Listen. And listen very carefully.
I’ve worked at the same school for just over two years now. The students who were in kindergarten when I started are second graders now. I work in special education, mostly with severe intellectual disabilities. This includes autism, Down’s syndrome, all sorts of non categorical delays, seizure disorders, CP and similar disorders, all SORTS of stuff. I spend my whole day around disabled folks.
Now, two years ago, I thought this school was wildly accepting. Students with disabilities were accommodated left and right. Teachers went out of their way to explain to students that while some of their classmates may be different, they still have thoughts and feelings just like everyone else. We taught kindness, and the teachers led by example.
As the political climate of our country changes, I’ve noticed the climate of our small public school change as well. I live in a small conservative city, so it’s not really a shock, but rather a huge disappointment. Teachers are now pushing for students to be in their classrooms less. “Weird” or “distracting” behaviors are becoming less tolerable. And as the teachers tolerate less, the students do, too; and they begins to ostracize their special ed classmates.
The ripple effect of ableism in our government is not something to be touted at. It is not something that can be tolerated. When we allow our officials to be openly ableist, it allows all the closet-ableists to crawl out of their hidey-holes and speak their real minds. It allows them to push for inequality. It allows them to raise a generation that sees disabled people as the other.
Please, this cannot be allowed to continue.
