I believe in finding a voice for those who cannot speak for themselves.
In 2007 and again in 2012, I was blessed to become the mother of two wonderful boys. My children were brought into this world with a blank slate. They did not know right from wrong, or good from bad. It was my job to teach them this. I became their teacher in life and their advocate. I recall one instance where my older son was in day care while I worked. The day care provided a curriculum based upon age. My son was the oldest in his class and had mastered the curriculum. In three short months he was able to move up into the class, but I felt that he was ready now. There was no reason for him to be surrounded by younger children who needed to start the curriculum from the beginning. I challenged the director at the school and eventually was able to move my son up in classes. Now he was challenged with all of the learning material and he was able to grow mentally and socially. If I never spoke up, he would have never been given the opportunity. I discovered that I needed to speak on behalf of my children and let their voice be heard.
Just as I teach my children to find a voice, I also want to help children with special needs find their voice. While entering college I always knew that I wanted to be a teacher. I took all of the basic education courses and found a lot of interest in the special education courses. Through textbook, classroom and onsite learning I knew that I wanted to make a career out of this. There was one little boy who really made a different in my life. He was moderately autistic had held a large interest in roads. There was one road in his town that always had traffic no matter of the time of day. This bothered him so much that he devised a new roadway that would eliminate this traffic. His plan was spot on, and although he was not able to communicate the efficiency of this new roadway, his teachers taught him how to speak about it. His roadway plan was eventually brought up to the city board and was implemented into the community. If his teachers did not have faith in him and did not teach him how to present his ideas, the town would have never benefited from his idea. I loved how everyone believed in the boy and although he was not looked at as “normal” by his peers, no one ever gave up on him and chasing his dream. I knew from that point forward that I wanted to be one of those teachers to help my students find their voice and be heard. Just because they make look different or act different does not mean that they deserve less or should be treated any differently. We need to make a change and let them be heard.
Although some people may not be able to verbally communicate, they still have a voice. Whether they do not know how to use their voice or are too young to understand, I believe everyone has a voice and I love to be apart of teaching them how to be heard. Everyone deserves a chance to be heard.
