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Special Ed? No Apologies!
By Carole Banks
In the immortal words of Julia Roberts from Pretty Woman, ” I was in here yesterday and you wouldn’t wait on me. You work on commission, right? Well, big mistake! Big, big mistake! Huge! Gigantic! Bye, I’m going shopping now.”
This is what she tells the sales clerk who refused to help her the previous day. The clerk wouldn’t give her the time of day; she wouldn’t even listen as she tried to explain her situation. The clerk took one look at her and judged her on appearance alone.
Now, I don’t work on commission. I get paid whether the students learn to read or not. However, I do “wait” on my students and am very patient with them as they learn how to buy into the educational “marketplace” as they try to play catch-up.
The above situation illustrates how special education students and those with disabilities are treated most of the time. There is a special connection between Julia Roberts’ situation and those in special education classes. I relate this situation to special education because people take one look at special education students and judge them by their appearance/their situation alone.
Case in point, I had a student in my class who was as cute as a button. She is a triple threat; she is so talented. She can sing, dance, and
draw. Well, one day someone from the after school program visited my class and was so surprised that she was in my class.
“She’s in your class?” he said. “I would never have thought that.”
I told him that many people have various disabilities that you can’t tell by sight alone. Thank goodness for that, because there would be so much more discrimination if you could.
On that note, I’ve got a little story to tell you. Wanna hear it? Here it goes.
When I first started working in the special education field, I would apologize for the children that I worked with to anyone who had a
problem with them or special education. “Oh, they’re just this way because they have/are (insert disability here), or would tell them,
well, you know they can’t help it. Any reason would do.
Well, no more. After nearly nine years, I am through apologizing for special education, the students, how they behave, the law, the rules, everything. No more, I say. I will not apologize for being a teacher to some of the best students in the world. I will not apologize for something they cannot control; for something that can be a gift or a curse (depending on how you look at it).
I choose to look at it as a gift, a blessing. Although sometimes it can seem more like a blessing in disguise, it is a blessing. If you think
about it, having a child with an I.E.P. is like having an “instruction manual” you can just go and pick up in the store. You can research that particular disability, find tips on how to handle it, and make educated decisions regarding it.
I wish that everyone who ever doubted someone who receives special education services could do as Julia Roberts did in Pretty Woman and tell them that it’s a mistake. A big, big mistake. I don’t know about you, but I’m happy being a special education teacher. I am now non-apologetic about it. I’m happy with the “instruction manual” (I.E.P.) that I have for my students. If you choose to judge my students or any student in special education just by looking at them, then you, my dear sir or madam, are making a mistake, a big, big mistake.
So, good-bye, I’m going shopping. I need to buy more “instruction manuals.”
