The Right Things to Say to Parents of Special Needs Kids

Mark and Bonnie's blog, The Fragile X Files, is one of my favorites. When I read their post, The RIGHT Things to Say to Parents of Special Needs Kids, I knew I had to share. I hope you will click on the link and take a minute to read it.

Como Se Dice "Don't Break My Routine" en Espanol?

Cody loves holidays AND speaking Spanish, therefore, I think it's appropriate to air out my archives and share the following experience, originally posted October 4, 2010.

When Cody was in high school, he chose Spanish as one of his electives. He enjoyed it so much that he took it his sophomore, junior and senior year.

Every day, at the beginning of the period, the entire class would, in unison, say the alphabet in Spanish. One particular day, this important part of the routine was skipped. Cody became upset and no one could figure out why. Of course Cody would never just come out and say what was bothering him. By the end of the period, tears were streaking down his cheeks and when the bell rang, he would not budge! When the teachers and peer tutor finally figured out Cody was upset because the class didn't say the alphabet, they tried to convince him it would be okay. The class would be sure to remember to say the alphabet the next day. However, no amount of coaxing or persuading would get Cody out of that desk!

When students of the next period began to arrive, the teachers realized something needed to be done about Cody, who by this time was full on crying and causing a scene. They decided to pick Cody up, desk and all, and move him into the hall.

I don't remember what happened after that. Obviously Cody eventually calmed down and got over it, but I'm not sure his Spanish teacher ever did.

Unfathomable

My daughter Katelyn and I were having a conversation when she said to me, "I just don't get it. Why is it so hard for some people to talk to a person with disabilities? It's easy for me. I just treat them like I would anyone else." I pointed out that it is second nature to her because she grew up having an older brother with disabilities in the home. I also mentioned to Katelyn that when I was young (which really isn't that long ago), people with disabilities were not included in public schools; they were institutionalized. This opened up a great discussion about the importance of inclusion and how it benefits kids with and without disabilities. For the most part, Katelyn's generation is more comfortable around individuals that have special needs because they have been included in society. I wonder if our children and our children's children won't look back on segregation of kids with disabilities like our generation looks back on segregation of race...unfathomable.

Born with Disabilites

As mentioned in my post "Blogging With Purpose", I have a child that was born with disabilites. Although being in a wheelchair isn't one of them, I am anxious to share this book, "Rolling Along With Goldilocks and the Three Bears". Not only would this make a great book to have in your home, but it would also be wonderful to have in a grade school classroom.