Grace looks like an average kid. She wears glasses and loves to tell jokes. She is also behind academically and has difficulty understanding social cues. Grace has learning disabilities and speech problems. She's also in classrooms all over America. Grace has been called names, which makes her mad. She’s been left out of games, which makes her sad. She goes home and hugs her dog, which makes her feel better. In more ways than not, she’s just like all the other kids. But Grace has disabilities. Grace’s teachers and peers don’t know how to talk about her differences. She’s embarrassed if they focus on her in class so they don’t say anything. But their silence makes her feel that no one understands her, adding to her social isolation.
What can they do?
They can read a age–appropriate book about special needs (and not focus on Grace) and they can write about how it might feel to be different. Perhaps they will write a story about finding themselves in a different country and trying to learn new customs and a new language without any adult help. A kindergartener might read about two friends who love to go down the slide, eat Cheerios and play with their stuffed animals. While the adult reading to them knows one of the kids has Down syndrome, the kids might just notice she looks a little different. After reading, the parent and child can talk about what makes each of us different or special.
Reading a quality story about special needs is a safe and respectful way to talk about the issues and concerns. Writing a poem, a story or an essay about the feelings and concepts the book brings up is a natural way for kids to process and express their reactions. This is true for all kids. To achieve the nations’ goal of full inclusion, and to ensure that no child is left behind, all students and their families have to learn more about what it’s like to have special needs and how to integrate each child. Here’s the facts given by the National Institute for Urban School Improvement:
An average of 15% of America’s children receive special education services (3 in a class of 25 kids).
Nearly half of the students in a “typical” school receiving special education services spend at least 80% of their time in general education classrooms.
Among the most frequent reasons for referral to special education are reading difficulties and behavior problems.