AN INVITATION FROM ONE SPECIAL EDUCATOR TO FAMILIES, FRIENDS AND COLLEAGUES:
LET'S ADJUST OUR SAILS AND CONTINUE THE VOYAGE TOGETHER
BY ANGELA SHAW
The school bell rang early in August for the students who are in my care and for me. I cleaned my classroom, readied my school supplies, and wrote and rewrote, and then adjusted and readjusted my schedule to include an ever increasing caseload for the 18th year of my life. I contemplated, yet again, about how I could best support the students I serve to get through their 12 years of school and beyond in order to attain the goals they envision for themselves.
Being a special educator has been a blessing and burden in my life. I sometimes feel that I am alone in this journey, but then I have the opportunity to meet so many great parents, wonderful grandparents, and supportive aunties. I get to sit at an IEP table and hear the authentic and beautiful words of a general education teacher; listen to the response of my students as they connect with the patient and competent paraprofessional I am graced to work with; see the eager expression of an administrator who is working to keep the focus of our business on supporting every student. For parents and grandparents, for educators and support staff, for neighbors and friends, I wish to impart a message that I hope will provide significance and create an upward trajectory of understanding about the core meaning of what special education is, at least to me, within the next few paragraphs. An essential element of special education is that our students are receiving their education in the United States of America and, thus, are entitled… yes, ENTITLED… to be taught by professionals who are equipped to support them toward accessing learning in a positive and pro-active manner. In fact, the Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP) and the Individualized statute, monly Education Program (IEP) are born out of a national legal comcalled IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act). This law, initially created in 1975, was put in place specifically to ensure that our children, from infancy to 22 years of age, are provided access to an education that provides specially-designed instruction, at no cost to parents, to meet the unique needs of a child with a disability – including a continuum of services options and a range of settings.
The array of professionals that children who are provided educational services under the umbrella of IDEA, may range from a certificated teacher with a general education credential and/or a certificated teacher with an education specialist credential. The professional may be a related service provider, such as an occupational therapist, a speech/language pathologist, a vision specialists, a deaf hard of hearing specialist, a counselor, a school nurse or a physical therapist. The professional may be an administrator, a school secretary, a custodian, a paraprofessional, a bus driver, a school psychologist and so on. The key here is that the adults who work on and around our school campuses are professionals and have something to teach every one of our students, yes, including those children with special needs. Notice I did NOT say, especially children with special needs. This is because children with special needs are people first and a part of our families, our school community and our larger society.
Preparation for real-word living is precisely where the emphasis has always been within the realm of special education. Children with special needs are people who will grow up to become whatever they choose to become. They may choose to be the neighborhood mechanic you depend upon to keep your car running so you can get to your job, your doctor's appointment, or the grocery store. They may grow up to become the dental hygienist who cares for your teeth and ensures their longevity so you can eat and thrive. They may be the yoga instructor who helps keep your body and mind healthy. They may be the retina specialist who saves your vision. They may be your own child's teacher. They may be military or law enforcement personnel that protects and serves your community and your nation. They may even grow up and become your best friend. Children with special needs are vital, and grow to be productive and successful members within the fabric of our small towns, ourbig cities, and the many places and spaces of our nation. When their special education tag falls away and their Individualized Education Plan (IEP) dissolves into a pile of shred, those that bore the title "child with a special need" become just another one of the folks in the neighborhood.
