Do you
know Jonathan Mooney? You need to. He’s awesome. This past Spring I heard him
speak and I’ve recently finished reading his book, “The
Short Bus: A Journey Beyond Normal”. I was immediately drawn in by his
deliberate use of the proverbial short bus. Instantly recognizable and
virtually impossible to overcome as a stereotype, the “short bus” brings with
it society’s negative constructs around special education and the derogatory
slurs frequently assigned to children who have disabilities. Whether you are as immersed
in the world of inclusion as I am or not, this is a book of outstanding
depth and profound insights.
Further,
as an advocate for inclusive education, I found it frustrating that “Katie’s
space in the community college, one of her best outlets for socialization, was
also evaporating. Because of a complicated legal loophole, she is not eligible
to receive special accommodations in her classes without identifying herself as
a student with a disability. But if she self-identifies as a student with Down
syndrome, she will be considered ineligible for financial aid and
accommodations because, based on an assumption of her “low IQ” she would be
considered to have no “abilities to benefit” from higher education.”
And so, given
all of this, Mooney earnestly asks Katie’s mother, “How do we help Katie?” By
way of reply, she simply laughs. “I understand where that question comes from –
I used to ask myself the same question. How can I help or fix Katie? But Katie
isn’t the one who needs to be fixed.”
And there
it is. There is the profound truth. When we spend our lives trying to “fix” our
children and our students; no matter how pure our intentions, we perpetuate a societal
concept of “normal” that views disability as broken. It is deep in our cultural
consciousness to view Katie and other people with disabilities through the lens
of what is wrong with them. We teach, we train, and we try our best to fix. But
our children aren’t broken.
Every child is perfect, created in God's image. Every child is a gift and has gifts to share. That’s
it. It’s a simple truth. Our children aren’t broken.