Today I had the honor of attending Field Day at my son’s
school. Yes, I’ve attended such events
before, but it was the first at this school, and was an experience I will never
forget.
While the younger kids were in the fenced area adjacent to
the school building, the sixty middle school kids, you know, those pre- and
young teens that can be a particularly scary group, had run of the entire
unenclosed field across the street.
Supervision was provided by 3 teachers and 3 teacher’s assistants, and
there were just a handful of parents who came to watch. For the entire 2-1/2 hours out on the field,
I never once heard a swear word, saw no one excluded by other kids, no
defiance, no one tried to sneak off, no incidents that required any adult
intervention. No one laughed at anyone
else, though there was a lot of laughing WITH everyone else.
My son chose to play kickball. The kids divided themselves in two teams, and
one team went to line up to kick. There
was no shoving to be first, no getting mad that someone was before them, no
name calling, they just happily got in line in the order they arrived, which for
some was at quite a casual saunter. Some
of the children were not particularly athletic, but no one made fun of their
performance or told them what positions they could play. If someone dropped a catch, no one yelled or
pouted or even sighed, they just went on with the game. Kids came and went from the game to go do
other activities, and the remaining kids very peacefully would move around to
the other team to make the sides even.
There was a lot of silliness, like picking up a base so someone could
not make it to it, or doing silly dances as they crossed home plate, and one
boy even had to be everywhere my son was, and no one got upset. Every single kid was having fun.
There was a bounce house and face painting, and rather than
complaints that it was babyish, almost every child participated in one or the
other or both. Everyone helped pick up
trash at the end (water bottles galore!) and everyone listened when it was time
to line up to go. The respect for the
teachers was outstanding.
When we sat down to eat lunch, kids, though speaking to
their tablemates, were quiet and polite.
A few asked me if I was my son’s mom, introduced themselves, and told me
about classes they took together and fun things they did at school. Lots of “please” and “thank you” and no
inappropriate subjects.
The kids all seemed to instinctively know how to treat each
other according to their personalities.
When sitting on blankets watching a game, they knew who needed space and
who they could crowd in with. When
making jokes, they knew who would find things funny and who wouldn’t
understand, and acted accordingly. They
coaxed the others to activities they knew were just being too shy to join in,
and they paid no mind to someone chattering to themselves or needing to sit
alone for a while or exhibiting a tic.
My child attends a school for kids with learning
disabilities – kids with ADHD, Aspergers, Autism, specific learning
disablitities, developmental delays, and so on. Kids that often get seen as difficult or as
just being their disabilities, but who are actually pretty amazing.
Special Needs is a misnomer.
These kids are just plain old Special.
And I had the honor to enjoy the day with them.
That’s why they have wine, cheers!
