I don’t know about you, but I’ve been struggling. I feel like things are changing daily, and I can’t keep up. As a special educator, I don’t know if the systems that support people with disabilities are going to sustain the help, or if they are going to disappear or change their focus. I have lived all of my life with a fair amount of confidence in what the future will be, and now I am unsure.
What I now realize is that it is not all the changes that make me feel uncertain, but rather, how I respond to the changes. Politics, global tensions, wars, threats of recession, pandemics, drought and flooding…so many things pulling my attention away from what matters most to me: empowering people with disabilities to thrive.
When I am stressed, I watch a movie that I know I will enjoy because I have seen it before (or a lot), and do something creative. Tonight, I watched a classic character–Elle Woods– and as she always does, she inspired me in her own way. The movie I watched was Legally Blonde 2. In this movie, Elle Woods, played by Reese Witherspoon, is in Washington, DC, advocating for a bill to stop animal testing by cosmetics companies. And, in the closing monologue, as she speaks to the House, she reminded me that “one honest voice can speak louder than a crowd.”
What would happen if we made space for an honest voice at our IEP meetings? What if the honest voice was the student’s?
Far too many students do not have an effective communication system, yet they are communicating. We need to make space for their voice. When we listen, really listen, to the student, we learn how to best support them to achieve their dreams.
And, what would happen if we each remember that our voice matters? As the world gets noisy, we can calmly and honestly speak the truth as we know it. For example, I know that individuals with disabilities are critical members of our community. I know that a community that does not include all of the people within it is weaker than it should be. I know that students with disabilities are learning tremendous amounts every day, even if it was not the target for the class. And I know that our students who don’t have an effective communication system have a lot to say to us.