A journey toward inclusiveness

Children Today, March-April, 1991 by Jeffrey L. Strully, Cindy Strully

Shawntell will be starting college next year. Her journey is about to take a new path with new friends and experiences and exciting adventures. Leaving home is difficult for any young person. It is both scary and exciting at the same time. But no matter what happens, we are all going to continue to dream about desirable futures, and together maybe those dreams will come true.

The journey toward inclusiveness begins when people recognize both what is worth working on and what will not get you where you want to be. For all of us, helping Shawntell to be just a regular high school student who is learning all she can, having fun, hanging out, and being with people who care about her because they are her friends, was and still is what we believe inclusiveness is all about. It is about being welcome and invited in. It is about hospitality and a circle of friends. It is about being a regular, not the "stranger" on the outside. It is about giftedness, not disability.

As Shawntell's high school days come to a close, it is time to reflect on what that experience has taught us. In 1986, Shawntell moved from Louisville, Kentucky to Littleton, Colorado. During her first year in Colorado, Shawntell was enrolled in middle school classes. Even though she attended regular education classes in her neighborhood school, life was far from perfect. However, we knew what the gold ring looked like and we were not going to stop trying until we had attained it!

Over the past four years, Shawntell has travelled the road through high school, finally achieving the status of graduating senior. The classes she has enjoyed the most are French, American Literature, Music Appreciation, Economics, Science Fiction, and Adult Issues. Shawntell has also participated in the drama club and Amnesty International, and has been a member of the yearbook staff. She is currently involved with the Wild Warrior Women, an exclusive club that only seniors who are females can join.

Shawntell has enjoyed spending weekends in Steamboat Springs or traveling to California, Chicago or Florida with friends--she doesn't like to go anywhere with her parents! As long as she is with Cyndi, Joyce, Denise, Brandy and Ruth, she is happy. The girls plan weekends where they cook dinner together, select some movies to watch and talk late into the night. Her friends recognize that although Shawntell is the social glue that holds them together, they rely on each other in order to "make it at Arapahoe High School."

Of course, there are goals that Shawntell has not yet realized. She still does not own her own car, she can't find a job she likes, and most important, she is still working on her prom date. Things are not perfect for our daughter--or for anyone else in her circle!

Knowing where you are headed is vital. For a number of years we were undertaking a journey down a pathway we were told wa sthe right one. It was the one that would help our daughter the most, and didn't we want to help her develop and grow?

We helped our daughter learn, become more proficient in her physical therapy exercises, and grow. We listened to every professional, read every book, and attended every conference, seminar and parent meeting. All this effort focused on Shawntell's labels and placed the accent on deficiencies. Nobody saw her as a gifted person, only as a disabled person--a person who needs to master certain skills in order to advance to the next level. People referred to Shawntell as if she were someone who was "more than half empty."

Although supporting our daughter in learning new tasks is important and we are confident she will continue to make progress, this path was leading us toward a future filled with human services, paid caregivers, segregation, isolation and loads of boring, useless meetings examining what our daughter "can't do," "shouldn't do," or at best, "should do more of!"

Our dream is for Shawntell to have a life filled with rich experiences in the middle of things alongside her friends. As we envision it, there is no single future for our daughter but a series of different futures. The futures for Shawntell are so exciting: living in her own place with people she wants to be with; building skills that are important and useful but also fun; being involved in new activities with new people; having close friendships and deep, meaningful relationships. This is quality!

What has been described in the literature as "transitional services" were not what we had in mind for our daughter. Leaving school to engage in supported employment did not seem rich enough. Leaving home to move into some sort of congregate group home or human service residential program was not what we wanted for our daughter either. We wanted a future where Shawntell could continue to explore different possibilities.

Attending college was a stop on the journey. Higher education offers an opportunity for the student to concentrate on what he or she wants to do in life. At the same time, it is a place that has the potential of being a community. Like the rest of us, Shawntell needs to have a strong group of caring people near her with whom she can interact and share experiences.