| All Kids Are Special, Right? |
By: By Susan Swindell Day - November 2008
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Posted: Friday, October 31, 2008 9:43 am
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If there's one aspect of this election year that's positive, it's that the term “special needs” has been bandied about more than usual. You rarely hear politicians talking about special needs, unless they're after something (like your vote) but with Sarah Palin at least, it has a deeper meaning. Moving forward into the upcoming year, let's hope that special needs are still lifted up and given their day. It's taken a long, drawn-out advocacy effort to raise awareness of special needs and to try and remove the stigmas that come along with them. Sometimes the better qualities of human beings are usurped by something less becoming when the subject is special needs: Denial? Fear? Please-don't-let-it-be-me-isms? But with special needs, our hearts must remain open. We are ALL delivered to this planet without asking to be – and we cannot control that outcome – but there remain those among us who think of themselves as better than others. No one is better than others! So let's talk about deserving. Who among us is more deserving than those with explicit physical or mental difficulties?
My oldest child is dyslexic and, you know, that's a very broad term. For her, it doesn't mean that she reverses her letters when reading or spelling, which is often assumed automatically. For her, it means that she has an expressive language difficulty compounded by an auditory processing disorder. What the heck is that, you ask? It means, plainly, that what she hears might get reversed in her mind to the point that she may answer you in a way that you cannot understand. She might say something that makes absolutely no sense based on what was asked. It is a difficulty she has struggled with since we first detected it – in kindergarten, when we would read to her and she couldn't answer simple questions about what we'd read. We taught her to ask, “Can you ask me that again so I can think about it?” Thankfully, the No Child Left Behind Act coupled with IDEA (the Individuals with Disabilities Act) assures her access to a public education where she will receive the help she needs in the school setting. If No Child Left Behind gets SOMETHING right, it is that kids with special needs get the educational access they deserve.
There are thousands of children who have special needs that are elusive like my daughter's, yet there are many others whose difficulties are more noticeable. Kids with palsy, kids with down syndrome, kids who are blind or in a wheelchair or who have something you can plainly see. Many people still too often turn their backs on kids who are “different,” and many times people think involvement with them will somehow add that “stigma” to their life, and they don't really want that. My hope is that someday our differences will not come with the stigmas they still do.
As we move forward into the Thanksgiving season, let's try a little harder to open our hearts to all of the children in the world who are different from us. Let's try to teach our “typical” children that they are not better than anyone else. Let's try to soften and reach out and make a place for all of the children to share ... and grow ... and learn ... and be loved for who and what they are.
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