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KATIE
@katie__jameson

23,306 followers

“Don’t ask for too much, too soon…” was the messaging that trickled down to me at the twins new school after these first two weeks. My asking, was for things like equity and inclusion to be in place right at the start. My opinion, was that if things like these had to be asked for at the start of school - even once - it was a failure of the system. Kenzie sat on the floor for several days while everyone else sat at a desk, in chairs. I was told there was a shortage of desks + chairs in the school, there was so much shuffling and chaos going on in the first week, it wasn’t intentional. And it was only her. ONLY Kenzie who went without. When she got a desk on day four, it sat in the corner against the wall. She wasn’t placed in a group of kids like everyone else. When I went into the classroom and asked for her to be moved together with others, I caught the eye rolls and annoyance along with the platitudes that everyone was doing their best. By the second week she still didn’t have what she needed, and I continued to ask for it arrive. That’s when I was told to step back, to wait. Be patient, they said. It can’t all happen at once. “It” was including my child like any other. “It” was meeting the needs of a child who cannot ask for them to be met, herself. No other child sat on the floor for days because no one would do that to a typical, verbal kid. The horror, the audacity, the trouble the school would have to handle when that child went home and told their parents - they were facing the wall - they were on the floor - they couldn’t get onto the toilet. She is magic. She is bright light. She is joy. She is sunshine. I have noticed, it’s always Kenzie that has to wait, has to go without, has to experience discomfort, until everyone else feels ready. No matter how much we ask - no one arrives ready. Even when the answer to including Kenzie stays the same every year, people find ways to forget. She is difference. She is change. She is so incredibly deserving of - you - shifting your mindset. Because she will gift you with the greatest lessons of your life. She will teach anyone, who is willing to learn. #inclusiveeducation #inclusion