Sally is portrayed in an article under the heading "The Road Less Traveled"
http://projectchoices.org/resources/newsletters.aspx
A Family’s Perspective
Sally began her inclusion experience by attending Developmental Kindergarten in the morning, coming home by bus to eat lunch and then getting on a bus and going to her “home school” for the afternoon kindergarten class. She was age 5, turning 6 that September. She spoke no words. She made very little eye contact and was very content to stay in her own little world.
Our want for an “all-day” home school experience for Sally was met with some resistance. However, we continued to push and explained that if it didn’t work we would simply stop. It was the best decision we’ve made for Sally. Since we began, she has flourished. She has many friends and in third grade was actually voted Vice-President of the class.
Fast forward now to 5th grade: she has participated in every school project. She is now a Patrol after school and has been using a laptop computer furnished by the district. She speaks well enough to communicate her needs, though we are still pursuing speech mastery. Sally can carry on a conversation, she jokes and looks people in the eye. She absolutely loves school. Every year brings more growth. We know we still have a long way to go; Sally is probably 3-4 years behind her peers in her curriculum, but we still rejoice at all the progress she has made.
We are positive that her success is ALL about relationships and the teachers, aides, therapists who have come into her life. EVERYONE who has touched our lives has made a difference and we are very grateful for it. There have been stumbles along the way, but I don’t know of a journey that doesn’t have some of those. Overall, we have received many more positive results than negative.
By Kelly Davidek, Sally’s mom
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