I always looked forward to my mom picking me up from school, as happy & sad as that sounds at the same time. I would wait in the car rider line, separated by the six grade levels. I would wait impatiently on the gym floor, sitting criss-cross apple sauce with my book bag in my lap, waiting for the teacher to call my name. As I would wait, the kids in front of me would try to speak to me. When I wouldn’t respond, their faces looked puzzled. They were confused.
“Are you from a different country?”
“What language are you speaking?”
“Why can’t you speak like I do?”
In my brain, I had complete thought processes of what I would say to the person if I could speak back. I often tried to tell them, “no, I’m from here. I have trouble talking.” But I wasn’t able to. When the teacher would call my name, I would jump up and sprint to my moms car. As my mom would ask me about my day and what we did, I remember wanting to tell her and only getting some points made. However, I was never able to entirely.
I couldn’t tell her when kids were being mean to me when I was being bullied. I felt like I had no armor, and if I’m honest, I was vulnerable. I was a child who couldn’t speak and couldn’t report when mistreatment happened. My mom could tell by my facial expressions if something happened at school that day, and many times that’s how my mom found out something happened. She was looking at other forms of communication.
If there’s anything I can suggest to parents and teachers, it’s to seek alternative communication if a child is not speaking yet. Research has shown it will not hinder their speech. And even let’s say it did; are verbal and spoken speech the only valid forms of communication? Absolutely not. A child has a right to communication.
Teachers, if you have a child in your classroom with childhood apraxia of speech, please teach about inclusion, equality, and diversity. I can’t express this enough to you. Classrooms should be safe places; no child should walk into a classroom feeling like they have to wear armor. Please reinforce the anti-bullying policy as much as possible because I don’t want anybody to feel like I did as a child. A child’s speech doesn’t lessen nor determine their self-worth and value.
Love,
Jordan Christian
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