Articles > Interaction Journal Articles > Volume 10, Issue 2

I arrived at the school, a little nervous. Everything about the interview was welcoming. Still nervous... after all, this was my little boy and he was going to school for the first time. The Principal's first words were; "So you've come to enrol Dan - let's talk about what he needs so that we can provide a good education for him".

You ask what is so unusual about all of that. Absolutely nothing .. that's what I love about the story. You see Dan was born with Cerebral Palsy - Spastic Quadriplegia which means that he needs a wheelchair for mobility and some extra supports to physically access the various aspects of his educational needs. I expected a real battle.

Leadership and "attitude"

It has been three years since that first interview. Dan is now in Year Two. He has achieved complete citizenship at this school. Why has he been welcomed into this school when so many other children who have disabilities have experienced many obstacles within schools? They have been labelled as disruptive or children with behaviour problems or just too difficult to support. Many parents have heard that their child cannot be supported because the school does not have the resources. I would be the first to argue for appropriate use of resources. However, I believe the real issue is about attitudes and, clearly that the attitude of our school is reflected by the Principal's comments on the first day. An attitude that says:

"What will it take to make this work" ... instead of:

"Why should this child be accepted"?

The Principal of this school in South East Queensland has shown and continues to show true leadership.

I know also that it has little to do with Dan. He is not an exceptional child (except, of course in my eyes). In many respects, he is a regular kid with regular needs. He has days when I'm sure the teacher loves to have him in the class and days when she earns every cent of her money, (as is the case with any child in the class). On those days where life's a bit more of a challenge, Dan is not presented to me at the end of the day as a problem. It is not suggested that he needs to leave (for ever). The classroom teacher views Dan in the same way as she does the other children - who all have good and bad days. The teacher is smart enough to know that all kids have days when they need a little more encouragement or different teaching strategies to achieve their goal.

Attitudes and problem solving

The whole school adopts a different attitude to problem solving. To give an example, when we first came to the school, we noticed that not all classrooms are wheelchair accessible. Dan needs to access the music room which is up about six stairs. This issue was left to the school to sort because it was clearly a school management issue. I arrived early one afternoon to pick Dan up and was pleasantly surprised to find that Dan was being assisted down the stairs by the school Groundsman. It would have been easy for the school to say Dan cannot access Music because the teacher cannot lift him up and down stairs. The school finds solutions because they want Dan to participate.

Dan's safety was a major consideration for the teachers. There were times when some kids became over-zealous when pushing Dan's wheelchair. Rather than stop other children from being involved and segregating Dan, they devised a wheelchair license course during the lunch times. I was surprised with the number of children who came forward wanting to learn how to "drive" the wheelchair properly so that Dan would feel safe and therefore would want them around. The side benefit from this for Dan was that the school was actually drawing kids to Dan and assisting him to make more friends. The common theme is that the school finds solutions without fuss and without amazing processes or specialist input. Ordinary solutions for ordinary situations.

Safety

What about Dan's safety? Dan has had two spills from his wheelchair and... yes!... he is still alive. At first, the school expressed concerns that Dan may have an accident at some stage. My response, trying to sound confident, was that if Dan was walking, he would have constantly skinned knees or even broken bones because he is a real dare devil. I tried to reassure the school that the chair would protect him in most cases. The first accident happened in Year 1 while I was there looking on ... a little girl ran into him by accident and the chair tipped over. The girl was terrified that she may have hurt Dan but, to her astonishment, Dan thought it had all been great fun and he instantly became a real hero. In Year 2, the chair tipped on rough terrain. The children (he is always surrounded by other kids) acted extremely responsibly. They called the teacher who was on duty while other kids stayed with Dan and together they righted the chair. Dan had a slight bump (which he was proud of for several days) and the school responded as they would with any other minor accident. They let me know that it had happened and that Dan was fine.

