In response to the recent legislation "Disability and Awareness Instruction"

I have been following the recent legislation "Disability and Awareness Instruction" (1003.4205, Florida Statutes) as it was signed into law and became effective July 1, 2008. I'm happy that the state of Florida felt that this was something that needed to be taught to our children, it is so important. And to those that fought tirelessly to make this a law, Thank You. As a mother of a child with what you would consider "profound" disabilities and as an advocate that has worked in the "disability" profession for all of my adult life, until moving to Florida. I've worked in several areas, including schools specializing in special education, group homes, and with adults with developmental disabilities, to help them integrate into the community. I was an aide, lead program assistant, and a supervisor. I have many years experience and have come to learn that in the end, people with disabilities are the largest minority population and the only one that any one of us can become a part of. I've studied the "history" and for years I believed that it began at Willowbrook. Obviously, that was not the case.

I'm concerned about the curriculum. It is my understanding that the districts are free to interpret the history and structure the curriculum for themselves. My concern is that there are several districts in this state that are considered very "disability friendly" but regrettably most are not, including my own. If the GOALS of this legislation are to include "better treatment of individuals with disabilities in society (especially youth in school) and increased attention to preventing the bullying or harassment of students with disabilities; (2) encouragement to individuals with disabilities to develop self-esteem, resulting in more individuals with disabilities gaining pride, obtaining postsecondary education, entering the workforce, and contributing to their communities; and, (3) reaffirmation of commitment to the full inclusion of and equal opportunity for all individuals with disabilities" in the classrooms across the state, in grades K-12, I can tell you today that MINE is in violation and so is Florida Department of Education. You see, the terminology used in our school system to refer to children with disabilities in the school system are antiquated and demeaning. Several states have enacted legislation to stop using the words "retarded" and that is to be commended. But here in the state of Florida, we are still referring to these children as: "trainable", "educable", and "profound". This terminology starts the children on a course within our school system that will forever hold them to the standard of their "label" and not count them as individuals. Despite IDEIA's intent that all children receive an "individualized" education. For my child, the more you do for him, the less he'll do for himself and if you expect that he won't, he doesn't. My child is almost 15 years old and I'm always told "he's not ready for that", that he is functioning on a "pre-readiness" level. Well, if you aren't exposing him to it, how will he get there?

The terminology isn't the only problem, one other major issue is that children with disabilities are shuffled into ESE classrooms in the back of the school, separate from the rest of the population, mostly "for their own safety" or for "convenience". This is probably one of the worst ways to help individuals with disabilities to develop self esteem and to expect that they'll get "better treatment" in society. If our children in our schools are learning the terminology used by the Florida Department of Education and our local school districts and they are seeing the children with disabilities kept separated and not fully included in our school system, when they see kids with disabilities shuttled to schools miles away from home, despite there being a school down the road, because of their disability, what exactly are we teaching our children? Do as I say and not as I do??? Wrong! In order to make this LAW effective, we must START by taking simple steps to do away with how we are treating children with disabilities in this state.

I would recommend that each of you read the book "Raymond's Room", written by Dale DiLeo, a Florida resident, living in St. Augustine. His website is: http://www.raymondsroom.com/
Please for the sake of our children, ALL our children reconsider how WE treat those with disabilities and not just what we want our children to learn. Thank you. Please feel free to contact me at any time.

--
Jacqui Hawkins, President
Celebrating Abilities Inc
4309 SW 19th Avenue
Cape Coral, FL 33914
239-471-7334
www.celebratingabilitiesinc.org
http://celebratingabilities.blogspot.com/
http://thelifeandtimesofastressedoutmom.blogspot.com/