WEBVTT

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Music

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When I was pregnant I always dreamed to have a baby.

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I always thought many things

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If the baby was going to be skinny, big, small

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but I never thought that she could be born sick

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There is this whole stigma of having a

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child with a disability in the Latino community.

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We don´t talk a lot about it,

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but it does exist.

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And oftentimes it´s connected to sin,

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so you misbehaved and obviously you are punished,

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and this is your punishment.

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My husband´s family thought it was a bad thing we did.

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To hear these kinds of comments affected me a lot.

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So I´ve been trying to break some of those

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stigmas with the families by

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providing just opportunities

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for the families to do different things,

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and we´re working towards inclusion to

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have these children and these families

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participate in everyday life.

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I also realized that I was not the only one.

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To see that there were other people

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who have a child with a disability or with different conditions

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has helped me a lot.

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She has William syndrome.

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It´s a rare genetic disorder that

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leads to difficulties in development.

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People with William syndromes tend to be

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very social, very happy people.

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Mom was concerned that Karen didn´t have

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appropriate social skills.

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So she wanted to work on social skills

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for Karen so she could behave

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more appropriately when she was with other children.

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And we looked at different opportunities,

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foand I said, You know, I´ve heard really

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good things about Cesar Chavez.

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Why don´t you try that school?

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And she already had her other children enrolled in

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Cesar Chavez, and she loved it immediately.

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Before she got here, she was in

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a self-contained classroom.

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So she spent grades one through nine

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in a self-contained classroom where

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it´s nothing but special ed kids.

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And it´s real simple.

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They´ll give them some toys or some

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building blocks and here, have at it.

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The difference was just night and day, because

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now she is with regular ed

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and has some special ed classes.

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So Karen is in a fully inclusive classroom

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all day every day.

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She sits next to all of her peers,

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who are at different levels of learning,

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as she is, and she has the support

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of an aide, who is with her all day every day.

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We´ve been reading Green Eggs and Ham

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for about four months now.

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We´ve yet to finish it,

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but every day we start at the first page,

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and if we have to stop

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for 20 minutes and work on the word that,

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we´re going to stop for 20 minutes and work on the word that.

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Karen has the potential

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to do so much more

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than was being asked of her before,

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and I really believe that

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Mr. Williams and the special ed department

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and her teachers here

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have really fostered her ability to

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grow as a student and pushing her

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to do more than was expected of her before.

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We right away noticed progress with Karen.

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She´s started doing more academics and

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just maturing more like a regular teenager.

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It has been a total change!

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To see Karen count from one to ten,

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to say two or three letters of the alphabet,

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it has been an enormous change for me.

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Maybe it´s a change… that is a very small

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change for her academic level,

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but for me it is enormous

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to see the change she has obtained,

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that now she starts to read a little bit small words and to write

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If Karen was in an inclusive environment from the beginning,

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if she started in the first grade,

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what she knows now, she would have known

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in the fifth grade.

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So we could be going further with this.

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We could be working on money and

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things that she really needs to know to be independent,

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and that´s ultimately what I think everybody

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wants is her independence.

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The advantages are many for Karen to be here

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because she has a potential to live

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a life much fuller, really focused on what she wants.

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Where before it was whatever is available

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or whatever we think you should receive,

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where now it´s really the sky is the limit.

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In two years from now,

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I fully expect to see Karen in her cap and gown,

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smiling, and walking across the stage

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with all her peers and

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and getting a certificate like everyone else.

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Well, I know that the state of Michigan

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offers education up to age 26

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and I want her to continue in school, learn a trade…

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The children with special needs are eligible

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for services beyond the four years of high school, by law,

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and so when we get closer to that period of time,

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you know, we´ll start to have more and more

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discussions with Mom

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and the group that´s part of

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servicing her here at the school

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to determine, you know, what would be the

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appropriate next step

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Karen is ready to go.

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She´s ready to finish school,

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graduate, and move on,

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and Mom has a little more reluctance, you know.

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Part of it is our Latino culture

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and we overprotect.

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But we´re working on getting her ready,

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so when Karen is ready, Mom is also ready

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It hurts but I can see a more independent Karen,

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someone who does not

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want to spend all of her time with mommy,

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and I see her working.

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I see her doing things for herself.

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Music