Why Disability Awareness Can’t Be a September-Only Conversation

The school year started in September and everything was fresh and bright and new.  Teachers had that first of the year energy and light in their eyes, and students were a mix of both anxious wondering and excitement. Not every teacher, or every student - but the overall vibe was there in the schools we worked with.   When we work inside schools, year over year, it takes on a really nice rhythm.   Since we are not in the schools every single day, our view, and my view, is wider.  We see the kids for one week each year in our in-person Disability Awareness and Inclusion program, and the growth is often jarring.  Teachers don’t age, but kids take miraculous leaps from one grade to the next.

We book out our in-person schools fairly early in the summer months, and then work is done from September until mid-May generally, with the digital program running similar schedules.  But it seems that Disability Awareness and planning are at their peak in early Fall, and schools are open and eager to build on their culture of inclusion.  Everyone, from the new teachers to the seasoned ones, to the students, paras and ancillary teachers.  

My point is that the year starts with great hope and expectations, and attention and awareness of our students who may have disabilities, learning differences, or behavior challenges.  Inclusion is a good game to talk about, but often the intention gets lost in the chaos and energy of a school year.  

Around mid-January and heading into the dreaded testing season, things have shifted.  Kids have found their tribe, or their “friend groups” and even the little ones can start to be exclusive.  Not out of malice, but more stemming from the friend they see at dance or basketball, or go to camp with, or honestly just feel more comfort and ease with.  The margins get more pronounced between the “typical” kids and kids with differences.  Parents of kids with differences feel it profoundly, teachers begin to notice more disruptions or behaviors, other students begin to widen the divide, and that early year energy and vibrancy around inclusion starts to dull into nothing.

THIS is the time we need to bring in programming like Educating Outside The Lines and others, who bring excitement and energy back to the conversations and activities around INCLUSION and UNDERSTANDING.   It is lovely and exciting to hit it hard in the Fall, but these early months of the year until the end make the most impactful and real changes in actual culture.  These are the days that can bring in excitement in the dark months and activities between testing.  Students have the capacity now, the routines of school are established, to really begin to see and understand their peers for who they are.  I know we make change happen, and we see the shift in classroom culture and community.  It is happening and it is necessary - and it doesn’t have to be overwhelming or pile more work onto the teacher's full plates.

I wonder what the schools would look like if Disability Awareness and Inclusion was part of the fabric of every month, and not just relying on the Fall energy of beginnings.