I am Disabled. You are Disabled. We are all Disabled.

There, I said it.  It's a bold statement and I know it is so before the battle cries begin please hear me out.

I am disabled because I do not have one shred of artistic talent.  I can see art.  I can appreciate art.  I want to create art.   But I can't.  There is a disconnect between the visions in my head and my hands that have to do the  creating.  This disability causes me difficulty when I am asked to draw a picture.  Even now, I revert to stick men and very little detail.  In elementary school we were asked to draw a picture of our favourite season.  I drew autumn because I had perfected drawing a tree and bare branches.  This disability can paralyze me.  It took me almost a month of hemming and hawing to get this website started because I couldn't imagine an original design and then actually produce it.  I am disabled.  In my disability, I have been able to show strength as I have approached the challenges.  I chose to become a teacher where I could use my artistic skills minimally.  When I need to create a bulletin board or prepare an art lesson, I have learned to ask for and accept help.  Asking for and accepting help are hard things to do and they are humbling.  In my disability, I have learned coping skills to help me minimize my weakness and maximize my strengths.  

I need to stop here and address something before I continue.  In no way does my lack of artistic talents compare to the very real and frustrating challenges faced by a person with autism, Down's Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy or any other recognized disability.  I know the challenges my "disability" present me with are incomparable to the the challenges of these other disabilities.  Please do keep reading to hear my point. 

Culture Influences Disability Perspectives

Starting from what the person sees and not what you see.

My Kindergarten Class
Division 20.  Mrs. Kuhn's classroom.  Roll Call.

Gloria Andrews                         Janet Atchison                   Karen Basi                  
Michael Brenner                       Nikki Crowder                     Harjit Dhesi                        
Biance Fillion                            Christy Fontaine                Sunny Jaura
Stephen Ford                           Gordie Giroux                    Kevin Hubbard          
Mark Kavanagh                        Gamoon Lau                      Lubin Liou                  
Sandra Misceo                         Nancy Seto                        Elayne Sun                
Charity Zaparita                       Melissa May                       Josip Valesic

62% of the kindergarten class was of European descent

My Graduating Class

Magee Secondary School.  Graduating Class of 1996.  215 graduates.  

32% of the graduating class was of European descent

RAISING AWARENESS FOR STUDENT SUCCESS - THE PARENTS ROLE (CONFERENCE SPONSORED BY THE LESTER B. PEARSON SCHOOL BOARDS' CENTRAL PARENTS COMMITTEE)

Today I was able to take the time to attend this parent conference sponsored by the Lester B. Pearson school board's Central Parents' Committee.  Of course, I attended the workshops related to special needs and I came away encouraged and with added resources in hand.

The first workshop I attended was on IPads and Social Stories for special needs students.  I learned about some really cool apps but the two best take aways from this workshop were...

1)  Learning about the Endeavour program.  The Endeavour program is held at the Place Cartier Adult Education Centre and provides a training and social integration program for special needs adults (persons over 16 years).  As it is under the Lester B. Pearson school board it is free tuition.  It is a growing program and led by a wonderful team of teachers!

2)  Learning about Misunderstood Minds.  The website is based on a documentary called Misunderstood Minds and is a great compilation of information.  The best part of this website is it lets you EXPERIENCE a disability.  If you click on any one of their categories (Attention, Reading, Writing or Mathematics), you will see close to the top a bar labelled "Experience Firsthand".  There are a number of activities you can can try and it definitely gave me a new perspective.

The second workshop I attended was "Dyslexia Does Not Spell Disability/School Success with Disabilities".  I went to this workshop because I had taught Christopher Simeone, one of the speakers, Secondary 4 Science and was excited to hear his story.  I grew prouder and prouder as I listened to Chris speak.  He is resilient, perseverant and has not let his disability define him.  Rather he has come to understand his disability thereby learning coping skills and has risen to maximize his strengths.  It was so rewarding to know I played a small part in this child's life.  Check out Christopher's story here.

Challenging Our Perspectives of Disability

An honest discussion of disability must begin with an examination of our personal beliefs and perceptions regarding disability.  As a teacher, I can be trained in various teaching strategies and given an abundance of resources but unless I believe in the core value of them I won’t apply them in my classroom.