What I've Taken for Granted...

So, today was a good day at school. I got quite a bit done, and joked with a few people. It was good.

The thing I've pondered today is how different life is here compared to where I spent the past ten years. I was in a school and community that was very accepting of people (kids and adults) with disabilities. The school I was in housed the largest Special Education population at the Elementary Level. The kids were trained that being different was good, and not a big deal. In fact, you would often see an autistic student having a meltdown headed down to the "time out" room, and kids (and adults) would simply walk on by. It was part of the community, and it was normal. I didn't really think twice about it, as the kids grew up from Kindergarten through fifth grade with the Special Education kids as their friends! I remember one student who was autistic who was quite the ladies man out on the playground! :-)

I'm sure you all know where I'm headed with this story.

In the building I'm in now, we house one Lifeskills class and my Learning Center class. I heard the LIfeskills teacher discuss with the staff at how they will try to hide any tantrums from the rest of the student population, and that you need to be fragile with what is said to the "regular" students about the students. Hum....as you can tell, I'm still stuck there. In my old school, we were straight-up about the kids, with ALL the kids. I see how much I have taken for granted the past several years.

Then I came home tonight and had an interesting encounter with my neighbor's son. I should state that MANY kids have arrived on my block, and I imagine it's because Summer Break is over and now everyone is living with the full-time custodial parent. I'm cool with that, as it simply more friends for Jay and me to meet!

So, I had Jay on his leash, and I had just gotten home from work, and the next-door neighbor came over to talk to me. He is 14 and a very sweet kid. He asked me if the lever on my garage door had always been there. I just looked at him. I had no idea what he was talking about. I looked over and his garage door didn't have a lever. I looked around, and noone else has a lever. Hum. I just looked at him and told him I really didn't remember. I remembered seeing it and thinking everyone had one. And he followed with, "Is it because you're handicapped?" I just looked at him and told him I didn't think my limp had anything to do with it. He asked me if I had requested it, and I told him, "no." Now, the kid wasn't rude. He wasn't mean. He was curious. And, I'm cool with that.

The other boys arrived and they headed for a bike ride and I came in to change. I got ready and Jay and I headed out for our evening walk. We crossed the street and the boys came riding up. Jay and I said "Hi" and kept on walking. The 14 year-old looked at me and said, "What are you doing?" I just looked at him. "I'm taking Jay for a walk." He replied with, "Can you do that? I mean, doesn't that hurt your leg?" I said, "No, it doesn't hurt. And, yeah, we usually walk about a mile a day." He looked at me and did a double-take. He followed with a comment about how he didn't think I could walk Jay because of the limp. So, I explained everything to him. Now, let me state, this kid wasn't being mean. He truly wasn't. He just had never had experience with someone with a limp. After I explained it, he said, "Okay. One mile huh?" I said, "Yep." He said, "Okay, see ya." And was headed on a bike ride with his brother.

I had forgotten how much training I'd have to do with the natives. :-) I'll give my speech A LOT tomorrow as the little people arrive at SVE. One week from now they won't even notice it anymore. I took a lot for granted where I was at. I pray that God uses me and the Lifeskills kids to teach the "regular" kids about us...we're not different, we're just people. Only difference is that I'll never win a marathon! :-) And honestly, don't want to either!

So until tomorrow night's post...

Life.
Is.
Good!