Evaluating Impacts on Professional Practice

      Two and a half years ago I was blessed with my fourth child.  His name is Jadon (which means "thankful") and he was born with a genetic condition called "Noonan's Syndrome.  This syndrome is a condition that causes short stature in children and our little guy is definitely little.  At two and a half he is still wearing 12 month pants and most people who see him think that he is one.  I guess the stereotype or "ism" that we deal with the most is ableism because many people comment about how little Jadon is and ask if he needs help to do things.  I remember one time when we were shopping and he was just six months old or so(but looked maybe a month old) and this lady asked how old he was and when I told her she said in a very snotty tone "Why is  he so small, is something wrong with him?"  I explained that he was born this way and she didn't say another word.  Since that time I can't count the number of times I have heard "Wow, he's really small" or "Isn't he little for his age?"  We have also gotten the questions that because he is so small does he have developmental delays and people automatically assume that he has learning disabilities.  Jadon also has wide set (kind of droopy) eyes and one time a person made the comment about him that "he isn't as dumb as he looks."  This was a very hurtful comment but I knew that it came from ignorance because this person did not truly know Jadon.  Our little boy has a personality that is so big that it will definitely make up for his lack of size and once people are around him for a couple of minutes, they can't help but fall in love with him.  He does not suffer from any mental or developmental delays and although we were given the option to give him growth hormones, my husband and I decided that we want to leave him the way God created him to be and teach him that he is special for who he is and not what society thinks that he should be.  I know that the road as he is growing up will be difficult but I also know that God brought this little angel into the world for a purpose that is bigger than any of us and He won't let society mess with that. 
  

                                          

       The year after I had Jadon I had a little girl move into our school district and join my second grade class.  She was a very tiny and sweet girl and very sad to leave her grandma (who brought her) each morning.  Every morning I would wrap my arms around her and tell her that we would make it through the day together because I missed my baby too.  This little girl won my heart right away and she would constantly tell me that I was the best teacher and how beautiful I was.  She had a really big personality and despite her size, she was full of life.  I think that because of Jadon I took extra special care to make sure that she was treated kindly and that she was not picked on.  There was just something about this little girl that won me over and I just wanted to make sure she believed in herself and her abilities even though she was so small.  She ended up moving before the school year was over and I was heartbroken.  We both cried on her last day and she gave me her address so that the class could write to her.  A couple of weeks after she moved, her grandmother came into my room (she still lived in the town and is an aide in our school) and said she needed to share something with me.  She proceeded to tell me that this little girl had gone to a geneticist because she was so small for her age and wasn't growing and they found out that she has Turner's syndrome which is the female version of Noonan's Syndrome.  I think that I almost fell over when she told me this because I couldn't believe it.  I was then able to share with the grandma that my son had a similar condition.  We both felt that it was more than a coincidence that this girl had been placed in my classroom.  It seemed that she had needed me and I had needed her.  She is doing well at her new home and the last time she came to visit her grandma she came to the school with her and I saw her standing at the end of the hall and she ran to me and gave me a great big hug.  It was my feelings at this moment that made me realize how this "ism" had influenced not only my personal life, but my professional life as well.

                                               

        As I have dealt with the consequences of the stares and comments made to and about my own son, I was also given the chance to allow this experience to affect the way I interacted with the children and families that I work with.  The consequences of "ableism" in my professional life have been that I have a deeper consideration for all of the children and families that I deal with.  I feel that I have always been considerate of people but since dealing with the consequences of people looking differently at my son because of a physical difference I have developed an even deeper consideration and accepting of the differences that people may have.  I noticed this in the way I interacted with the little girl in my classroom and how I noticed that she was different but I would not allow for her to be treated differently in my classroom and I built a relationship with her and her family based on trust and understanding.  This program has taught me so much about the way society looks at people based on what is represented on the outside but how as educators we should be modeling to look beyond physical, cultural, or ability differences.  It is our job to accept ALL children and families into our classrooms and child care centers regardless of the characteristics they may have.  In a truly anti-bias classroom, we are accepting, respecting, and valuing all those who come through our doors and helping each child to develop to their fullest potential.  Anti-bias education is a type of activism that we should all be incorporating into our classroom but we have to remember that this starts at a personal level (Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2010).  It is for this reason that it is important to reflect on the "isms" in our own lives and use them to help us become better anti-bias teachers.

                            

References:
   Derman-Sparks, L., & Olsen Edwards, J. (2010). Anti-bias education for young children and ourselves. Washington, D.C.: National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).