A quote by Dolly Parton was said during the presentation; “Find
out who you are and be that on purpose.” I think this is what Barb has done
with her life. The presentation was a very power representation of the benefits
of inclusion. In the last ten years Barb has made leaps in communication skill
with the help of technology, she has made many friends and written a book. The question
I asked myself way did it take till she was 30 for her to make these strides.
Barb was considered mentally retarded till she was 19. It wasn’t until she
started working with her “Smiling Shrink” did she began to break these
communication barriers.
A portion of the book was read by her SS that described how people
should approach people with autism. Give them opportunities to discover, always
persevere, remember we are all the same, keep an open mind, empower them, and
give chill time. Barb says people with autism have an amazing ability to focus
on one life concept at a time and teachers should allow this to happen. As a
general educator I want every student to be successful this is a great way to
implement a successful inclusive classroom. I love the ways Barb never says we
anything silly like “we aren’t that different” but instated emphasizes that are
differences are a beautiful thing. Diversity allows for different perspectives
and as teacher we need to find what works for our students, maybe, by using
some of Barb’s advice so that people do have to wait till they are 30 to be
heard.
I liked that you quoted Dolly Parton for this. It is very clear that Barb has not only done this for her life, but influenced many on the way to do this. I think everyone who meets Barb can learn something from her and learn to not take life so seriously. Which is something that we as educators can certainly take away. Life gets stressful and difficult and sometimes downright sucky. When I get frustrated, I will have to remember to sit down and "take a lunch" just like Barb does. She emphasizes that "normals" take ourselves too seriously.
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