4 — Refueling the Fire

Last Friday reminded me of why I love teaching. I don’t have these days often, but when I do, it refuels my love and my passion.

In my 6th grade class, we were listening to a speech by Rosie King, a girl with autism who has made it her mission to defy stereotypes about those with autism. During her speech, one of my students asked shockingly, “How is she able to talk like that if she is autistic?” I was ecstatic when he asked this question. I’m sure you’re a little confused as to why I’d be ecstatic rather than appalled. Just wait. I gestured to him to wait until the end and we can discuss everyone’s questions. At the end of the six-minute video, half the class raised their hands with similar questions.

“How is she able to talk like that?”

“Why does she seem so normal?”

“How can someone with autism write a book?”

And many more.

I was ecstatic because this was a conversation starter, this was a teachable moment. There are so many misconceptions about people with autism, about people with disabilities in general. As someone with a background in special education, I know all about these misconceptions. And I wanted to teach this to my current students.

I asked my students, “Why do you think she’s able to talk like that if she’s autistic?”

About a minute went by before one of my students said, “maybe not all autistic people are the same?”

And another student said, “Just because they’re autistic, it doesn’t mean they can’t do things like this.”

In the speech, Rosie also mentioned that. She talked about how her younger brother and sister are also autistic, but they are nonverbal, whereas she loves to talk. She explained that her autism helped her to be a better communicator with her brother and sister as well as others who are nonverbal. She talked about celebrating uniqueness and imagination rather than punishing those who don’t fit into a specific mold. These were the lessons I wanted my students to learn.

Prior to this unit, some of my students believed that people with disabilities were “stupid” and “dumb” and “weird” — yes, these were their words. My goal was to expose them to multiple intelligence and challenge them to redefine intelligence. After watching the speech, I had an open discussion in which the students asked questions and challenged each other’s perspectives. There were many students in my class who could make connections to multiple intelligence and understood that differences should be celebrated. They understood that people can be intelligent and talented in many different ways. But there were some students who struggled with thinking outside of the norm, simply because they were never exposed to something different. Watching the students discuss and challenge each other’s ideas and opinions, whether they agreed with each other or not, was a teacher’s dream come true. It didn’t matter if I agreed with them, what mattered was that they were thinking critically about the topic and making connections to the real world and real people. They were thinking for themselves.

I would often hear my students say that another student isn’t “normal” or a student is “weird” because of his disability. So showing them Rosie King’s speech was extremely powerful because she poses a very important question: “what is normal?”

Imagine if that’s the best compliment you have ever received — “Wow, you’re so normal!” That’s not really a compliment at all.

“Would you want to be good or great?” I asked my students.

“Great!” Everyone yelled.

“Would you want to be normal or extraordinary?”

“Extraordinary!” They all screamed louder.

“I want to be unique!” Another student added.

“Then, why does everyone want to be ‘normal’? What does it mean to be ‘normal’? And why do we force others to be ‘normal’?”

Silence. I raised my eyebrows. I could see their little minds thinking, wheels turning, processing all of this, and it was magical.

I used to think that I’d serve less of a purpose if I taught in a private school to rich, privileged kids. However, after teaching at an international school this year, I’ve realized that I actually serve a greater purpose, and my purpose is to bring perspective and diversity into the classroom; something my students don’t experience much of.