After much deliberation and negotiation, James
was allowed to start his observations at a school for children with special
needs. The school was situated about 25 miles from where he stayed but he wasn’t
going to let the commute stop him before he even got started. The school board
was hesitant to let James near the children without a psychology background but
he made a good argument when he tried to explain why he was so passionate to
help children that so many people had given up on already. James was not allowed to be alone with the children at all but that was not a concern for him. He was just happy that he was in.
He knew that he would have to put in a tremendous amount of effort and
the results might not be what he was expecting. James was willing to do whatever
it took to remove the barrier that these children were facing even though he
would only be there for a short while.
James enjoyed orientation week as it broadened his views more than he
could have imagined. The importance of his work grew so much because he knew
that these children would stay stuck in a system that wasn’t designed to help
them simple because no one could understand them. He felt emotionally attached to
the children at the school because he could relate to their struggle and the frustrations
that they were going through.
James had spent most of his time at the school speaking and interacting
with the children, who were so grateful that someone had cared about them. James
had taken an interest in the children and in return the children had opened up their
tiny hearts to James. The teachers, who once had passion and drive, were now so
exhausted that all their efforts were gone unnoticed and in vain, that they
simple gave up and only did the bare minimum.
Teachers came and went simply because the money wasn’t worth the efforts
of looking after these children. James felt sad that humanity had failed. The
idea of locking up children away from civilization just because they were
different disgusted him.
After a week of observation James had left the school more motivated
than he ever was. Weeks had gone by and James had challenged his lecturers’
views on inclusivity and tried to find ways to include children with special
needs amongst children in mainstream schools. James had gone to meet the
director of the Teaching Practice Office (TPO) to find a way to do his practicals
at the school he was in during his observations. The director, who had taking a
liking to James for his sheer dedication on shinning the light on inclusivity in
the classroom, had pulled all the strings he could and managed to get James in.
James had hardly any time to meet up with his friends who had always seemed
to be meeting up as if their life was a bunch of parties. James on the other hand,
kept doing research and tried to find ways to teach these children in a way that
could be easy for anyone to do. It took James longer than he expected but James
had found 6 people whom all shared the same passion as him to help special
needs children feel normal.
