Citizenship & Special Adults
While I am not a special adult, I am the special parent of a special young adult. Through special parenting peers, I know their special young adults. Through my music & performing arts teaching, I know other specialyoung adult students and their special parents.
In my interactions and observations of these important peers and their young adults, I’ve noticed that without significant, long-term and consistently high-quality encouragement from us - their parents, their educators, their trainers, their allied health teams, their community leaders and our complex coordination of all these people - they are not likely to enter post-school training or post-school employment, or they may enter programmes unsuited to them, guaranteeing their failure. They are then ticked off as ‘unable to be employed’. When this happens, they are in fact, being denied their chances and their rights to become fully engaged and contributing citizens.
I’ve also noticed that the seeds of this encouragement need to be planted early - as early as the word education comes into view - as early as when we think our child is paying attention to something that interests them – as early as they figure out a way to tell us what they want – and we look, listen and imagine.
There are no rules around when that starts - especially if we are distracted by medical and health concerns. As long as it starts. And we practice a lot. By practice, I mean we keep searching and don’t give up on finding ways for them to access and participate in those activities. Our own learning prompts us to keep our expectations high, and not impose limits. If only because we actually don’t know those limits. They are imagined. Our young adults will find it themselves. Their own limits. But not without our leadership – not without our strength and resilience to model and teach them the skills necessary to be recognised as contributing citizens. And practice to ‘think and act’ as a citizen, is essential.
You may be thinking but wait ‘how do I convince others that my special young adult can become educated, trained for particular skills or be employed?’ The answer is this: the same way we convince ourselves. It’s not easy. It’s hard work. And if others still turn us away, we move on and look for others that are interested. We know they are out there. Our work, and our young adult’s work, is to keep practising – and not give up.
In the perseverance and because of all the above, something else happens – something unexpected and amazing. Our reservoir of knowledge and understanding grows. Our brain neurons make more synaptic connections. Our mental health becomes stronger, more resilient and more creative . . . to do more . . . to find more . . . to experience more . . . no matter difficulties. No matter the stares. And most importantly, we begin to believe that there might not be a limit to that growth after all.
Definition of citizen: a participating member of a legally recognised group, such as a region, state or nation, to ensure peaceful, efficient and just practices within that group. Participation affords rights and services provided by the group, such as voting, health, education, transport etc. In return, citizens are responsible for obeying legal codes of conduct, and for paying taxes for these services so that they may be made available to all.