Thursday, February 05, 2009

So Emma Sage's comment got me thinking today....

She knows she has 'Down syndrome'.....she has friends with Down syndrome.....but this comment cracked me up and made me realize that she truly does not see 'Down syndrome' as 'limiting'

Abbie [who also has Down syndrome] and Emma Sage were having snack after school and were watching the Disney channel while they ate home-made nachos and salsa.

On comes a clip about a 'kid doing their thing' and it is about a young girl who has volunteered her time to help children with special needs play sports. My thought that it is like the 'challenger league' not Special Olympics type volunteering. Towards the end of the segment, which has shown this girl who is about Abbie's age [13] helping different children at T-ball, soccer, basketball, the young girls says how much she has gained from this experience and when she grows up she wants to teach students with special needs.

Emma Sage pipes up and says "Hey me too, when I grow up I want to teach children with Special needs!"

I started to crack up at how funny that comment actually sounded, because I truly don't think Emma Sage thinks she is a child with special needs.

So I say to her, "You want to be a teacher like Ms. Weiss is?" [she is the special ed teacher in Emma Sage's co-teaching classroom'] and Emma Sage says: "No, we don't have any special needs kids in my class"

How wonderful is this........the kid at this point does not think that there are any special needs kids in her class ~ all she see's are peers. I hope she maintains this sense of self for a long, long time.

and I do believe if she puts her mind to it, she WILL be a teacher for students with special needs someday, if that is what she truly wants to do.

5 comments:

~KC: said...

Emma Sage, you are absolutely AMAZING!!!

I agree with you Tara, Emma Sage will be whoever she wishes to be :)

All the Best ~

Frani_54 said...

She is just amazing, I don't doubt for a second she will do and be whatever she wants to be in life....

Hugs

Brandie said...

Oh, wow! There is no limit to what she will do ...

Anonymous said...

It is interesting isn't it! She's so sharp!So you have integrated Down Syndrome into your life with Emma Sage? We haven't done that yet but think about it alot. It seems as though it's coming but she does not see herself as different yet and I'm not sure what she would make of it. In school we've known other parents, our friends actually, who spoke to their daughter's class- when she wasn't there- about DS. I don't want others to see her through a lens that she doesn't see herself through. It's a tough one to parse out...

Anonymous said...

Well she can always come to Flagler to get her degree!!!