Introduction
At my primary school the grade sixers get to design a T-shirt that has the names of that year’s students on the back. The slogan on the front of my T-shirt is ‘we don’t need no education’. While this may be seen to be true in terms of how much a twelve year old thinks they need to learn, it sure isn’t true when it comes to improving access to the school community for students with DisAbilities. This is essentially what this book is designed for. It is about my experiences as a person with Cerebral Palsy in the mainstream school system. I hope that people will take my experiences on board and listen to my recommendations when it comes to their child’s schooling. If I can improve the school life of just one person, then this book will have been a success.
I have detailed the major experiences of my primary and secondary school years and tried to come up with solutions to the problems. These solutions will not work for everybody but may be worth trying. I have also written about my education at the moment and asked some of my TAFE teachers for their experiences in working with people with varying kinds of abilities.
Thank you for taking the time to read this. I hope it helps you in some way.
The Early Years
There was a lot of laughter, a lot of tears. I wouldn’t say that I would not do anything differently, or wished that certain things never happened, because I would be lying if I did. There are things I would do differently if I could borrow Dr Who’s time machine, and I do wish that some parts of my schooling were handled differently by the education system. But I have come to realize that the system, as it stood when I was a student in the 1990’s, had not had much experience with a student with physical DisAbilities but who could handle the work of a ‘normal’ school. I was one of the first people in a wheelchair to attend both my primary and secondary schools.
I don’t remember a lot about my early primary school days, at least not in terms of being an integrated student. I don’t think I realized that I was any different to my friends. For a child five or six years old, life is about having the right toys. At that stage I had those toys, thus I fitted in fairly well. I used a walking frame, which my Dad had made for me, so I was also able to run and play most of the games the other children played. I was one of them.
By the time I reached Grade 3, I began to have trouble keeping up with my friends and thus received my first set of wheels. They were fluorescent pink. One of my teachers made me a set of L Plates to go on the back because I was not really sure how to control the chair. Looking back, I am sure that most people around me would have had sore feet at one time or another, because I would have accidentally run over them.
My set of wheels became my independence, but they also separated me from everyone else. They created a difference that could be seen by everybody and limited me in ways that my walking frame never did. For example, I could lift the walking frame up steps if I needed to. For the wheelchair I needed ramps. I think the wheelchair was the thing that made me realize I was different to everybody else. The wheelchair limited the places I could access, and therefore the extent to which I could participate in certain activities both inside and outside school.
Despite the limitations it placed on me at various times, I don’t regret the fact that I use a wheelchair. In terms of being able to travel long distances it has provided me with a freedom I would never have had otherwise..
During my primary school years I had a number of therapists come to the school and work with me. These included physiotherapists and occupational therapists, among others.
I was taken out of class to work with these people and this was another way of making me seem different to my friends. Sometimes, a friend would come with me. This made the sessions more fun, and gave my friends more insight to the therapy I needed. I know that having a friend with me made the therapy sessions much more interesting, and this probably made them easier for me. I think my friends being with me at these times also made them more compassionate people as they gained a better understanding of the differences between us as people, and what I needed to do to be like them.
I became good at using computers throughout my Primary School years as I was allowed to stay in the classroom and use them while the rest of the class played sport, or participated in other activities that I couldn’t be are part of. I am thankful that I had the opportunity to use computers so extensively because they have become a big part of my life today. In fact I don’t think I would be writing this without my computer.
I have a lot of friends whom I talk to on the internet. I used to hate it at school when I was made to go and watch the rest of the class play sport because it highlighted to me the fun I was missing out on, and seemed like a waste of time. So using the computer during that time was a major benefit for me in terms of self-esteem and developing and using my skills.
Because I was only a child, and my parents and the school kept me out of decisions regarding my experiences as much as possible, there are really only a few major events relative to my DisAbility that I can remember about Primary School thus. This is to be expected when you are only five years old. But as I grew older it would have been nice to have more of an input into the decisions regarding my schooling and therapies.
My physiotherapist works on the theory that if she makes the therapy fun a child will be more likely to cooperate. One of the exercises that I had to do was called push-ups. To do these you lie on the floor, on your stomach, and push yourself up off the floor using your arms. One of the ways When I was in grade four this exercise was made fun by having a push up competition. I had to ‘train’ for it. I didn’t win, but it was a good way of letting the whole school community know some of the things that were a part of my therapy. It also gave me a sense of achievement.
Throughout primary school I had two integration aides. One worked with me on Mondays and Tuesdays and the other throughout the rest of the week. They both used very different styles in working with me. For example, each lunch time my aide on Mondays and Tuesdays would either organise some kind of activity for me and my friends, or keep me in the classroom with her. In contrast, my aide for the rest of the week would leave me with my friends and allow us to play together. While the activities I did with my aide on Mondays and Tuesdays were fun, and probably helped me to develop my hand/eye coordination and other skills, I feel that the days where I was left alone with the other kids were more beneficial because they allowed me to show the others that I was capable of being with them without an adult, and let me develop friendships of my own. I am sure the aide on Mondays and Tuesdays had good intentions, but looking back I wonder if she was, in a way, forcing the other students to spend time with me.
Another significant event I recall was when people with DisAbilities visited the school. The first time they came I was in Grade one or two. A man with Cerebral Palsy was going to talk to the grade sixers, but I was allowed to attend, along with two friends. At the time I thought I was really special, but looking back, I wonder if it was a way of showing me what my life may have been like, and perhaps teaching me skills that I may have needed. Fir instance,we got to try writing with our mouths and at that point I couldn’t write.
The next time a person with DisAbilities came to the school, I was in grade five or six. This person was a quadriplegic and he specifically asked to meet me, but seemed disappointed when I explained that I was born with my DisAbilities. When he asked if the class had any questions one girl asked how he managed in the bathroom. He seemed embarrassed to be asked this and didn’t really know how to answer, saying “What do you mean? The same way you do I guess.” The girl who asked the question confessed later that it was something she wondered about me, but didn’t want to offend or upset me by asking. I assured her that she could always ask me questions, and if I didn’t want to answer I would tell her so. I believe that it is important for people to ask questions about my life. By giving them insights to my life I am more likely to get them to understand life for other people with DisAbilities. This knowledge should help people make the world more accessible for people like me, and hopefully to become more compassionate regarding differences between people.
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