Connecting Compassion with Inclusion

Oh, boy, do I love a good TED talk. This one, by Krista Tippett, is about one of my favorite subjects- compassion. If that wasn't enough, she mentions Matthew Sanford (a yogi and a self-advocate) in her talk. Check it out and reconnect with compassion. Pay particular attention to her description of compassion as both kind and curious. She quotes someone who says that compassion is "curiosity without assumptions." I think that is a very nice way to describe our work in inclusion.

Is it really still an afterthought?

As I mentioned in my last post I recently attended the National Network of Statewide Afterschool Networks meeting, funded by the C.S. Mott Foundation. While there I attended several workshop sessions on diversity, equity and access. And, of course, in every workshop and plenary session I ever attend I always have my ears attuned to any mention of inclusion, access, disability and equity. It’s like my brain has meta tags. I’m always listening for a series of keywords related to KIT’s work, so that I can get an idea of where the national conversation on inclusion is at any point in time.

At the Mott meeting I was heartened to hear that information on inclusion was something people felt they needed. When I started at KIT over eight years ago people were more likely to say to me “we don’t have any of those kids in our program.” Of course, I generalize. And that’s the point, really. To get a general idea of where people and organizations are in their approach to inclusion. Even though the discussion is much more open than it was eight years ago, it still seems to be focused on this idea of “special needs.” That some kids have needs that are special, and our program doesn’t know how to meet the needs, for instance. Which is a very good start. Recognizing that we need to support all kinds of needs is a great place to begin.

However, I’d love to see that discussion broadened and deepened even further. Could we recognize that all kids are different, have different needs, interests, challenges and strengths, and that our program design should allow for and support those needs? Could we see that children with disabilities are all of all ethnicities, socio-economics and religions so that “special needs” is not a separate category of diversity, but perhaps that ability difference runs through everyone and every community?

I am not at all trying to diminish the needs of children who have disabilities. I hope it doesn’t sound like that. Rather, I want to elevate the discussion so that “special needs” is not an afterthought, but a more intentional part of the process of providing child and youth development programs. And, for those of us in the field of inclusion, I think that’s our charge. We need to insert ourselves into the mainstream, instead of remaining a fringe or “boutique” concept. I can envision a landscape where every afterschool conference has sessions on inclusion, and beyond that they may not even be discrete sessions but instead interwoven in every session. I would love to see every quality assessment tool or rubric address inclusion, again, not in a separate category, but reflected in every category. Workforce development, professional development and certificate programs should ensure that people have the knowledge and understanding to support all kinds of children in all types of programs.

Maybe I’m getting more impatient as I get older. I just feel like as far as we have come there is still this sense of “oh yeah, and special needs.” My energy for this is boundless, and my colleagues at KIT are tireless and devoted advocates, but it’s going to take all of us and you to make this happen. It’s going to take us all, finding every possible entryway that we can, so that someday soon any child can be welcomed and supported in any program in any community.

Inclusion is…a team effort.

Share

|

Thinking About the Word Inclusion

It’s two weeks later and I am still ruminating about KIT’s National Conference on Inclusion. First, there is all the busy-ness of preparation- the planning of speakers and sessions, the bag stuffing, the printing of badges, the processing of registration- if you’ve ever planned an event you are very aware of all the details. But then, when the event actually arrives there is all of this incredible energy generated by the participants. I can feel the thoughts and ideas swirling around us throughout the week. Then, when everyone leaves and goes back to their communities to do their great work I find myself still processing what I heard. Still downloading and then integrating everything into my own understanding of what inclusion means. What it means right now. Today. Not a year ago, at the last conference or 8 years ago when I started working at KIT. But in this very moment.

Still in my download process I woke up this morning thinking about the name “National Training Center on Inclusion” and wondering for how long in our history will we need such a place. As I often say in training, selfishly I hope we need it until my retirement kicks in, because there is no place I’d rather work and no work I’d rather be doing. However, the fact that we even have to call what we do “inclusion” is kind of interesting, right? Why don’t we just make sure all people are included as our way of being human? This is a rhetorical question, because of course I know why. I know the history of civil rights in America and while I intellectually know what has happened to bring us where we are today, my heart still doesn’t understand why human nature chooses to focus on differences, rather than our oneness.

So, today I am thinking what would happen if we threw out the word “inclusion.” What if we didn’t call it anything and we just did it. What would we call the National Training Center on Inclusion if the word inclusion did not exist? The National Training Center on Ensuring that All Children Can Successfully Participate in their Communities? The National Training Center on Learning How to Ensure that Your Programs Meet the Needs of All Children? Or, perhaps, The National Training Center on Understanding that All Children are the Same and also Different in All Kinds of Ways that May or May Not Have to Do with a Diagnosis. OK, those are hard to fit on a business card. And I am certainly not suggesting that there is anything wrong or pejorative about the word “inclusion.” Yet, anyway. But, what if we let go of naming our efforts and just embraced the actions of working to make sure that every child feels welcomed, supported and knows that feeling of belonging that we all want. How would our practice change?

I am curious to hear your thoughts. This may be a topic I come back to in the near future.

Share

|

Patience is a Virtue

We are getting more and more impatient. Whether due to the digital revolution that puts the world at our fingertips, anywhere and anytime we want it or due to the acceleration of new innovations in general, we are increasingly not willingly to wait. I have been noticing this a lot lately- this reduction in the daily requirement to be patient and wait for something to come to me. In fact, this year I learned that you don’t even have to wait for your Girl Scout cookies anymore! Waiting a month for more for my boxes of Thin Mints used to be a way I could practice my own patience and delayed gratification. Now, as with most things, the Thin Mints are “on demand.” This led me to think about patience in general, and wonder if our sense of patience as caregivers is also declining, since we increasingly do not have to practice this virtue in our daily life.

When it comes to inclusion, patience is definitely not only a virtue, but also a requirement. Many practitioners that we work with at KIT are enthusiastic and eager to dash to the inclusion finish line. While we certainly admire their gusto, and we want them to take skillful action in ensuring that all children can meaningfully participate, we also want their inclusive practices to develop with care and thought and not with hasty, unplanned action. Inclusion will evolve and is a process, and not a product. This does not at all mean that you can wait to begin serving children with disabilities until you are ready. It means that inclusion itself is a practice that you will refine with each experience. To paraphrase the brilliant Maya Angelou “when you know better, you will do better.”

Practice patience- with yourself, your colleagues, the families you serve and most especially the children you spend your days with and you will find that inclusion unfolds naturally, before your eyes and within your heart.

Inclusion is…a process and a practice.

Share
|