Re: Drama about Drama

January 9, 2009

,Thank you for your email.I have a two year old son who will face same difficulties as your son in the future.Your email encouraged me greatly.please share more stories with us.SueSubject: [DownSyndromeInfoExchange] Drama about DramaTo: "Down Syndrome" , DownSyndromeInfoExchange Date: Friday, January 9, 2009, 10:50 PM

Sadly I have a new chapter to add to my work in progress...a book whose working title is 'Who's the Slow Learner?'

I finally made it to observe Drama class the Tuesday after Christmas break was over. I emailed the teacher the day before to notify him I would be there and said I would go into the theatre during the class before and sit in the back so wouldn’t see me when he came into class. I arrived, Mr. Sauntner was teaching another class---well, students were performing their monologues on stage. Class ended…Mr. Sauntner (who saw me come in) left and another teacher came in! I left the theatre and ’s aide found me standing outside asking students where the drama 1 class was meeting…too late to SNEAK into the ‘theatre’ room where they were meeting!!!!! ; She was able to find a back way in where I could discretely observe ’s perfect behavior during the class…the students were doing their monologues…one girls monologue was about being afraid of being raped. One of the boys laughed the entire time she was performing. Mr. Sauntner got after him and asked, “Do you think Rape is funny? It’s not funny.” The teacher asked if I had a minute to talk to him and I waited while he advised a couple of students…this was the school’s snack time, and then the next period was his ‘free’ period. He spent the entire time talking to me, over an hour. I explained how I had gathered ’s daily behavior checklists and in the 4 months since school had started, had only received less than exemplary scores 6 times---on predictable days---his birthday, the day after his birthday, the day before Thanksgiving break…etc. Mr. Sauntner told me he was being ‘kind’ and had not told me about the time rolled himself in the curtains, refused to leave the stage and joined in on a dance during a drama performance one night when I had dropped him off and left him like any other sophomore’s mother would have left her kid to attend a drama performance! I was livid he had not told me about ’s inappropriate behaviors before and he explained. “I don’t have time. I have 40 students in each class and I should have less than 30. You know that boy who was laughing about the rape monologue? EVERY day I have to get after him. He’s a real problem. I have students who do drugs and all kinds of issues; I don’t have time to spend with .” I asked, “Is that student being removed from your class too? “ He didn’t respond to that and started in, “And NOW that I was so nice to let into my class there’s 4 more kids from the SH class who want to be in drama! I have to put my foot down; I don’t have time for those kids to be in my class. Not all kids with Down syndrome are the same, I should have never set the precedence, but that’s who I am, I’m a nice guy.” I responded, “You are right, not every person with Down syndrome is the same, but they ALL DESERVE the SAME opportunity.” He explained how they did a play the 2nd quarter and he bought copy-written scripts, “I can’t create parts, these scripts have copy-writes on them I can’t change anything about them. And I don’t want anybody picking my scripts for me. can’t memorize 5 lines; he can’t be in the play.” I responded, “ ‘can’ memorize 5 lines, and he has memorized MORE in the past! I’m not asking to pick your scripts, I’m not even asking for a speaking part for ! EVERY play has background people; he would be thrilled with being a background character!” Mr. Sauntner, “It would be better for to be in another class. If he’s only got a background part, then he’s going to just sit here for a week or two till we get to rehearse his scene. HE would be bored and there’s nobody to watch him I’m afraid he’s going to get into trouble. We’ve got curricular saws, real swords and all kinds of props on stage that he could get hurt with. He could get a lot more out of being in another class. What about Choir, or Dance class?” Me, trying to keep my cool, “You completely underestimate the benefits of being in your class. EVEN sitting and watching you direct other scenes, telling the students to ‘stand this way, say it like this,’ and giving them direction, he will learn from that! He also will benefit from hanging out with the other students and mirroring