November 5, 2014 Dear Aaron, Thank you for sharing your story. As you wrote letters to others in your life, I write a letter to you, to tell you what your story meant to me. I love to write—not just for an audience but because that is how I can help make the world make sense to me. This is why your experiences with writing captured my attention. Because I like words, writing, and editing, I am often asked to work with others on their writing. But I fear I may be like your dad, who could only see his own style of working and created unfair expectations for you. I can be preoccupied by the rules and what is “right.” I want to instead be like your writing tutor Don, who helped you understand your own way of thinking and how your learning style could be a strength rather than just a challenge. When I work with students, whatever their ability status, I want to be able to bring out their strengths like Don did with you. I also appreciated how you focused throughout your letters on your learning style rather than learning disability. As you said, your “success and failure have been based on an existing value
This is a letter I wrote as an assignment in SPED 5400: Introduction to Special Education.
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November 5, 2014Dear Aaron,Thank you for sharing your story. As
you wrote letters to others in your life, I write a letter to you,
to tell you what your story meant to me. I love to writenot just
for an audience but because that is how I can help make the world
make sense to me. This is why your experiences with writing
captured my attention. Because I like words, writing, and editing,
I am often asked to work with others on their writing. But I fear I
may be like your dad, who could only see his own style of working
and created unfair expectations for you. I can be preoccupied by
the rules and what is right. I want to instead be like your writing
tutor Don, who helped you understand your own way of thinking and
how your learning style could be a strength rather than just a
challenge. When I work with students, whatever their ability
status, I want to be able to bring out their strengths like Don did
with you.I also appreciated how you focused throughout your letters
on your learning style rather than learning disability. As you
said, your success and failure have been based on an existing value
system created by the dominant majority. You helped me to think
about how our societys idea of disability is a constructed one.
Students with learning disabilities struggle in our world because
our societys systems are not built for anyone who strays from the
norm. What I am challenged by is how to fix the system. In schools
that are already lacking resources with teachers who have too many
students to teach, standardized instruction is efficient. Adapting
for students with other learning styles, not just through specially
designed instruction but in everyday work, is an extra challenge
for general education teachers who are already stretched thin. As a
member of the dominant ability class (to use your word), I feel a
responsibility to work for change. However, as you pointed out,
perhaps my role is in helping to pave the way for those with
disabilities to be the ones empowered to change the culture. You
have ideas. How can I help you voice them?You have helped me to see
that that is my role as an educator. I will be working with college
students like you. I want to help those students find strength in
what others have constructed as challenges for them. And I want to
empower those students to be the voices for change in society, in
the ways that do not just make sense to me but that will in fact
make a difference for those with disabilities. Thank you for
helping to remind me of my responsibility. I hope you will continue
to write using your strengths and not conforming to what anyone
else tells you is the right way to do it. Our world needs your
revolutionary voice.