Citizenship

At the end of last term, a few parents were standing around talking with me after class. As kids and teachers hurried off past us on their way home, in the background I could hear a constant humming of; "Bye, Dan". We all commented at once how unusual it was even in a very small school that one little boy is known and acknowledged by so many from the Groundsman to the Principal, and children from Year 1 to Year 7.

In some respects, I put this down to Dan's personality - he can be extremely charming and cheeky. But, mostly, I feel that I need to acknowledge the Principal's leadership and the ethos that exists within this school. The school motto is 'Achievement through Understanding'. This positive attitude, an acceptance of difference and a respect for each member of the school community is evident throughout. Instead of people noticing Dan because of his wheelchair and seeing it as a deficit, they notice him because of his difference, have a natural level of curiosity, have their questions answered and, mostly, see him as an interesting person.

When Dan first stared Year 1, the teachers were concerned about what Dan would do in the lunch hours. My vision was that he would play with his friends like the other kids do. Even I could not have hoped for the number of friends Dan has made - he is never short of company or more correctly, a crowd to be with. Dan is the most social member of our
family with invitations to birthday parties and to go over to friends' places after school. One parent came up to me to ask where Dan got his sneakers because her son wanted a pair just like Dan's shoes. Can you imagine, what a rare experience it has been for me as a mother of a child who has a disability to have another child actually want to be like Dan?

God save us all from the word 'Socialisation'

Now, before you start to think that friendship and 'Socialisation' are all I want out of this deal .. Think again. My son is at school to receive a full education (you know, reading, writing, arithmetic). I just happen also to believe that friendships and peer learning are important because we learn all the important stuff from our mates (eg., the importance of being cool, sharing your sandwiches, telling jokes and looking out for one another).

Teacher as well as learner

Dan is not the only one who benefits in this deal. There are teachers and students who were very unsure at first. Dan has taught many people how to communicate without words, how not to be scared about looking silly sometimes when they get it wrong, and how to relate well. Some kids have gained proficiencies and understanding in this area which many adults are yet to learn.

Planning support and classroom management

Although I believe that all children would benefit from an individualised approach to learning, I dislike the concept that only children with disabilities need to have individual education plans. Dan's plan is that he participates in everything the class is doing. If a task needs to be modified, then the teacher uses her skills to ensure Dan and his classmates get the most out of the situation. If she is unsure or needs extra support, she calls on input from the Qld Spastic Welfare League Therapist who knows Dan well or asks for support from the Inclusion Teacher. The teacher is the one who can best determine what is needed to best meet the needs of the children in her class. She is extremely skillful at classroom management. Any child who needs extra time gets it. She effectively uses other children to assist each other, thus building interpersonal skills, moral development and enhancing the educational outcomes for all.

I believe children and adults learn when they enjoy learning. Children have a great capacity to help one another and they do genuinely enjoy the experience. This class is full of confident little people who are learning about taking initiative and co-operation as well as learning their academic lessons.

Dan has individualised support to learn keyboard skills. This is done when the other kids are doing handwriting skills. This allows the children to see the difference in Dan's skills in how he accesses them rather than a deficit in skills. The teacher uses these opportunities to demonstrate Dan's skills just as she does with other children. Dan enjoys showing off his latest story that he has typed on the computer, sometimes with illustrations. His classmates see this as really cool.

Lessons

This class is encouraged to value each other's achievements. There is a school practice of rewarding personal and academic skills by way of a Principal's award each week at assembly. The emphasis is on effort rather than on achievement. Prior to going to school, Dan thought he was the centre of the universe - all good things were meant for only him. One of the greatest examples of what Dan has achieved at his local neighbourhood school was not the award (even though he has a few of those) but his growing appreciation of his mates' successes. When I saw Dan cheering a classmate who had been given the weekly award, it became clear that Dan is learning some extremely valuable lessons which will equip him for life. Often, children who have a disability learn much about being receivers. It was encouraging to see Dan as a giver of praise - it has shifted the focus for him and for me.