appropriate teenage inappropriate behavior.” Mr. Saunter, “So what good is it going to do for him to learn how to act, he’s NOT going on to Drama 2! I won’t allow it.” Me, “As for supervision, what’s his aide doing? I’ll sign a liability release. Has touched the circular saws yet this year?” Mr. S:, “I heard you would sign a liability release, but what good does that do if he breaks an expensive piece of equipment or part of a set?” Me, “I will pay for anything he breaks.” Mr. Sataner, “And what about rehearsals after school, who’s going to supervise him then? I just don’t have the time to work one on one with any student! AND the kids do rehearsals at their homes; I can’t send to somebody’s house unsupervised.” Me, “I will come to every rehearsal and sit in the back. I can sit in the other room at the student’s houses if they need me.” Mr. Satan, “No, the kid’s don’t like adults hanging around, that wouldn’t be right. And don’t’ you have a job?” Me, “Yes, I have a job, but I am willing to take off of work early ;and do whatever it takes for to be successful. If being in the house doesn’t work, then I’ll sit in my care in front of the house and they can come to get me if they need me.” Mr. Sataner, “No, that wouldn’t be right. He needs somebody to be right there al the time.” Me, “Then I can pay a 19 year old boy I know to supervise in the teen's houses.” Him, “Well, that wouldn’t be right that you would have to pay somebody!” Me, “I’m trying to make suggestions on how to make this work, and nothing seems to be ok with you.” Mr. S, “I don’t have to do a play for Drama 1. I could cancel it and not even have one.” Me, “ I have a network of about 500 families of kids with Down syndrome. If you would like I can send an email and find out what other drama teachers have done in their schools. Would you like me to help you?” He, “No, I don’t have time. I have to work nights, my wife wants me home she’s always mad at me, this job is sometimes 18 hours a day when we have plays. I have too many students and everything takes so much time, maybe I won’t even do a play for Drama 1 this year. There’s no scripts that have 40 characters, except musicals, and they can’t do that in drama 1. There’s not that many afternoon rehearsals anyway.”” Me, “Wow, sounds like you’re at a cross-roads. “ He, “No, I love my job. I just don’t have time for special needs kids. I have my 4 teacher’s assistants who are seniors and I assigned them to and he takes all their time. They haven’t been able to work with the other students at all. I’ve had them do the skits with because the way I grade it wouldn’t be fair to the other students for to be in their groups.” Me, “That’s why he has an aide. Why aren’t you utilizing her? He should have been performing with the other students from the class. He, “ She’s not a trained drama coach.” Me, “So, you are saying that for to be successfully included in your class he needs an aide that is a trained drama coach. You realize that the school district has to provide the accommodations for him to participate. When we have ’s IEP next week, you need to tell them that so they can provide a trained drama coach for 1 period per day.” He, “And of the 4 seniors who are aides, has really taken to one boy, Cole, and he’s told me he’s tired. is wearing him out.” Me, “So change which drama 1 class is in next semester, put him in period 2 instead of 3.” He, “I thought about that, period 1 is pretty mellow compared to period 3, their my worse class. I’ve done a lot of special grading and made a lot of accommodations for . I guess I’ll have to start marking him down on his daily behavior sheet to get him out of here.” Me, “Well, not then that would be retaliation.” He, “It would not, but would be the fair thing to do. I shouldn’t have been so nice. I should have said no. I didn’t mean for him to be in class all year, I meant for him to just be in first semester. I thought I had made that clear when we met last year. I could tell you are good parents and I thought I would let in because you are good parents. And now it’s biting me in the butt. He, “I don’t know if this will mean anything to you, but I’m a Christian and I’ve stayed awake nights worrying about this and what to do with . My wife says I should just get over it, but it really is upsetting to me that I have to do this.” Me: Blank Stare and no response. Mr. S, “I just know that can’t stay in my class for next semester.” Me, “Well, he can, and he will.” He, “The other student’s skills have far surpassed ’s skills. He, “What about Choir, she’s