13 Memes You Might Relate to If Your Child Receives Special Education
Navigating the world of special education is not for the faint of heart. There are laws to learn, supports to request and IEPs. For those of us who parent children receiving special education services, much of the process can feel like a battle.
Yet once in a while you find a meme or comic that closely resonates with how you feel about special education.
When I found “The Parent Side,” I realized the creator, Colleen Tomko, spoke “my language.” Her cartoons and Facebook memes express so much of how I feel in this journey.
So I set out to find more of my favorite memes on special education and share them with you:
1. Every student has strengths. Standardized testing limits potential.
2. “Clearing the path for [students with disabilities] clears the path for everyone.”
3. Are students with disabilities truly welcomed in schools?
4. Inclusion should be the standard, not the exception.
5. Sometimes special education does not make sense.
6. The problem with standardized tests:
7. Supports should be given to each student according to their needs.
8. What if special education interventions focused on a child’s strengths?
9. Students with disabilities should be as valued as other students in all schooling activities.
10. Get to know the person, first.
11. “Special education is a service, not a place.”
12. All students can be included.
13. Inclusion is more than a classroom.
Editor’s note: Images from “The Parent Side” used with permission. All “The Parent Side” images are copyrighted and may not be copied or altered in any form. Reprints are available at The Parent Side: theparentside.com. Please contact the artist, Colleen Tomko, at info@theparentside.com if you have any questions about use.
Ellen Stumbo is the founder of Disability Matters, an organization with the mission to encourage every church to embrace disability. Ellen is a national speaker who focuses on issues pertaining adoption, faith, disability and parenting kids with disabilities. Ellen writes for several online platforms including Focus on the Family, LifeWay, MomSense, Not Alone, Mamapedia, Group, The Mighty and the Huffington Post. Her writing also appears in several book anthologies. Ellen blogs at ellenstumbo.com and you can also find her on Twitter and Facebook.
ellenstumbo