My Wife: Advocate

Last week, Lovely English Lass spoke at a conference held here in Johannesburg about Inclusion Teaching in schools.  She spoke about our life with Lovely Little Girl, and the trials and travails we had while trying to find a place for her to go to school.  She spoke of her lovely teacher, who adores my daughter, and about how the school originally rejected us.  She also talked about how inclusive schools are really a civil rights issue.

My wife is the least likely voice of public advocacy.  At least spoken voice.  She is an amazing writer, and one that does quite a bit in the autism community raising awareness and helping others.  (She wrote a grant application for Autism South Africa last year that was approved helping fund kits for children.)  However, one of her biggest fears is public speaking.  She gets heart palpitations when she thinks about it, and her voice shakes.

Now, most of you know me, and know that's not one of my biggest fears.  (Mine are snakes and needles, but my biggest fear is a snake with needles for fangs.)  Heck, I LOVE public speaking.  I've been doing it since age 6 when I read the Christmas story in church to about 200 people.  (It might have been less, but hey, I was 6.  It looked like more.)  I've given speeches all over and usually do them without notes.  But it wasn't me that was speaking.  It was her.

LEL put on one heck of a show, according to her.  She did a PowerPoint presentation along with personal anecdotes about LLG and moving around and how difficult it is for us to find places to move to due to our daughter's diagnosis.  She asked the 30+ schools there to think about this, and to question their policies on inclusion.  This doesn't even just mean kids on the spectrum.  International Schools are famous for deciding not to take kids with ANY type of disability.  Kids with ADHD, Dyslexia, or any slight problem that might be a small inconvenience, are sometimes turned away.  International Schools can cater to the wealthy in some countries, and don't need to accept different learning children.

Let's be honest here: it isn't really fair.  My daughter doesn't learn like other children in her class, but she's not dumb.  She's one of the best readers in her class, has an amazing memory, and although has some issues, has already passed all of the things she needs to for her to move to 1st grade.  Just because a kid needs some help doesn't mean they aren't worthy of attending a school.  They might need some fine motorskills help, or even a little help staying focused.  But they can be brilliant in their own right.  Just give them some help.

After LEL's speech, many of the people in the audience, who represented schools all over the globe, came to her and said they'd love to have LLG in their school.  This will definitely help in bidding this summer on a new job.

But the part that makes me proud is the public advocate my wife became.  She usually writes her words to get her point across.  Now she's found her own actual voice so she can expand her advocacy.  Knowing that she's doing it not only for our child, but for everyone else out there that can't speak at conventions is pretty cool.  I always knew I was punching above my class when I married her.