The Race Toward Inclusion| Do you see it?
I love this picture. It reminds me of many of my favorite quotes:
“The real voyage of discovery is not in seeking new lands, but in seeing with new eyes.” Proust
“No one’s blinder, than s/he who will not see.” Kenny Rodgers’ song
“The race is not only to the swift, but to s/he who keeps on running.” (unknown)
“It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.” Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Eyeballs Running Everywhere
The racing eyeballs also remind me of late at night, lying in bed when my thoughts just keep galloping around in my head.
Our world is filled with a myriad of choices, distractions, good and bad news–all begging for our eyeballs and attention.
Parents of typical kids have trouble sorting out their priorities, and much of their intense parenting ends when their kids are 21. For parents of kids with disabilities, our hardest years are after graduation.
We are supposed to be experts on everything, autism, intellectual disabilities, developmental disabilities, govenment laws and departments on local, state and federal levels, advocacy organizations….
We are supposed to visualize our future, our children’s future.
We are supposed to foresee what will happen, so we can be prepared to protect our vulnerable children.
It makes me dizzy.
I want my bloodshot eyeballs to stop racing around trying to keep up. I want to be able to look forward to a future where my son will be okay. I want to be able to trust the professionals to do their jobs…I want to sleep in peace–(well, not the eternal kind of peace, just restful, you know sleeping through one or two nights 🙂
What about you?
Can you see the good–and ignore the distractions of failed levies, government cutbacks, negative news?
Can you watch the media focus on new segregated programs and ignore inclusive programs?
Can you envision new inclusive services in the community?
Can you discover hopeful ideas and events?
Can you anticipate next week being better? Next month? Next year? 10 years from now?
Can you believe you will have the people and resources you need?
Do you also feel dizzy?
We need to narrow our focus and concentrate on “the essential”: What can we do today to move toward the inclusion of our children in society?
We can’t solve all the issues of the world. But we can exercise the Power of One and do one thing today to make a more inclusive world for the person we care about. One thing. Today.
But how do we decide on that one thing? How do we filter out all the choices?
Pruning
Just like a gardener or farmer prunes the dead wood from a rose bush or apple tree, we need to teach ourselves to prune the information that bombards us everyday. We can make the choice to throw out some information, ignoring potential goldmines. If it is really a goldmine–it will still be there tomorrow. I do this by limiting the time I spend watching TV, the news, using social media like Twitter and Facebook. I don’t care what Brad Pitt is doing, I don’t want to hear about recent car wrecks, abused children, or floods in Asia. I can’t do anything about it. If it is bad, scary, if it is going to keep my eyeballs busy while I am trying to sleep–I prune it out. The world can move on without me.
Planned Ignoring
Planned ignoring is consciously making a decision to ignore certain things. Planned Ignoring gives me time to digest and analyze the information I already know. We need to allow ourselves to “see” and “not see” as we make our priorities. This will help us reduce the overwhelm. We can stop the racing eyeballs in our minds. We can allow ourselves the luxury of closing our eyes for a moment, and find our FOCUS.
Seeing with New Eyes of Inclusion
Long ago, I decided my “voyage of discovery” was to the land of inclusion. It meant learning new ideas, shifting my paradigm, and it is based on the principle of normalization, I want my son Aaron to have as normal a life as possible (period). I can make a difference for him by seeing with my new eyes of inclusion.
What do I see? What does my loved one see?
Is this moving toward inclusion?
I have to live in the real world, so I compromise a lot. But I try to keep my vision focused on the goal: Inclusion for Aaron and others. For instance, yesterday I again had a discussion about filling out a form when we picked Aaron up at his house. Because of the principles of inclusion and normalization, I will still make up my own form, rather than use the medical model form from the agency. Six month ago I was promised this would be changed, but Herbie still lives. Herbie bits the dust“>Click here.
When I first confronted the agency six months ago, I was using “pruning.” I would chop out the old policy. I made phone calls, was given assurances that it would be changed.
For the last five months, I’ve used “planned ignoring”. I kept hoping they would keep their promise to change the form. I kept signing the form I made myself. (The house staff was also using planned ignoring–and just let me do my thing.)
But now, it’s time to use my “new eyes” and make one change as we journey into our annual ISP (Individualized Service Plan–the adult service version of the IEP only without the due process).
I’m predicting: The EYES will have it!
Sweet Dreams Everyone.
Keep Climbing: Onward and Upward
All my best
Mary
COMMENTS:
What do your eyeballs see? What is your vision for the future? Do you think the concepts of “pruning,” “planned ignoring” and “seeing with new eyes” are useful strategies? Are some people incapable of “seeing”?