Snoezelen Room

Aimee Mullins redefining disability

Just watched a short video about a woman who uses prosthetic legs. She has a dozen pairs of legs, some that are purely fashion, legs that look like cheetah legs, legs that replicate human legs, legs designed purely for function (running). She had an inspiring way of thinking of her "disability", as actually not a disability at all. In fact, with her many different pairs of legs, she actually has more options, not less, for both form and function. She has the ability to change her height if she wants, she is just as able, probably more able than many of us, to sprint and jump in her running legs, and she can use her sculpted legs like a fashion accessory.

She is redefining what it means to have a disability. There was a funny section in the video where she talks about going out to a bar, wearing new legs that made her 6'1", rather than her usual 5'8", and one of her friends came up and commented on how tall she was, and said "but Aimee, that's not fair", referring to her ability to change her height when she wanted to. That kind of reaction is such a far cry from others who commented, almost pityingly about her "disability". The discussion was changed from "oh poor you, with your disability, how horrible", to "wow, that's not fair that you're able to do something with your legs that 'normal' people aren't able to do".

I think this is a good example of how having something about you that is different, that can be classified as a disability, is not always about overcoming that part of yourself, or about how you'll never be as good as someone who is "normal". Sometimes a disability can become an advantage. I think this is a great attitude to have when approaching teaching kids in a special ed program. Just maybe their difference can give them an edge, or another perspective that others just don't have. Maybe we as a society can value those with disabilities because of their difference, not in spite of it.

I've been noticing lately, at my job as an Educational Assistant, while working with kids who are receiving Special Ed. services, how sometimes it can actually be really delightful to work with kids who are different from the norm. They just have a completely different perspective than kids in the gen ed classroom. It's unexpected sometimes how they can make you reexamine ideas about how to teach, or how kids learn. And it's exciting when you can help them succeed, or give them a little self-esteem boost with some words of praise.

Special Ed. & language

Just read about how the language professionals in Special Ed. use serves to alienate parents from the process of collaboration in setting up an educational plan for their child. Professionals use this jargon to make this process, of identifying and planning for the needs of children who use Special Ed services, sound more objective, when this process is really rather subjective. Professionals need to lend credence to their ideas and so sometimes hide behind their language. Perhaps it is intentional to use language that is difficult for the lay person to understand, to sort of muddle things up, especially when they may be concerned that a parent will not want to hear that their child has a disability. This doesn't seem like a good strategy in the long run, even if it saves them from an uncomfortable confrontation in the short run. Understandably, parents don't want to think that their child could have a disability, or be in need of Special Education services (is Special Ed always capitalised?). It may seem like they're being told that their kid is stupid. Who wants to hear that? They might hear "learning disability"or "developmentally delayed" or any number of special terms that don't mean much to people who aren't involved in Special Ed., and either be totally confused, or think that the professional is just emphasising their child's condition.

I'm worried that when I start teaching, I will unwittingly use jargon or talk down to parents of my students. I want to be super careful to take into account cultural backgrounds, differing values, when I try to include parents in the decision making process. I don't want to be the professional up on a pedestal telling them what to do. Of course, I want my opinions and ideas to be valued, but I hope I can be humble enough to really listen to parents, and approachable enough that they will be willing to share with me, and not just see me as the authority figure. I am uncomfortable with the hierarchical system that I will be working under, that places me above the parent, which says that I have some sacred knowledge to impart. Yes, of course I will have knowledge beyond that of someone who hasn't been to school to do my job, but I have to believe that parents have more knowledge about their child than I have. They know the child's history, they spend more time with them in an environment that is (most likely) more comfortable for the child, where they feel more free to be themselves. This is a topic I will definitely have to revisit again and again, to be sure I am doing all I can to include parents in the decision making process, and to make sure I am trying my hardest to break down communication barriers.

Disability discrimination

After doing my first reading assignment for my first class, I was struck by the idea that disability discrimination is so prevalent in our society. Not that this idea had never occured to me, but it is so overlooked. I have my bachelors degree in Sociology, so of course I studied issues of racial and gender discrimination in practically all of my soc. classes, but rarely was disability even mentioned. I learned the myriad ways that I take my white privilege for granted, but I think that concept also applies to my ableness privilege. I don't notice how accessible the world is to me, because I haven't had to navigate through it with a disability. I don't pay attention to whether or not there are wheelchair ramps, or accessible parking at the establishments I frequent. These are just the most obvious examples I can think of, but there are surely more subtle examples of my just being unaware of the needs of others who are differently-abled than I. I can already tell that I will be confronting some of my own prejudices that I don't even know that I have against people with disabilities in my near future. Of course I would like to believe that I am always politically correct and have no biases, but I did not grow up in a cultural vaccuum, and I know I will need to reshape some of the ways I think about disability and those with disabilities.