Autism and Education
It would be great if you could share your thoughts about Wolowicz’s reasons in the comments box below.
She writes “We’re all born with something that we are passionate about. I mean, isn’t passion what really drives us to get out of bed every morning? I’ve been wanting to write a blog on this topic for a while now, but formulating my thoughts into words has been hard. Recently, however, I keep finding stories in the news that actually pain me to read. “Autistic boy not allowed to attend summer camp” or “Boy with disability bullied by classmates; forced to drink urine”. And it never fails that by the end of each article, I’m in tears because I don’t get it. I just don’t understand not only the cruelty, but the ignorance that just radiates off of some people because they really just don’t understand. 1 out of every 6 children are diagnosed with a developmental disability. Do you realize how high these odds are? And that number is growing. We continue to ignore the prevalence of developmental disabilities because we can’t always see it. We want to believe that it won’t effect us. But with the growing number of diagnosed children, education on how to help these kids reach these full potentional isn’t just a good a idea, it’s 100% necessary. So, back to my first point, we all are born with a passion, and I think it’s pretty clear what mine is.
As most of you know, I have had several years of experience working with children on the autism spectrum and to say that I have slowly fallen in love with each and every kid that I’ve worked with is an understatement. But that doesn’t mean that it’s not hard. Bite marks, bruises, scratches, hair pulls, name calling- I’ve seen it all. And this isn’t complaining on my end. These just often lead to the question that my entire thought for this blog is about;
“Why do you do it?”
Not everyone can understand why people like myself “do it”. By no means is it glamorous. But it’s a choice I make, and that’s exactly why I do it; for the people who don’t have a choice.
For the parents who found out they were pregnant and made the choice to live a healthy lifestyle to give the baby all the proper nutrients he or she needed to develop, but for some reason, God had a different plan. They didn’t choose to have a baby that was anything less than perfect in every way. But their lives change when they get that diagnosis and from that point on, they have no choice. These parents have to make their child’s progress their focus 100% of the time. Behavioral therapy, occupational therapy, physical therapy..just to name a few. All of these become absolutely necessary, never a choice, to a parent of a child with a disability because they want to see that child succeed. Parents don’t choose to live a life where hearing their child say “I love you” is something that may never happen.
And for the kids. Anyone who does this job does it for the kids. The kids who were innocently brought into this world without a choice on how they were created. The kids who want to talk so badly, but can’t. The kids who wish they could find a way to relate to the students in their class, but can’t figure out what they’re doing wrong. The kids who fear going out in public because the chances of sensory overload could send them into a meltdown that they’ll never be able to explain. The kids who have so much potentional, but may never be able to show it because they aren’t given the opportunities.
To make a drawn out string of thoughts short, I do it to be a voice for the kids who don’t have one. To advocate for the kids who are looked down upon, or even worse, overlooked. To support the families who challenge themselves every day to provide the best care for the child. To raise awareness to the community on something that will soon effect almost every person in some way, whether personally or by relation.
I do it because unlike so many people, I have a choice.”