Defending Successes
Hello, Inclusionists!
I’m Tim Villegas, and you are reading or listening to my bi-weekly (or whenever we get around to it) newsletter, where I break down what is happening in the field of inclusive education and whatever else is going on in my brain concerning inclusion.
This week my plan was to recap my trip to Club 21’s Tools for the Journey Conference in Pasadena, CA. But you know what they say about plans. I mean. You know. Right?
If you were following me on social media, you might have known I was at the conference to present the pilot episode of MCIE’s new five-part podcast series, Inclusion Stories. In the series, listeners will hear stories from families who are pursuing authentic inclusion for their children, from school systems that are committed to inclusive education for all learners, and you’ll also hear from some of the students themselves about why inclusion is important to them.
If you are interested in hearing the pilot, it is available for Think Inclusive patrons at patreon.com/thinkinclusivepodcast.
I want to take a moment to thank, from the bottom of our hearts, our sponsors for Inclusion Stories: Communication First, the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates, Roots of Inclusion, iSecurePrivacy, and the Thompson Policy Institute on Disability. We could not do this project without you!
And if you are looking for Inclusion Stories in your favorite podcast player, it is not there yet. I will let you know when we have the RSS feed and when we are going to launch, it will probably be in July or August of this year.
So rather than breaking down the entire trip, which would probably take an hour, I’m going to dole out some of the interviews I did while I was there over the course of a few weeks or months.
And the first interview I want to share is with my friend and former colleague Kristen Enriquez and her son Sevi who has Down syndrome.
Kristen and I used to work for the same school system in Pasadena back in the early 2000s. And we both were originally skeptical about inclusive education. And while we are both inclusionists now, our journeys were different.
Sevi, a freshman in high school, has been included throughout his school career, and while there have been some challenging moments, it has been extremely successful. But this year, in particular, it’s been difficult because of the lack of communication between school and home.
And there is an insight I don’t want you to miss. It’s when Kristin talks about Sevi having to defend his successes.
Here is the interview.
Kristin Enriquez: I'm Kristin Enriquez
Sevi Enriquez: I'm Sevi Enriquez. I’m 14 years old. I love having people in my life, because, I want, for the connection. I want to feel like I belong to my school and have a family and friends. I just want to have my own supports, but they don't give me that support.
Tim Villegas: Are you talking about like right now in high school?
Sevi Enriquez: Yeah.
Tim Villegas: Yeah? How is high school going?
Sevi Enriquez: It's going better than I thought from last semester? Because last semester was pretty rough.
Tim Villegas: Yeah.
Sevi Enriquez: Yeah.
Kristin Enriquez: I agree. I think you you said that beautifully.
Tim Villegas: What was what was rough about it?
Kristin Enriquez: Um, you know, anytime you start over, there's a transition. And we've had a lot of those in Sevi's life. And, and we're always willing to give grace. But this has been really a challenge in terms of mindset, Sevi’s right to belong, and people's willingness to think through the supports that he needs to allow that belonging to be meaningful. And so it's been discouraging, because no matter how many years of successful inclusion, education he has behind him, he still has to earn it every year. And as he gets older and older and needs to start having those conversations for himself, and doesn't and shouldn't want me to be the one to have them for him. I worry about what that looks for his future.
Tim Villegas: You just recently had an IEP, right?
Sevi Enriquez: Yeah
Kristin Enriquez: We've had many. We've had many IEPs. His current IEP is still unresolved. And we just can't seem to get to a place where we feel like we're working with people who know him and understand our vision and are really willing to problem solve. What do things look like to give him an opportunity to realize that vision honoring who he is?
Tim Villegas: Right. And you're, you're a freshman? Right?
Sevi Enriquez: Yeah.
Tim Villegas: So let's see. So you're in the middle of your freshman year. Is that right, Sevi?
Sevi Enriquez: Yeah.
Tim Villegas: Okay. What classes do you take?
Sevi Enriquez: I'm taking Career. That's a new one. And Drama. I’m in ASL, and Language Arts are the classes that I have.
Kristin Enriques: Math.
Sevi Enriquez: Stupid Math.
Kristin Enriquez: Bio.
Sevi Enriquez: Bio is kinda good.
Kristin Enriquez: Biology is a tiny bit good. And PE.
Sevi Enriquez: Yeah. And PE is better.
Tim Villegas: You said drama. Are you doing a production right now?
Sevi Enriquez: Yes, I am doing Frozen.
Tim Villegas: Frozen!
Kristin Enriquez: But that's not through school. That's through community theater. What's the program you're doing through school?
Sevi Enriquez: Um, so Charlotte's Web.
Tim Villegas: Charlotte's Web!
Sevi Enriquez: Yeah.
Tim Villegas: Okay. Cool.
Kristin Enriquez: And big news. What about Charlotte's Web? What's important?
Sevi Enriquez: I got two speaking parts. And I got the sassy man that fits my attitude. Right here. And the fair goer.
Tim Villegas: You're the… say that again?
Kristin Enriquez: A fair goer.
Tim Villegas: A fair goer.
Kristin Enriquez: So he was double cast.
