I just wanted to share a little story with you. It is about my nephew. Let me introduce you to my nephew....he is 6 years old and he is currently in Grade 1. He loves school and he is is thriving in the school environment. My nephew enjoys numbers, hates phys ed. My nephew is loving, friendly and to some on the outside he may seem extremely energetic and a little bit of a turkey. My nephew is autistic....if you saw him on the street you likely couldn't tell...he is bright, quite social and even quite chatty at times.
Anyways this Christmas he was let down big time by his school and his class. Throughout the fall he practiced with his class for the Christmas Concert. He was going to sing with them and perform. He was quite excited. The whole family was going to watch him. The day of the concert my brother received a note from the teacher saying that my nephew was not welcome to be on stage with the other children that night. The note said that he was welcome to watch...he just wasn't welcome on stage. My nephew was devestated and he just didn't understand why. None of us did. All we knew was that there was a letter sent home saying that my nephew couldn't perform.
Throughout the Christmas vacation my nephew would say....Kid sang at the concert....Gavin can't sing at the concert. He was hurt. You could tell.
When I think of all that my little guy has learned from his peers from being in school I know that inclusion is the way to future development for him. This Christmas we felt the wrath of a teacher/school that wasn't willing to include someone who was a little different. It was very sad.
I hope that in the future...we can find out why they chose not to include my nephew. We have explained to him that he will have his turn on stage...and we can't wait to hear him perform. He is okay..and he will be okay. The fact is will the other kids in the class be okay or will they learn that it is okay to leave people out...to exclude people just because they are different.
What do you think?
lindylo
ClayAiken
girlcanuck
Laurab