I think it was third grade, maybe second. The older gentleman would pick me up from my classroom and walk me to speech therapy. My memory sees it as a space under a stairwell. He'd hold my chin and say the sounds over and over asking me to repeat them. SHHH....CHHHHH... He'd give me reminders about slowing down when I talk. I felt a bit of shame I couldn't get those sounds right and I couldn't --- no matter how hard I tried --- get my brain to slow down when I talked.
Around that same time, I began to notice other students on the playground. They were students we didn't necessarily see all day but looked to be similar in age. I can't remember who talked to whom first but I met a girl named Pam. She was a student in a special education classroom (I didn't realize that until many years later) in the same building except I had no idea where that classroom was. Looking back, I am not sure anyone did. Somehow, she found out I could draw and I began to draw things for her at recess. She liked my pictures and that made me proud.
She soon upped the ante and put in a request for a picture. She asked me to draw her a picture of the Bee Gees. The Bee Gees? I didn't draw real portraits. I drew cartoon like pictures but agreed to attempt the picture. I remember working on that picture for days and feeling so nervous to present it to her. And when I did, I remember her face.
She hated it.
That was thing about her. She was as genuine as genuine could be. Her cerebral palsy made it difficult to be understood sometimes but I knew clearly she didn't like it.
I wasn't the perfect friend to her but interacting with her taught me, at an early age, about how kids are more alike than different. She was real with real feelings. At that young age, I began to wonder about access, fairness, and acceptance. Mistakes and celebrations of a combined friendship led me to enter the field of special education.
So for me, advocacy started that young.
Through some twists and turns in my career, it's interesting to note that I am back in the field where I once started so many years ago. I am finding massive inspiration in watching talented special education teachers and therapists interact, teach and reach their students.
I left full-time direct supervision of Special Education for four years when I was a principal. But, now that I am back, I remember the depth of this work. I remember the advocacy required. This is one of the toughest jobs I've ever had....but also one of the most rewarding when all the pieces come together.
Together, for students.
Around that same time, I began to notice other students on the playground. They were students we didn't necessarily see all day but looked to be similar in age. I can't remember who talked to whom first but I met a girl named Pam. She was a student in a special education classroom (I didn't realize that until many years later) in the same building except I had no idea where that classroom was. Looking back, I am not sure anyone did. Somehow, she found out I could draw and I began to draw things for her at recess. She liked my pictures and that made me proud.
She soon upped the ante and put in a request for a picture. She asked me to draw her a picture of the Bee Gees. The Bee Gees? I didn't draw real portraits. I drew cartoon like pictures but agreed to attempt the picture. I remember working on that picture for days and feeling so nervous to present it to her. And when I did, I remember her face.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bee_Gees_1977.JPG
She hated it.
That was thing about her. She was as genuine as genuine could be. Her cerebral palsy made it difficult to be understood sometimes but I knew clearly she didn't like it.
I wasn't the perfect friend to her but interacting with her taught me, at an early age, about how kids are more alike than different. She was real with real feelings. At that young age, I began to wonder about access, fairness, and acceptance. Mistakes and celebrations of a combined friendship led me to enter the field of special education.
So for me, advocacy started that young.
Through some twists and turns in my career, it's interesting to note that I am back in the field where I once started so many years ago. I am finding massive inspiration in watching talented special education teachers and therapists interact, teach and reach their students.
I left full-time direct supervision of Special Education for four years when I was a principal. But, now that I am back, I remember the depth of this work. I remember the advocacy required. This is one of the toughest jobs I've ever had....but also one of the most rewarding when all the pieces come together.
Together, for students.
At the Mental Health in Education conference I attended, one presenter employed a technique "connecting the dots backward" to help us realize where we are and how we got there. Most of us have not taken a linear path to where we are now. However, we must realize that every time we interact or fail to interact with someone, we are creating a ripple of impact. We may never truly understand how far that ripple will travel, nor whom it may touch, be we all are part of a bigger impact.
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