Special education

I decided to write about Special Education because it’s something I’ve always been passionate about and have an interest in. I knew it was the right topic for an article and a podcast for me. I feel as though there has always been a stigma towards people who have special needs, and, although society makes sure there are special programs for them, Special Education students are still are not always put first. What I hoped to accomplish was to find out how a parent feels about how her kid with special needs was taken care of in society.

Luckily for me, another student also interested in the topic of Special Ed. had more of a first hand experience through her own family. She connected me to her mom. My classmate’s mom, Tonya Bah, is also running for city council. This woman really poured her heart out in an unexpected way when I spoke with her.

Interviewing Ms.Bah was a privilege for me because she answered all the questions with great emotion and quality. Hopefully, when listeners hear her look back and dig deep into her past and current situation with her kids, you will really feel the deep sensations and emotional waves that I felt when I interviewed her.

There were some things she said that were really important to me. As I said before, for the most part, everything Ms. Bah said seemed very important in terms of how parents feel about their Special Education students. Tonya Bah is the parent of a disabled student at Widener and a student at Carver.

Tonya Bah speaks powerfully on the role of parents in special education and the role of parents as activists. Ms. Bah told me that: “As an activist, I saw the need to have a voice that represents the issues that we fight and struggle and live with on the other side of a microphone.” She also let me know that: “Far too often, we were protesting around education issues and were not having our issues represented by the lens of someone that has experienced it.”

When I did some research, I found out that Sara Goering, a researcher, explains that disability is commonly viewed as a problem with the disabled person. Instead, Dr. Goering and other disability theorists suggest that disability should be understood like this: Society creates the disability. The impairment is not the disability. When we think about it like this, Tonya Bah and other parents of students who live with these disabilities created by society have the authority to speak on what works best for their children.

I asked Ms. Bah about how she has fought for her children during their schooling. How have you fought for your children? She told me that she never gave up because they needed to stay alive, even though they had disabilities.

I also wondered what has gone well in her children's education. She said: “I have been able to see my son and daughter grow into life and grow into the world around them. And to receive the live around them in a way that is different from each and every person.”

She also told me that she was excited about learning from her children. “I’m 53 years old; I have a set of habits that are born out of comfort, but there is so much me to learn and so much more for me to understand. Because my children are so young, I have the opportunity to do it when I can listen and learn through the eyes that they use and the experiences they have or will have. “

I also wanted to know if there were things in their experience that were helpful to them. She told me about her experience with schools in Georgia.

“When we were in Georgia, once my husband took ill, and I communicated with the two schools and communicated directly to to the staff that ran the school. And they embraced us and supported us through our trauma. Later, my children were about to continue to have some normality and support as they lost their father. And so the school became my rock, they became my form of support. I can imagine it became the same thing for them [the children].“ This means that school support for children is very important.

When I asked her if she learned anything important from her children’s teachers, I realized that this question really touches home for her because she became emotional. She told me that in addition to the IEP, teachers know that students learn in different ways and there are “...methods to create nuances and experiences for my children to advance, to embrace, to engage, and to grow, and [the teachers] shared those methods and new experiences with me. They were able to reach them in a way that, as a caregiver and provider, I didn’t understand. They were able to challenge them and [to] have expectations without the concern of safety. Teachers have taught me so much about my own children, and about myself, and about the validation of education as an equalizer in life.”

I asked her about the most difficult and challenging parts of her children’s education. She said that “The most difficult part about education is that it has changed so significantly since it was available for me. My same expectations for my children and for all children in public schools in Philadelphia and elsewhere, are based upon my personal experiences and support and engagement that I received. So my expectation is to expect the same thing for them.”

Put your headphones in and enjoy!!