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A popular B.C. news anchor has sparked an important discussion about kids with autism are handled in this province’s school system.
Tamara Taggart took to Facebook to express her concerns about inclusion for all kids in the classroom, using a telling photo of her friend’s daughter to help prove her point.
“This is not inclusion,” reads the beginning of her post. “My friend’s daughter has autism and there hasn’t been any consistent support at all this year.”
The girl in the photo, sitting all alone at a desk and appearing sad even though her face is blurred, is good friends with Taggart’s son Beckett and the two kids were born just two days apart.
“Like most parents I know, my friend wants her children to have a meaningful experience at school, which means being included,” continued Taggart. “Putting a kid at a table with crayons while the other students are engaged in an activity is not inclusion.”
“Putting five kids with disabilities in the physio room at lunch with one (school support worker) while all the other students are outside playing, not inclusion.”
Taggart goes on to say that she believes children thrive when they’re engaged with their peers and children with disabilities aren’t just at school to be babysat.
Posting these issues to Facebook wasn’t the first course of action for Taggart either, as the 49-year-old claims that it’s a fruitless process.
“Many parents, myself included, have contacted their local school board...this takes a great deal of patience,” she wrote. “I was told by the school board to only speak on behalf of my own child and to not mention other children at school.”
Taggart explains that being an advocate means speaking up, not just for herself, but also for others, especially those that don’t have a voice or are too scared to speak up.
“I have received too many private messages to count from parents, teachers, support works and principals who are deeply concerned about the safety of their students,” said Taggart. “I read them all and my heart broke over and over and over again.”
“Some of the messages explained situations that were absolutely horrifying - many people feared for their jobs for saying anything at all.”
She wraps her post by asking if we can stop blaming and start repairing in an effort to provide a better education for the thousands of students who aren’t getting what they need.
“There is no transparency, these are children,” concludes Taggart. “Let’s put the bureaucracy aside and act like we have hearts so big they can’t fit in our chests.”
“These children are our future, our treasures.”
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