This was a horrible, horrible day on many fronts. Mostly because of other people not thinking or caring about the impact on others. What I had to deal with today...
Scrubbing graffiti off of a youth bathroom at work that wasn't from my group of kids, but if left there I would certainly become the scapegoat.
Realizing that someone else was not watching the kids they had in my room (who also ironically did the graffiti - notice a pattern), who proceeded to steal my febreze, dry erase marker, and most upsetting my DS awareness calendar. What is up that you can't notice such a thing happening right before your eyes!!!!!!!!!!
Then recovering my DS calendar (and febreze) and finding that the calendar was defaced and used to put graffiti (notice graffiti again, gee could this be a pattern) and all sorts of other things on it. Most upsetting is that the kid drew all kinds of "funny" (term used loosely) things on the kids on the calendar. Wow so nice. It is basically unusable.
All I wanted is to create a little awareness of special needs at work, and I get this crap. I am not as upset with the kids as much as how this was allowed to happen - adults should know better than to allow this. A little common courtesy and watching out for my stuff would be nice. Soeren Palumbo is right, the biggest problem is the adults.
Oh and then I was doing an observation today and over and over again I heard the r-word. I couldn't comment because I was only observing. Of course the adults in the room said nothing.
Well on the positive side, my own group of kids were outraged that someone did that to me...so that shows caring. In addition, they don't use the r-word anymore because I talked to them about it. If it happens to slip out, they point it out to one another and apologize.
I guess I have to learn that all I can really impact is my own little world - that is if someone doesn't come in and let others take and misuse my stuff.
Tomorrow is another day. Counting down the days until vacation.
I read the book A Fraction of the Whole by Steve Toltz for my book group discussion tonight. Martin, one of the main characters in the book, says there are four types of people in the world: those obsessed with love, those who have it, those who laugh at r-word people (great language, huh) when they are children, and those who laugh at them into adulthood and old age. When I read this originally, I was outraged, what does laughing at those with a cognitive disability have anything to do with types of people? But now I get it, it is all about character and integrity. Actually Martin is missing a category...those who stand by and allow others to laugh at those with a cognitive disability and DO ABSOLUTELY NOTHING - to me, they are the worst. And today, what pains me most is that I "had" to be one of those people during that crappy observation.
-Karyn
Breaking Point
1 year ago
-XX- big hugs -XX- coming your way. With the observation thing... do you get the chance to speak with any of the adults who were there in other settings (lunch, the bathroom, the water cooler) where you could gently mention what you heard?
ReplyDeleteIt is so hard to stand by when that isn't your nature. But try not to feel too bad about the calendar... those kids would probably have drawn the same things on a calendar that had pictures of typical kids on it too.
You are a light in your sphere of influence and that is all you can ask of yourself. That is how we change the world, one small sphere at a time.