Graduation is a milestone, bringing closure to your past achievements and opening the next chapter in your life. Whether its is from grade school, high school, or college, graduation should be a cause for celebration. But for special needs children, that isn’t always the case.
In the news last week, there were two stories about elementary school graduations. At a Staten Island autistic elementary school, students had written notes to Jennifer Lopez, asking for signed autographs. But JLo had a better idea: Come to the school and perform live for the kids at their graduation.
And perform she did. The kids got the thrill of a lifetime singing and dancing to JLo’s hit single, “Let’s Get Loud.” It was a special way to remember the culmination of their accomplishments.
But at a California elementary school, graduation was a much different story for the disabled students. Each and every one’s photo was left out of the yearbook. While the school claims it was “an oversight,” some parents believe it was done on purpose. How’s that for a way to remember your graduation?
These stories exemplify the wide range of treatment developmentally challenged students get in the school system. Some schools have it right. Children are encouraged to reach for the stars. They are shown their rights as individuals, and have goals and the means to achieve them.
Other schools are part of the problem, continuing to treat special needs students as lesser members of society. What does it say if your child’s memories and photographs are left out of their yearbook? That there is still more work to do.
We need to bring equality to the school system, giving all students the same opportunities to excel. Special needs students have every right to be included in the yearbook.
Facing more serious setbacks than just pimples, students with developmental disabilities should find graduation a cause to celebrate, not cause for action. Parents and pop-stars aren’t taking advocacy lying down, and neither should we.
