When my child started Elementary School I was so excited for her to be included in all aspects of her school community. We were having a great experience with her school, when the first Holiday Concert approached.
I asked how she was going to be included in this Holiday Concert. My daughter has multiple disabilites that include her being unable to speak vocally. Her class had been practicing for weeks the song they would be singing. My daughter was part of that class as they practiced. But there was no plan in place at that time for how my non-speaking child could participate in this vocal performance. She had been attending music classes and therapies since she was 9 months old. I didn’t think this required incredible out of the box inclusion thinking. Off the top of my head I suggested she could clap, or wave a scarf, or shake some bells, or hit a drum. Just because she can’t vocalize along with her classmates doesn’t mean she can’t participate as part of the group and contribute to the performance. Even if she can’t participate in the same way as most other students.
The next issue came when I asked who would be supporting her during the evening concert performance. My daughter requires 1:1 support to participate in school. At first, no one at the school could give me an answer. I was told evening concerts are outside the bounds of an EAs contracted hours – something I completely understand. But when I then asked “Who normally supports someone at an evening concert like this?” I was told, “We’ve never had this issue before, they just usually don’t come.”
It may seem like a small thing. And maybe not even something worth expending energy advocating for. A Holiday Concert is a bonus. A special event. An extra. But to me everything they were communicating in that moment was important. This wasn’t an optional extra curricular activity where some kids would attend, and some wouldn’t. This was a situation where the entire rest of her class was being invited to participate in that evening portion of a Holiday Concert event and she was not.
This communicates loudly and clearly to her classmates. The message that would be sent to her class that evening was that they were a cohesive unit, and she was an optional part of that community. She was othered, she was different. Her inclusion was nice when it was happening and convenient, but not a necessary part of the whole. This was sending a clear message not only about her place in the classroom but in the wider community itself.
The province of Manitoba requires that school division policy state: “school-related activities such as field trips, assemblies, and sports days shall be accessible and planned to manage risk and reasonably accommodate the needs of all students.” They follow this up by stating that “This policy is not intended to restrict the activities of the classroom but to ensure inclusion of all students in the planning process.” In policy they understand why this is important.
Including our students in all non-optional aspects of school community life is important to establish their place as an integral and non-optional part of the community. I believe that every effort should be made to lead from a place of inclusion, in every aspect of school that is Opt Out rather than Opt In. An evening holiday concert is an Opt Out event – every student is presumed to be attending unless they Opt Out. Why is this not the case fora student who needs 1:1 support?
One day I hope we can get to the point where we approach school event planning from a place of inclusion from the start. By asking, “What is something we could do where everyone could be included,” rather than trying to retrofit existing ideas to try and make them inclusive. A Holiday Concert where performers stand and sing from risers is lovely for some, for many, and maybe even for most. But what about a Multi-Media Talent Showcase instead? A way for all talents and gifts to be showcased, not just the sing-along ones. Something that starts from a place of having space for everyone, instead of a few having to carve out space for themselves as an afterthought?
What if we extended this, and approached our field trips the same way? Rather than trying to make accessibility accommodations and adjustments for the same pre-determined field trip that has always been done year after year, we start from a place of selecting a field trip that is already inclusive of the wider group?
In the end my daughter attended that evening concert along with her class. She had scarves and instruments, and she was supported by the Resource Teacher. As happy as I was to see my child onstage with her classmates, I was most pleased that day that we were able to set the tone for her forthcoming school years. We advocated to establish that she was a part of the whole, not a separate piece or an add-on, to accommodate when inclusion was simple. That we were able to communicate to her classmates and the wider community that she was an integral part. And that for future parents the question of, “who normally supports someone at an evening concert like this?” now at least had one answer.