My first encounter with disability was in elementary school. My school was in the same building as the Metro School for the Deaf. For the most part, the schools – as far as I knew – functioned independently. The “deaf kids,” as we called them, played mainly in the south end of the school yard, … Continue reading
I woke up yesterday morning to a story on the radio about a man in a vegetative state – a term that makes me uneasy – who had been able to communicate with his doctors through brain scans. The man had been left “severely brain damaged” – more uneasiness – after a car crash. He … Continue reading
I sat in a corner of my son’s classroom with a knot growing in my stomach. I’ve been through this before. I was there with the speech-language pathologist, an OT who specializes in communication systems and two of Deane’s educational assistants. The purpose of the meeting was to show the EAs how to connect Deane’s … Continue reading
Communication. I am a journalist. I communicate for a living. My husband is in marketing, which – no matter what you think about it – is all about communicating a message. The sermon at our wedding was about communication. We live and breathe communication. When Deane was a baby, the focus was on his mobility. … Continue reading
It went well. I was highly relieved to get a thumbs up when I jumped on to the bus when it pulled up and asked him how his day was. All that preparation and stress and it turns out Deane wasn’t actually supposed to be at school on the 4th. I guess that was schedule … Continue reading