Tim Villegas: Gotcha. So you're playing two parts?
Sevi Enriques: Yes.
Tim Villegas: And they have speaking parts?
Sevi Eriquez: Yeah.
Tim Villegas: Okay. So cool.
Sevi Enriquez: Yeah.
Tim Villegas: That's awesome.
Sevi Enriquez: Yeah.
Tim Villegas: And you're in Frozen?
Sevi Enriquez: Yeah.
Tim Villegas: So it's like a community thing.
Kristin Enriquez: Yeah, a community theater.
Sevi Enriquez: Yeah. Community.
Tim Villegas: So that's interesting. Do you feel like accepted in the in the group of actors and everything?
Sevi Enriquez: Yeah I do. I feel connected to that. Mom, don’t laugh.
Kristin Enriquez: It makes me happy to hear that you feel like you have a connection.
Sevi Enriquez: Yeah, but don’t laugh.
Kristin Enriquez: I'm sorry. It's more smiling.
Sevi Enriquez: Mom!
Kristin Enriquez: My heart is happy. And sometimes it just comes out on my face.
Tim Villegas: So there were some things that you wanted to talk about?
Kristin Enriquez: Yeah, I think, you know, the things that I was talking about before is, is that, you know, it strikes me as interesting that you know, most people in life, they have to defend their failures. But Sevi has to defend his successes.
Tim Villegas: Oh, that's interesting.
Kristin Enriquez: And it just seems so incredibly unfair, you know, and inequitable that, that the person who has the least powerful voice has the most defending that he has to do to be given the right to have his place. Like in my job, if I fail at something, I have to defend that. And I have to own that. And I have to be willing to defend that. But I don't have to defend my successes, I get to celebrate my successes, he doesn't get the chance to celebrate his successes outside of the family, because he's constantly have to having to defend that he has the right to have the next opportunity.
Tim Villegas: Right. It's like, it's basically the idea that if there is a success, there has to be some sort of explanation. Right?
Kristin Enriquez: Exactly. Right. Like it's a fluke, right? It's not expected it's not celebrated. It's not looked at as an opportunity to build on to keep going. It's questioned.
Tim Villegas: Right, right.
Kristin Enriquez: I think the other issue is, as I really think about his journey, there has never been one person who has experienced Sevi and his opportunities at inclusive education or inclusive opportunities in the community, who has come back to me and said, “You shouldn't have done that. That was the wrong thing. He didn't learn.” Not one in 14 years, but every single year, it's the people who haven't done it yet, who are the ones we need to convince. And the ones who get to make the decisions about whether or not, you know, our vision is something that they're going to embrace and try to support and, and collaborate on or if they're going to make a different recommendation. And even after, you know, he's been he's 11 years of successful inclusion. They're still making different recommendations. And I don't really know what that's based on.
Tim Villegas: It's so hard because, you know, we've talked about this before, Kristen, like, we were there.
Kristin Enriquez: We were there.
Tim Villegas: You know, I was there. I was like, What are you talking about? We had that mindset, it's just and so like, a part of me is like, why don't you get it because, but also a part of me is like, I get why you don't get it.
Kristin Enriquez: Yeah. Because it was us.
Tim Villegas: Yeah.
Kristin Enriquez: And we were given the blessing of having a situation or an experience that changed our mind. But not everybody gets that.
Tim Villegas: Right. Right. Yeah. So how do we make that? How do we? How do we share that experience with more people so that they can change their mindset?
Kristin Enriquez: You know, and I think that's, that's kind of the gift that he's given me is that is, I mean, he's given me many. But if I look at the biggest impact is he's he's a connector. I mean, he's a very extroverted social person, I am not, I do not feel comfortable in big groups, I would stay home every day, if I could. But, I see the power of of seeing him in those spaces. I see people coming up to us and saying, I never knew or telling me, you know, I had a brother, I have a sister, you know, I wish she had had those opportunities, or these things weren't available. It makes me so happy to see that things are changing, things like that. And I would, you know, we've been, I'm very private, but we don't actually live a very private life, because I do think that the power of experiencing is seeing it. It's so important.
You know, I get asked a lot about what we can do to move inclusive education forward in our schools and district.
The sad thing is that Kristin and Sevi’s story is not unique. So, if you are a school leader, I’m talking about a principal, special education director, associate superintendent, or any leader with the power to make a change in your district. What are you waiting for? Families and educators are very much in the same situation. They have the least amount of power to make sustainable change toward inclusive practices. That is why it is so impressive to hear about states like Washington that have shifted their entire educational priorities to equity for all learners, including those learners with extensive support needs. Talk about state educational leaders who get it!
That’s it for this edition of The Weeklyish. I’ll be back in a couple (or a few) weeks with more inclusion stories and ideas to ponder.
Thanks for your time and attention. Have a great week, everyone!
Tim
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The Weeklyish is written, edited, and sound designed by Tim Villegas and is a production of MCIE.
Our intro stinger is by Miles Kredich.
Additional music by REDProductions.
For information about inclusive education, visit mcie.org and check out our flagship podcast, Think Inclusive, on your favorite podcast app.