Persistent

Friday was Open House day at Tommy's school. This year it involved a meeting of parents who have children that will be transferring to their home districts in the next couple of years or so. I was very interested to sit in this meeting and hear what the other parents had to say.

They brought in three parents whose children are former students of the school for the blind to talk about their transfer experience. All three children are now attending mainstream schools. Two of the kids were totally blind and one has enough vision to read print but wears thick glasses. I was very sad to find out that the child with the thick glasses is being bullied at school. In school I was the kid with the thick glasses. I hate that just having a pair of glasses is enough to single a child out for bullying. The two completely blind children are not being bullied. These children are in K-2nd grade so they are still quite young. It feels to young to have to deal with bullies at school.

He still looks little to me. He's getting quite heavy so maybe not that little anymore!

I sat with a woman who has a child in Tommy's class. Her son also has some developmental delays and I could tell we were the different parents in that room. We were the parents of the kids with delays.

And I kind of forgot about that. Does that sound crazy? I guess it does. All I see when I see Tom is how far he has come. All I can see is the things he should not be able to do that he can do! All I can see is his potential. I forget that he is different from other kids. I just know that he is blind and that's the only difference I make adjustments for.

Yes. Tommy has delays. I do realize that. Maybe I don't mention it enough. Maybe I don't let myself say it. I don't know. I do know that he's more than just blind. I do know that he's not at the level that other children are at four years old. But I don't think he is destined for a life skills education. I really don't.

I hate that even at his young age he is so charted and measured when he is so very unique. How can we possibly know his potential by measuring it against a standard that knows nothing of him. His brain is different and he has been through so much. Yes. He has delays. He also knows the entire Pledge of Allegiance which I also found out they haven't said in class since last year.

That's right. They haven't said it in class since June and he knows the whole thing. I assumed they still said it everyday when he was saying it in the car on the way to school the other day. Does that mean he's a genius? No. His mind is different but it is capable. It may not sing on cue but it will sing. Other educational systems aren't even teaching kids at his age. Can't we just give him some time?

This is not an indictment against his school in any way. I know he is getting so much from his teachers and classes everyday. He loves it there and I love having him there. He is learning so much!

It is really that we seem so quick to judge kids and put them in categories. I wish we gave children more time- especially when they are medically and physically different. Can't he exist in the space between life skills and traditional academics? Does it have to be one or the other already?

I don't know what else to say, but I know this is true:

"Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not: the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent."
- Calvin Coolidge

And I am persistent.