February 22, 2008

Hope is Not Only For the Young

Synonyms for Hope: expectation, faith, optimism, anticipation, expectancy, confidence, desire, trust. I watch the tens of thousands of young people gather to hear Barack Obama. I listen to his cadences of youth and feel the excitement of a country that was passive until it heard the voice and vigor of this young man. Regardless of whether or not he wins the nomination, his candidacy has shown the nation’s hunger for getting the work done that will make a difference in each individual life. Various groups have come out for one candidate or another. But where are the leaders of special education? It is an enormous voting block that will not permit generalities. All of us, professionals, parents, providers, have been lied to about special education and we’ve permitted those lies to stand. Have we lost the expectation for equality? Have we lost faith in the assurances of IDEA? Have we lost confidence that we can make the necessary changes that will give our children a future? Has life drained the desire out of us to work to make the changes so urgently needed? Have we lost trust in ourselves, in our ability to learn to advocate for the needs of our children, to take on responsibility of political engagement to achieve change in judicial appointments? Permit nonlawyer practice? Improve the science of testing? Change teacher-training programs? And, for the first time, create a genuine parent training program that works? Not one major special education website has taken a position on the candidates or the issues as they relate to special education. Why not? This election will change the future of every child for the next two decades because of the number of Supreme Court judges that will be appointed to replace the majority of those who will leave in the next four years. If nothing else gets your faith, optimism, confidence, desire and trust juices going, think about the judges that Mr. McCain will nominate. Clinton. Obama. Practically speaking, that single issue should get every one of you up from your chair, calling whichever candidate you think will appoint a judge that understands and cares about the needs of children with disabilities in the United States, and work for that campaign immediately.

Hope is not just for the young. The act of having children is an act of hope. The act of trying to improve or change something you care about is an act of hope. This website and these blogs are an act of hope. To my dying breath I will not loose hope that special education can be realized in the truest sense for every child and every parent who suffers and tries and suffers some more. In spite of age, infirmity, money losses and the epidemic inequity between the rich, poor and middle class, the elderly must not loose sight that we are but one human family, and that whatever impacts one, impacts us all. That is not an intellectual luxury of thought in the face of pain and loss. It is the reality of our legacy for those who will live after us.

Paul Krugman wrote a brilliant column recently (Poverty Is Poison, The New York Times, 2/18/08). He pointed to research on young children raised in poverty and how neuroscientists found that stress hormones impaired their brain development, leaving language and memory impairment lasting a lifetime. He pointed to L.B.J.’s “War on Poverty”, where there was a large reduction in the poverty rate- 23% in 1963 to 14% in 1969, when that war stopped. Now, 17.4% of America’s children live below the poverty line, a general underestimate of the misery they experience. He says that to be poor in America today is to be an outcast, in spite of the myth that people can achieve if they really want to. You have only to visit the urban ghettos of this country today to know how true that is.

Krugman refers to a study by the National Center for Education Statistics. It found that in modern America, parental status is more important than the child’s ability. Children from low status families who did very well on standardized tests were less likely to get through college than those with well to do parents who tested poorly. Poverty and education are historically linked, remembering that slaves were beaten if they learned to read. Add to this what we know about disabled children who are poor and the problems and injustices grow exponentially. But that should not make us loose hope. It should not make us numb to what seems impossible to change. Let me tell you a story.

His name was Lawrence Cadogan from East Orange, New Jersey. He was 15, a responsible boy who worked after school, a smart boy who taught himself about computers, never a discipline problem. And he was a math whiz. His parents were supportive and did what they could within their means to help Larry. His problem was that he could not read- not even his name. When I went into the district to get the needed testing and demanded they teach him to read, the response was, “Why should we? Half the kids in East Orange can’t read!” After two trials, Larry went to a residential school and learned to read- and much more. He graduated from MIT in computer sciences. He never gave up. His parents didn’t give up. They had hope.

Even though I don’t do that work any more- at least to any degree- I still do parent training. And I see hope, the passion of parents to help their children if they are only told how. We can change this terrible system of special education if we believe that we can. But we must be true. We must be honest. We must be smart. We must be in for the long haul. And we must have faith, optimism, expectancy, confidence, desire and trust to do what must be done in the weeks and years ahead. Can we do it? YES, WE CAN.