07/13/2023
Inclusion at its best! Long read but please hang in there😊
This summer I have 2 small tutoring groups, mostly “campers” with Down syndrome. As inclusion is a hot topic, I’d love to share my observations. This week I had 2 typical kids(whatever that is) join our groups. They were not asked to do anything, they came to camp and did activities alongside the other kids. Here is what happened:
They played board games, had authentic conversations(both with and without words). They cooked together, laughed together, argued and made up. They were KIDS. They didn’t see disability because we didn’t point it out. We didn’t ask them to give any special considerations.
Same rules applied for all: Be kind, play fair, clean up and use nice words. No other guidance was needed.
While I encourage conversations with children about including those who are different, I implore you to learn from them. Their tendency is to include until they learn otherwise. These are our future leaders who can really make changes, we have to give them the space and opportunity to do just that.
