Let the Children Teach Us
I have spent many years of my life working in jobs with adults and children who have intellectual or physical challenges. I say challenges and not disabilities. One of my main goals it to educate people in the truth that everyone has things that they struggle with, and that these struggles need not limit them. Instead, we can work to live our best lives despite our struggles. We are called to be the best version of ourselves we can be. In my work, I help others learn how to do this every day.
The need for this type of education became so apparent when I was at the mall with a gentleman in a wheelchair. We were there to purchase some clothing items he needed. When we got to the cashier to pay, he handed her the clothing, and she addressed me. He handed her the money, and she addressed me. He said goodbye, and she addressed me. Not once during our interaction did she acknowledge my friend. It made me very sad and very aware of how many in society view individuals who have obvious challenges.
More recently in my career, I have seen this in our schools as well. The tendency for many years was to have students that had learning support needs all in the same classroom, apart from the rest of the school. They would most likely join with their mainstream peers during a class like music, art or gym. Beyond that, they got all of their instruction for all of their subjects with one teacher in one class. This guided the culture of the school to treat the learning support students as “those kids” or “Mrs. W’s students” or “not my students.” They were seen as separate from the rest of the school population and treated by many as such. Their limitations were many times seen as the best they could do. The opportunity to learn with their peers who did not need learning support services was denied. Most of all, the children in the learning support classroom FELT separate and apart. They many times took on the identity that they were different, unable to learn, or outcasts because they were not included with others their age in their same grade classrooms. It was common that those who felt these differences the deepest were the kids who also had the most challenging behaviors.
Thankfully, with changing trends in education, classroom arrangements are also changing for the better in many schools. They are now including students in the mainstream classroom for their entire day, and only pulling them out for small group instruction when it meets their individual needs. Observing this change in practice has allowed me to see the change in confidence and behavior in the kids. They walk with their head held high and feel a sense of acceptance that did not seem possible before. More than that, not only are we educating them, they are educating us. Their perseverance in the face of adversity teaches us that the challenges we are facing are not as big as they seem. Their blunt observations of the world open up a new way to view the day-to-day happenings that occur. Seeing things through their eyes draws us into a new level of honesty about ourselves and others. Their open-hearted acceptance of everyone they meet sets an example of how we should be loving others. Lastly, the way they learn to adapt to the world around them teaches us to be more acceptable, flexible and less controlling.
We can learn much from children, even those that are seen as different than most. Jesus himself reminds us that we need to be like a child and have their child-like faith. When the disciples are trying to keep the children from bothering him, Jesus says in Mark 10:14 “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.” He also instructs his disciples concerning children in Matthew 18:1–5. He says to them, “At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.” The example that Jesus sets give extraordinary value to all children, without exception.
Unfortunately, in the world today, children with challenges like down syndrome, autism, or who have intellectual and physical disabilities are seen by many as having a poor quality of life and of little value. They are viewed as unable to contribute to the world. Some say that they are less than human. As a result, we as a society are responding poorly.
According to an article by CBS News, due to routine prenatal testing, nearly 100% women in Iceland aborted babies who tested positive for Downs Syndrome. It also reports that between 1995 and 2011, the United States had a termination rate of 67%, France was 77% (2015) and Denmark was 98% (2015). A woman is quoted in the article as choosing to abort her fetus because she was “preventing suffering for the child and for the family.” These statistics show the fear of and aversion from having children that are born with down syndrome. This is not something that is much talked about, but is an underlying current that swirls through society.
In a different look at how children with disabilities are viewed, an article in the New Yorker Magazine raises questions about an education system in Georgia. The state has created a program called Georgia Network for Educational and Therapeutic support. Its purpose is to alternatively educate students with disabilities between the ages of 5 and 21. The New Yorker reports that it is a separate and unequal system. The families interviewed for this article share that their students were separated from their non-disabled peers in community schools, not taught, allowed to sleep and flip through magazines all day, and not educated correctly under the Federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. This school, as reported by the article is segregated by disability, behavior and race.
The fact that we see these new stories today, in 2018, is shocking. Hopefully, this information leads us to ask the question why. Why are we as a society, as a world, continuing to devalue any human life? What are we afraid of when we begin killing and segregating our children who have intellectual, emotional and physical challenges? Speaking in terms of the United States, perhaps the answer to this is our value of our contribution to society. We value those who make the greatest contributions. Sociologists believe that everyone needs to have a status and a role in society. Where they place their status is in their role, and out of this they find their value. In the book Christian Perspectives on Sociology, Russell Heddendorf explains, “A status…requires that a person make a contribution to society and to others by conforming to their expectations.” He goes on to explain that this status provides a uniqueness and a self-identity that gains approval from those around them. When people understand their status and role, they become complete socially and individually. This explanation could seem to exempt people with disabilities from the equation. In many cases, with their limited educational ability, physical abilities or limited employment abilities, they are unable to live up to a standard we set for each other in our nation. We value achieved statuses and idolize those who make it in this world. We hold up actors, professional sports players, CEOs of multi-million-dollar companies, and those that can make it big on a reality TV show. Conversely, those who cannot achieve are commonly looked down upon and told they are not working hard enough. Our society has an imbalance and the issue of how we are caring or and educating our children who have challenges is an example of this.
Thankfully, if you do an internet search, for every story like I have listed, there are also stories of success in education, business and life of people who are making the very best lives despite their many challenges with the help of friends and family. Many have learned that you truly can learn much from these special children. They are valued and encouraged to reach for their dreams. The lesson here is that we cannot forget that we still have a long way to go to ensure that every child is accepted as they are, encouraged to grow and thrive, and given equal opportunities to do whatever they believe they can do. Let us be like Jesus and love and value every child, no matter how different than us they may be, that we come in contact with today.
References
Lajka, Julian Quinones Arijeta. “‘What Kind of Society Do You Want to Live in?”: Inside the Country Where Down Syndrome Is Disappearing.” CBS News, CBS Interactive, 14 Aug. 2017, www.cbsnews.com/news/down-syndrome-iceland/.
Aviv, Rachel. “Georgia’s Separate and Unequal Special-Education System.” The New Yorker, The New Yorker, 5 Oct. 2018, www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/10/01/georgias-separate-and-unequal-special-education-system.
Grunlan, S. (Ed.). (2001). Christian Perspectives on Sociology: (Reprint edition). Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock Pub
