Thank you, Holden

There were lots of small things that bothered me about Korea.

Lack of personal space was a big one.

It bothered me when my co-teacher would hit the students with a stick.

But what bothered me the most was the way students with learning disabilities were treated.

Recently I worked on a story for the Selkirk Journal about a student who has a rare form of autism. Because of this he has low muscle tone.

Despite this, he signed up for the school basketball team. The principal at the school has gone out of his way to make sure it has happened.

Most of the time he sits on the bench and when members of his team are fouled he gets to step up and take foul shots.

To see him jump off the bench and get excited about getting into the game would warm the coldest of hearts.

At Lockport School they practice inclusive education. Holden Whall, a student with autism has benefitted greatly from it, and so have all of the teachers, students and staff.

Holden feels accepted as a member of the basketball team, and his father always describes him as a great kid with a smile from ear to ear.

Most of the times at school Holden is in the classroom with the rest of the students just like any other kid.

When I was a teacher in Korea, their idea of inclusive education was to have students like Holden in the classroom with the rest of the kids, but they were ignored.

Nobody ever spoke to them. It was almost as if they were invisible.

This bothered me a lot.

It’s the kind of thing that sticks with a person.

As part of the story I wrote I found out that representatives of the Korean government had sent a delegation to Manitoba to learn about better ways to include all students.

I really hope they do something about it.

Seeing the smile on Holden’s face is enough proof for anyone to show the benefits of inclusive education.

I’m just glad I got to see it. Writing a story about him also seemed to help a lot.

It felt nice that I was finally able to do something.

Thank you Holden.

Cheers

rymr