Today, I started babysitting for a family that has two children; the girl is 8 years old and the boy is 6. During the three hours I spent with them today, I noticed that every time they brought up school, they talked about their interactions with many of their classmates who have disabilities. For example, the girl told me about how one of the boys in her class has a learning disability, and the teacher doesnt help him enough so I told him I would help him. The boy also had a similar story of how I sit with these two girls named _____ and _____ during lunch every day because no one else ever wants to sit with them since they learn slower than everyone else. Some kids made fun of me but once I invited them to eat lunch with us, they realized the girls werent so bad after all. They both continued to vent to me about how they think that their classmates with disabilities deserve more attention than they are receiving. I was caught off guard by this for two reasons: 1) I do not know many young children who understand and/or respect intellectual and developmental disabilities and 2) When I was in elementary school, I recall having no more than two classmates with disabilities. After I was done babysitting, their mother drove me home and I asked her how her children have so much experience with other children with disabilities. She told me about how her and her husband had decided to enroll their children in a preschool and Kindergarten in which their children were the only students of hearing. I asked her why she decided to do so, and she said that she wanted her children to be raised with awareness of the idea of inclusion of all types of people regardless of color, gender, intellectual stability, etc. As someone who plans on becoming a Special Education teacher, I found this very refreshing and admirable. Just thought I would share.
Posted on: Wed, 15 Oct 2014 03:52:49 +0000
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