“Even though they cannot get all their needs, if they can get emotional connection/support, that would be a great start.” – Tracey Humphreys

 

 

This week, we had Tracey Humphreys from BCEdAccess as a guest speaker.

She was a lovely and kind lady who gave us a great speech on the students in BC who have disabilities. The group BCEDAccess is BC parents, guardians group advocating for equitable access to education for children with disabilities. As a person who has a family member with a disability, it got me to feel engaged and think deeper about the problems that students are experiencing. Since I was young, my parents have taught us that it is wrong to differentiate people with disabilities because there is not a single difference from the rest. In fact, they are more considerate, open-minded, and thoughtful than most people.

When I was working in the Science World, I was fortunate to visit different schools in Vancouver after school hours and perform experiments with the primary students. Some of the students had a difficult time understanding and following the lesson, had an issue with anger management, controlling themselves, ADHD, and other learning disabilities. Because of these opportunities, I became more relaxing and understanding with my lesson and I slowly learned to approach them appropriately. Towards the end of the semesters, these students had given heartwarming chances such as writing letters, cards for me, hugs, and even shouted “I love you” in the middle of the lesson.

For the students in their teenage period, students with liabilities might experience some unfairness, mistreatment, or even tease by other students. I was so worried that my family member might be treated unfairly so became extra careful with choosing which school to send, where to go, what to do when we go somewhere. Being a teacher has lots of things to consider. No matter how prepared we are, there might be lots of unexpected happenings and uncertainties. One of our classmates shared this booklet where it holds the instruction to follow in the classroom regarding this topic. It would be a great resource to use and prepare before we enter the classroom so none of our future students will experience discrimination and we can show our love towards them.