean to her? Well to quote Buzz Light Year, I’m pretty sure it was “to infinity and beyond.”
Yes I don’t say it lightly when I tell you that Ashlynn’s new school has been nothing short of amazing. Reading, writing and math are important, but so does kindness and mental health. This school offers all of that. What’s the name of such an amazing school you might ask? Well it’s no other than
Infinity….Middle School.
Our gratitude overflows. My husband balled through the entire assembly. The only way to describe happiness like that is nothing shorter than infinity.
Laura Smith, M.A. CCC-SLP is the mother to two beautiful children, one of which has a rare genetic mutation that caused a variety of developmental disabilities. She is the author of Overcoming Apraxia and has lectured throughout the United States on childhood apraxia of speech and related issues. Currently, Laura is a practicing SLP specializing in apraxia at her clinic A Mile High Speech Therapy in Aurora, Colorado.