Dreams must sow the seeds for the fruits of our labor to be harvested. Education has just been a pipe dream for many in our tribe. From outright abuse to glorified childcare, our school choices have been between a rock and a hard place.
Only in the last couple of years have I had anything close to resembling a formal education.My dream is based on what I have seen and what I know is possible.
Leave any assumptions you have about us at the door when you enter school. Presume competence and be formally educated by us for us. Ensure that the curriculum is age level or more. Provide the level of motor and communication support needed in an empowering way. Treat our bodies with respect and trust especially when we are dysregulated – we feel more bad than you can ever imagine and perhaps exponentially more than you feel scared or agitated.
Meet me where I am. I don’t want to hold a peer back nor do I want to be held. We are not competing with each other but competing against our bodies when the content being delivered to us is not challenging. Music and poetry non-negotiable as our soul rests on those, as well as some rendezvous with nature. Test us to help us prove how we can be successful, not to prove “i told you so, you are not competent”
I hope some of these can be seriously considered and the seeds of my dream start to sprout soon.