TURNED OUT OKAY
Oftentimes, adults who learn that I am a special educator whisper to me, "I was in special education… and I may need to try something different to reach and teach this child or that child, including the child with an identified special need. It truly does take a village, and the stakeholders in our children's turned out okay." Sometimes, a parent of child who is identified as being adversely affected by one of the thirteen qualifying conditions under IDEA will whisper to me, "I was in special education….and I turned out okay." The conversations are often shaded with worry, doubt and/or shame. When we compound that shame, and that worry, and that doubt with thoughtless acts of isolation; increase barriers by ignoring or denying the crucial scaffolds of support that are needed for this moment in time; ignore opportunities to celebrate the seemingly small victories of our hardworking children, we are perpetuating the shame, adding to the worry, and causing doubt to insinuate itself into every crevice of our children's being. In order to turn this around there is still much work to be done on the home-front and the school-front. It begins with opening our eyes to the wonders of each child's individual "spice," opening our ears to one another, and opening our hearts to the fact that we may need to try something different to reach and teach this child or that child, including the child with an identified special need. It truly does take a village, and the stakeholders in our children's lives start with family; however, the circle merges ever outward. Like ripples from a pebble breaking Like ripples from a pebble breaking the surface of the sleek blue water across a tranquil pond, the rings of the ripples embrace educators, friends, neighbors, our community and our nation at large. Moving onward, upward, through the rough waters, and weighty gusts of learning differences, families, educators, community members, and local government are all invited to village-up. Let us roll up our sleeves, adjust our sails and TEACH our kids together. It is called collaboration (co, as in together) (labor, as in work). Work together, teach together, learn together, laugh together and, most important of all, thrive together. •
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Angela Shaw is a special educator in Southern California. She synthesizes her diverse education and experience to provide students learning that will grow for a lifetime and support educators and families in their endeavor guide their students in a proactive and productive manner. Her focus is upon special education topics to include articles such as: "Seven Things Every Child with Dyslexia Wishes you Knew" (March 2017, Exceptional Parent Magazine). Shaw earned her Masters' Degrees in Special Education and School Counseling from Azusa Pacific University.
ENDLESS POSSIBILITIES FOR EVERY CHILD
P hilosophers across time and space have searched for the meaning of life and the purpose of education. Within our nation, many of us have experienced paradigm shifts in education across our own lifespan, as students, parents, and/or educators. Today, the Common Core State Standards are said to provide for preparing America's students for college and career (core- standards.org). This purpose is not a new concept to IDEA. Legislative intent of preparing students for life after leaving school is hardwired into IDEA through ever-expanding transition planning within the Act and through the IEP process. IDEA 2004 endures to increase this intent to include transition planning and purpose: To ensure that all children with disabilities have available to them a free appropriate public education that emphasizes special education and related services designed to meet their unique needs and prepare them for further education, employment, and independent living (IDEA 2004, D. Purpose [1] [A]). The intent and purposes of both Common Core and IDEA merge well with every parent's desire to see their child grow to follow their bliss, to become independent, happy, resilient, successful adults within society. Within IDEA '04, a results-orientation approach provides focus upon improving the academic and functional achievement of a child with a disability. IDEA's expectation that local education agencies, community and state agencies, and families work together to design and implement educational programs that prepare students with disabilities for life after leaving public school, is presented within the Act under transition services through a coordinated set of activities implemented at a specific age.
All children, including students identified with a disability under the guidelines of IDEA, have potential within them that reaches far beyond what they are often educated for within the confines of Kindergarten through twelfth grade (and even college and university). The formal school setting serves as a foundation for learning to learn—but parents and educators need to keep the door ajar to unlocking learning, for opportunities and interests that stretch beyond our own imagination and the current state of reality. The imagination of Leonardo da Vinci, Marie Curie, or Albert Einstein, were not fueled by today's STEM Education (Curriculum based upon the idea of educating students in four specific disciplines-science, technology, engineering and mathematics). Additionally, most of us cannot even fathom the ideas of Bill Gates, Stephen Hawking, or the musical genius of Paul McCartney. Whether your child is identified and taught within the Gifted and Talented Education (GATE) program, a special education program, or involved in a fully-funded STEM program, by being mindful of the endless possibilities that our children and youth's unique neurology and experiences can create, we contribute to helping them grow and become great in whatever field they choose.
In the meantime, let us meet our children where they are now, through the scaffolds and differentiation they need today. Let us support them on their path of happiness, independence and success so they can experience their unique possibilities.