only got 12 kids in her class.” Me, “ can’t sing, doesn’t want to be in choir and the word around campus is she’s a bitch.” He, “Well, she’s old and has no patience.” Me, “And doesn’t need to be exposed to people like that. When he was in elementary school he was fully included in regular education classes. He was accepted, embraced and included by everybody in that school. He participated in every after school activity. (I asked to go onto his computer and pulled up the video that’s online that I made of kindergarten to 6th grade and we started to watch it) I said, when got to Intermediate school the teachers didn’t want to do inclusion. Mr. Graham was about to retire and told me they had never done inclusion before and it was going to fail. The teacher’s were out and out mean to .” He, “Oh, that’s not right” Me. “No, and you would think that when I went to observe that they would have been nice to him when I was there, and they were aweful even with me in the class! They created all kinds of behaviors and it’s taken him 2 years to recover from that year of rejection and hostility.” He, “You know the kids are great with I never have a problem with them being anything but nice to him. Thespians are the most accepting of people’s differences.” Me, “See on this video, he was in every choir production. He was in the talent show, the magic act in 4th grade he wrote that himself—his articulation was so bad that he asked a friend to ‘translate’ for him. It was funny; she introduced him as the Magical and said, ‘He speaks ease so I’m going to translate for him.’ She repeated everything he said so everybody would understand it. Here’s the 4th grade play about the 49ers--- came in right on cue! He played violin –yes that was inappropriate but was before the concert started, as you can see after the concert he was appropriate. He also played the trumpet was in the talent show doing dog tricks with our dog. He was never told no he had every opportunity every other student at the school had.” He, “Why didn’t he stay with band?” Me, “The other student’s far surpassed his skills.” Me, "Next year we have to do ’s transition plan. And as a part of that plan he says what he wants to do for a living. I can see being a motivational speaker. He needs to be able to stand up in front of people and not be afraid. He needs to have drama in order to reach that goal. So, he will continue in drama in order to reach that goal. He, “If there’s one thing isn’t that’s afraid. I really like , he’s so real. He comes up and says, “Dude, you’re funny, or I love you.’ Most of the other kids are too cool for that. What about a speech class, there has to be a speech class here on campus? He’s NOT going on to drama 2. That’s my class and you have to audition for it.” He, “What about dance class?” Me, “We’re asking for dance as his PE class, that would be ‘in addition to’ your class, not instead of. I’ve heard that 3 other kids with intellectual disabilities haven’t been allowed into the dance class, so we’ll see if that even happens.” Finally the bell rang, I thanked him for his time and left---he never said could be in his class. I wrote him a Thank you note and sent it to school the next day. It said, ”Dear Mr. Sauntner, Thank you so much for all of the time you spent with me yesterday. I appreciate your fears of the unpredictability of . But at the same time I only ask for to have the same opportunities that all students have. As he gets older his opportunities are fewer and fewer as his typical peers have increased opportunities. When you said you were a Christian I didn’t respond. I too am a Christian; my purpose is to encourage new parents and parents with a pre-natal diagnosis of Down syndrome. It is very difficult to do when I am fighting for ’s basic rights, which is very discouraging. I will leave you with the words of Jesus, “Whatever you do to the least of these, you do to me.” 25:41-46 ----I called the person directly under the Director of Education and told her that somebody at the school’s administration needs to explain special education law, ADA and Civil rights to their teachers. That the denial of electives to students with intellectual disabilities stops with and that I am ready to take this further. She is making sure the assistant principal will be at ’s IEP next week, along with the Director of Special Education so we can solve this problem once and for all at this high school. , Mom to 15, DS, Southern California"People who say it cannot be done should not interrupt those who are doing it!"-------Chas