Dan is learning in an academic sense but he is also learning other very important skills which can only be taught to him by his mates. He is learning to take his turn, what it is like to be part of the gang, respect for others, what the score is if you want to be part of this game and, that it is OK sometimes to ask for help from your mates. He is learning that some people tease you and sometimes you have to be a little tough and find your
own way of getting things done.

Communication

When Dan started writing sentences on his keyboard, I was a little skeptical. Even though I wanted to believe that he could do anything, I wanted proof. The teacher was so excited but I had to see for myself. So we sat at home with the pointer and the keyboard. Sure enough, he spelled out a sentence and then he wrote a jumble of letters that I could not understand .. I l u v u mum. When I saw the teacher the next day, I explained that the jumble was probably because he was tired - I could not make out what he was trying to write. That afternoon, the teacher came up excited and bemused that I had not seen what was so obvious. Dan had spelled out phonetically, 'I love you mum'.

Reading and writing are Dan's highway to communication. It is so important to Dan that the other kids know what he thinks about things. The greatest thrill for me is knowing that Dan can really have a two way conversation with others now .. even though he doesn't use his voice.

Birthdays, the true measure of inclusion

Everyone has to have at least one Birthday party .. but when we first started the planning there was the lurking question, "will anyone come?" Was I wrong! It goes down in our family as the birthday party from hell - not because anything went wrong - it was a great party - chaotic, noisy, with far too much food and drink. The problem was not getting kids to come ..(it turned out bigger than Ben Hur when the invitation list just kept growing). I didn't even think of how to say "no more". Kids who hadn't received an invitation started asking me or the teacher aide or the teacher when they were getting an invite. The numbers grew from eight to twenty-eight. Kids wanted to be with my son.

Friends

In my paid work, I support people who have disabilities to enable them have a full life of their choice within their local community. Sadly, I know many adults who have never had the opportunity to have lasting friendships for a variety of reasons. Friendships are such an important part of life. Where does it all begin - in childhood. Dan has real friendships. Kids who have the opportunity to get to know each other will develop enduring friendships because friendships are about getting to know someone and sharing interests and a history. Friendships are about accepting differences because you like more about a person than you dislike.

An ordinary education - an ordinary life

The best part of Dan's school life is that it is so ordinary. There is very little fuss made by his classmates or teachers, no matter what happens. I approached the school recently because Dan was changing medication and with this change came the likelihood that his epilepsy might become uncontrolled. The types of seizures that Dan has can be prolonged and a little distressing at first. The teacher's response was "what do I do?..." and "what should I expect ...". The teacher developed a plan for the children and herself about what to do in an emergency.

This typifies the school's approach. Let's find a way to solve problems as they arise. Let's explain to the children and let them grow in their understanding. The school has a willingness to explore the possibilities and a genuine wish for Dan's school days to be positive and useful. They continue to look for ways to better serve not only Dan but all of the children. This is a school where there are children who have various learning needs and who receive varying levels of support at different times.

Appropriate resources are important, but what makes this school different is it's attitude toward it's members and it's attitude toward learning and problem solving. The Principal is a good leader and a skilled manager. The classroom teacher is flexible and willing to try new strategies. She used the resources available to her in a creative way. She has positive regard for all of her students. This school is welcoming. This school believes Dan belongs, he is their responsibility and the parent (me) is an added resource.

None of the strategies used by the school have been addressed by formal processes. It has not been about finding more steps in the system. It is not about labelling a child as a level 4, 5, or 6. It is about seeing a need, believing there is always some way or some solution and their job is about finding it. The Principal and the teacher use common sense. Whilst specialist supports may be helpful at times, often, being in tune with the child can be all that is needed.

Reference: Bourke, S. (1996). Where There's a Will... There's a Way . Interaction v.10 #2 p.5-8.
Reprinted with permission from the National Council on Intellectual Disability.