Our Inclusion Story

Our inclusion story begins with the unbelievable joy of adding our daughter to our family. Despite the challenges of being new to parenting, there was no doubt that having our daughter would make life fulfilling. Little did we know that an autism diagnosis would test our abilities as parents to think, work hard and be creative. Although she met those typical milestones, my daughter's communication skills seemed to fall behind those of other kids. With nowhere else to go and no knowledge of what our options were, we felt we had no choice but to accept a placement in a special ed segregated class. She was loved and nurtured in this school. But, in my eyes, this was not enough to get her to achieve her highest potential. No matter what the evaluations may have shown, I believed in my child's intelligence. She had it in her but someone had to come up with a method to bring that to the forefront. Someone other than her parents needed to believe in her. I found that in Myra Rodriguez, the inclusion coordinator, who was crucial in opening an inclusion program at the elementary school we eventually moved my daughter to. A new program will always have kinks that have to be ironed out. This school was no exception. But the positives certainly outweighed the negatives. Having the program in place is not enough. Parents' involvement is a big factor that contributes to the success of the program. Fortunately, we had that in this school (Thanks to the tremendous efforts put in by my wonderful friends Sandra and Joe.). My daughter did wonderfully at the inclusion program in elementary school. She had to work very hard to keep up  with the academics. This included an average of 3 to 3-1/2 hours of studying every day. With the opportunity to socialize, her language skills improved by leaps and bounds. This development was almost inevitable. Her language skills had to get better if she was to make and keep her friends. And she definitely wanted to make friends. In fact, to this day, she keeps in touch with friends she has had since elementary school. In terms of academics, with tutoring and help from the inclusion teacher as well as the general ed teachers, she was able to stay on top of the curriculum. She did all her homework and passed all the tests required. Before the end of 6th grade, even with some trepidation, we felt confident enough to take her out of inclusion and make her part of the general ed population.
Middle school transition was not easy. Then again, transition for our kids, mine in particular, has always been met with great difficulty. The much bigger population and hectic schedule was something she had to get used to. It took a while to do that. Once again, she was fortunate enough to have supportive people in school. The principal, assistant principal, guidance counselor, resource teacher, all her teachers and the staff looked out for her and did everything they could to ensure her success. Graduation from middle school led to high school at Frank Sinatra School of Performing Arts. My daughter is currently a senior at this school and is looking forward to college. She has already passed all the tests required to get her regents diploma and has had an average of 85 throughout her years in high school. She is in the drama studio in this school which means they are required to perform in front of an audience. Part of her extra curricular activities includes writing for the school newspaper. She writes reviews of Broadway shows. The school was originally in Long Island City until last year when they opened their new campus in Astoria. This means she has to commute via subway on her own. Outside of school life, she continues with dance classes and is on her 12th year in this dance academy. Where she is now would never have been possible without the foundation provided by the INCLUSION PROGRAM. Inclusion gave her the chance to move into the general ed setting without making it too drastic of a move. It also provided the crucial support system needed for success at the same time pushing her to reach for that seemngly impossible goal. Inclusion was the stepping stone to a more independent general ed situation where, hopefully, success would continue. This journey is not over and will continue to be one that will require a lot of effort but the foundation that inclusion has provided makes me feel confident that the future is bright. THANK YOU TO ALL WHO MADE INCLUSION POSSIBLE IN OUR SCHOOLS.