Inclusion Opportunities

Today Diego participated in the 4th grade Field Trip to the Symphony Orchestra Concert with his 4th grade peers, not only from his school, but from several schools in the area. He had a very good time and enjoyed his field trip, bus ride included.

I want to see today's experience multiplied as many times as possible.

Kids with special needs are just as part of our community as you and me. Even though in some instances it's nice to have special events for our special kids, the truth is that all events should be able to accommodate the participation of everyone in the community, including our special needs population.

In some instances it can be more complicated than others, but they deserve it and we owe it to them.

I'm very happy to say that I am chair of the Parent Liason Committee at our district's Special Education Parent Advisory Council. Our main goals are to raise awareness and promote inclusion. I have so many plans in my head and I'm sure they will come true.

As an optimist, which I'm proud to be, I know that most people just need information and a sense of awareness to realize the above mentioned. That we are all equal is in our constitution and to be treated with respect is a human right. That is why there is no doubt in my mind, that if we start creating a sense of community with our children, helping them see that we are all equal, we will have a better future.

Some children from other school who were sitting close to Diego today were very interested in "this special friend" who had a "very cool gadget" (his communication device). Even though they didn't know what autism was when I asked them, they were perfectly fine watching Diego's silly movements and wanted to know his name, his school and if he could talk.

It is our responsibility as adults, to teach our children to accept, love and care for their friends with special needs.

two new and nice pictures

Even though Diego is very used by now to have his picture taken, it's not always that we get a good picture. Diego isn't sure of how to fake a smile. I find this, very authentic in a way. I mean, he smiles when he's happy not when we put a silver object in front of his face and ask him to smile. He knows he has to do something with his face, so at first he used to close his eyes shut and tight when we asked him to pose. The results were funny pictures of Diego with his eyes closed. Then, he realized that maybe the eyes should be open, but he needs to do something with his mouth, so he started to stick out his tongue. This was a while ago and he was still young, so he looked really really cute. Now, he knows everyone say cheese and smile, so he opens his eyes really big, says cheese and shows his teeth :) Not quite a smile, but he's getting there!

These two are recent. When we took the cowboy hat one, he was being very silly and laughing at we don't know what, so he took a beautiful picture with his beautiful smile and dimples. The other one was posed and even though he said his usual "cheeeeeese", it came out pretty nice!