October is Disability Awareness Month. Two
close
friends quickly
come to my mind.
Greg Morrell and Bridget Ashley are two with the finest souls you could potentially ever meet. (Effectively, Greg has passed on, but I truly feel he is nevertheless with us, due to the fact his lifetime of get the job done on behalf of individuals with disabilities lives on.)
Greg was my Avoca Very little League teammate during the ‘60s. He was left paralyzed by a freakish football accident with the age of sixteen.
Bridget grew to become blind like a little one although I was teaching her at Van Pelt Elementary College here in Bristol.Both of these courageous mates overcame disabilities to go on and dwell wonderfully meaningful and productive lives.
I was privileged to serve for years as a board member on the Appalachian Independence Center with Greg, who was the Director. Greg as well as AIC even sent me to DC one particular summer, to advocate Congress on behalf of individuals with disabilities. Our joint march about the Capitol Constructing (during which I was surrounded by numerous folks with all method of disabilities) is really a sight that should by no means depart my thoughts. I have never felt a lot more proud for being part of any induce.
And as for Bridget … in addition to being her wonderfully optimistic self inside the encounter of blindness, she makes bracelets to the 125 children I teach each and every year. Each and every bracelet is painstakingly made, and deeply cherished by just about every recipient. She (as Greg did, at the same time) also involves speak to my class each year, further educating my students about individuals with disabilities.
Greg Morrell and Bridget Ashley are two with the finest souls you could potentially ever meet. (Effectively, Greg has passed on, but I truly feel he is nevertheless with us, due to the fact his lifetime of get the job done on behalf of individuals with disabilities lives on.)
Greg was my Avoca Very little League teammate during the ‘60s. He was left paralyzed by a freakish football accident with the age of sixteen.
Bridget grew to become blind like a little one although I was teaching her at Van Pelt Elementary College here in Bristol.Both of these courageous mates overcame disabilities to go on and dwell wonderfully meaningful and productive lives.
I was privileged to serve for years as a board member on the Appalachian Independence Center with Greg, who was the Director. Greg as well as AIC even sent me to DC one particular summer, to advocate Congress on behalf of individuals with disabilities. Our joint march about the Capitol Constructing (during which I was surrounded by numerous folks with all method of disabilities) is really a sight that should by no means depart my thoughts. I have never felt a lot more proud for being part of any induce.
And as for Bridget … in addition to being her wonderfully optimistic self inside the encounter of blindness, she makes bracelets to the 125 children I teach each and every year. Each and every bracelet is painstakingly made, and deeply cherished by just about every recipient. She (as Greg did, at the same time) also involves speak to my class each year, further educating my students about individuals with disabilities.
There are actually physical disabilities, as talked about above, but you will find also other sorts and kinds of disabilities, which, if we educators did not make the necessary accommodations, would protect against the correct of some young children to learn within a so-called common classroom setting. That is element in the motive why such teaching/learning is usually known as “special” training.
The word “special” as applied right here simply just implies that some small children study “differently,” which might be a disability, if classroom accommodations for those children aren’t adequately met.
And don’t think that “special” signifies that these youngsters don’t discover effectively. Some of the brightest minds I’ve ever taught are served underneath the umbrella of unique training. They simply just master “differently.” And in the event you think about it … really do not we all?Certainly, one of many biggest attributes of American public schools may be the way we seek out to entirely educate and accommodate kids with understanding disabilities, or “learning differences,” because they may additionally be referred to as.Quite a few folks may even go up to now as to keep that you simply can judge a school system by how nicely they accommodate college students with disabilities/special requires. In that case, ours is amongst the very best. Our Director of Unique Schooling Companies and his employees go properly over and past the contact of duty to be sure that we teachers are totally educated and conscious of how greatest to help our students with disabilities.
So…how do YOU deal with a person who comes about to have a disability?One of several best issues that Greg and Bridget ever taught me was to deal with them “the same” as every person else. Men and women with disabilities really do not want our pity. They just want respect … and equal chance.