In 2010, I worked at Boude Storey Middle School in the South Oak Cliff community, one of Dallas’s most impoverished areas. Like all other campuses, we had a special education classroom for our nonverbal students. A young lady named “Laci” was in that class. Every time I would pass her in the hallways, she would smile, get excited, and try to communicate with me. I would love to see her because she was so cute and dressed impeccably. She had so much personality; even though she lacked verbal capabilities, most of the students in that classroom did.
Our special education department chair requested a meeting with me at the beginning of the school year. She informed me that Laci’s mother wanted her to have the opportunity to explore educational experiences outside of the self-contained classroom and allow her to engage with other students her age in the general population classrooms. I would be lying if I said I was ready for the challenge. I was extremely nervous. After all, this was middle school and I didn’t want the harmful opinions, looks and giggles of her peers to destroy Laci’s confidence. But, I also wanted to allow her every opportunity to engage in a space she rightfully deserved to occupy.
Being the older sister of a boy with Autism, my mom raised me and my siblings to take him everywhere we went, defend him in school and never, EVER be ashamed of his uniquely-abled brain. With the experience I had growing up, I knew I was the best teacher to invite Laci into my classroom. I met with her mother to assure her that Laci would be well taken care of in my class. I spoke to my students to explain to them we would be welcoming Laci and we discussed how to make her feel safe and ensure her transition was organic. When Laci came into our classroom…it was MAGIC!
She struggled with routines early on but caught on quickly. She seamlessly participated in class, answered questions correctly, caught on to class jokes, and even danced sometimes. Laci brought an unrivaled joy to our classroom, and EVERYONE in that period was forever changed because of the opportunity to teach and learn alongside her.
This story is super important to share because of the horrific comments that have been made about Gus Walz and his emotional reaction to seeing his father on such a big stage. Although he wasn’t able to verbalize his pride, awe, and love, he was able to emote through smiles and tears and communicate with his dad the way they have for many years. When we fail to protect the Gus Walz’s in our schools from the inexplicable vitriol ignorant people maliciously spew, we allow those very people to diminish the courage it takes for the uniquely-abled to show up in spaces deemed ‘normal’.
My one takeaway from this election cycle isn’t whose agendas are most closely aligned to the America where I want to live. It is that we still live in an America where we judge first, make irrational and unfounded comments second, obliterate people’s self-esteem when they show up as their authentic selves, and lastly, leave them to become memes and jokes for the world to analyze. We must remember that it is time to get back to humanity. Lebanese-American writer and philosopher Khalil Gibran said, “Keep me away from the wisdom which does not cry. The philosophy which does not laugh and the greatness which does not bow before children.” That about sums it up!