Diagnosis Down Syndrome: A Site of Hope for New Parents or Parents with a Prenatal Diagnosishttp://www.leeworks .net/DDS/What to Say to Parents of a Child with a Diagnosishttp://www.leeworks .net/DDS/ speech.html

January 10, 2009

Your son will not face the same difficulties, I will make sure of it!

, Mom to 15, DS, Southern California"People who say it cannot be done should not interrupt those who are doing it!"-------Chas

Diagnosis Down Syndrome: A Site of Hope for New Parents or Parents with a Prenatal Diagnosishttp://www.leeworks.net/DDS/What'>http://www.leeworks.net/DDS/What to Say to Parents of a Child with a Diagnosishttp://www.leeworks.net/DDS/speech.html'>http://www.leeworks.net/DDS/speech.html

[DownSyndromeInfoExchange] Drama about DramaTo: "Down Syndrome" <DOWN-SYNLISTSERV (DOT) NODAK.EDU>, DownSyndromeInfoExchange Date: Friday, January 9, 2009, 10:50 PM

Sadly I have a new chapter to add to my work in progress...a book whose working title is 'Who's the Slow Learner?'

I finally made it to observe Drama class the Tuesday after Christmas break was over. I emailed the teacher the day before to notify him I would be there and said I would go into the theatre during the class before and sit in the back so wouldn’t see me when he came into class.

I arrived, Mr. Sauntner was teaching another class---well, students were performing their monologues on stage. Class ended…Mr. Sauntner (who saw me come in) left and another teacher came in! I left the theatre and ’s aide found me standing outside asking students where the drama 1 class was meeting…too late to SNEAK into the ‘theatre’ room where they were meeting!!!!! ;

She was able to find a back way in where I could discretely observe ’s perfect behavior during the class…the students were doing their monologues…one girls monologue was about being afraid of being raped. One of the boys laughed the entire time she was performing.

Mr. Sauntner got after him and asked, “Do you think Rape is funny? It’s not funny.”

The teacher asked if I had a minute to talk to him and I waited while he advised a couple of students…this was the school’s snack time, and then the next period was his ‘free’ period.

He spent the entire time talking to me, over an hour. I explained how I had gathered ’s daily behavior checklists and in the 4 months since school had started, had only received less than exemplary scores 6 times---on predictable days---his birthday, the day after his birthday, the day before Thanksgiving break…etc. Mr. Sauntner told me he was being ‘kind’ and had not told me about the time rolled himself in the curtains, refused to leave the stage and joined in on a dance during a drama performance one night when I had dropped him off and left him like any other sophomore’s mother would have left her kid to attend a drama performance! I was livid he had not told me about ’s inappropriate behaviors before and he explained. “I don’t have time. I have 40 students in each class and I should have less than 30. You know that boy who was laughing about the rape monologue? EVERY day I have to get after him. He’s a real problem. I have students who do drugs and all kinds of issues; I don’t have time to spend with .”

I asked, “Is that student being removed from your class too? “

He didn’t respond to that and started in, “And NOW that I was so nice to let into my class there’s 4 more kids from the SH class who want to be in drama! I have to put my foot down; I don’t have time for those kids to be in my class. Not all kids with Down syndrome are the same, I should have never set the precedence, but that’s who I am, I’m a nice guy.”

I responded, “You are right, not every person with Down syndrome is the same, but they ALL DESERVE the SAME opportunity.”

He explained how they did a play the 2nd quarter and he bought copy-written scripts, “I can’t create parts, these scripts have copy-writes on them I can’t change anything about them. And I don’t want anybody picking my scripts for me. can’t memorize 5 lines; he can’t be in the play.”

I responded, “ ‘can’ memorize 5 lines, and he has memorized MORE in the past! I’m not asking to pick your scripts, I’m not even asking for a speaking part for ! EVERY play has background people; he would be thrilled with being a background character!”

Mr. Sauntner, “It would be better for to be in another class. If he’s only got a background part, then he’s going to just sit here for a week or two till we get to rehearse his scene. HE would be bored and there’s nobody to watch him I’m afraid he’s going to get into trouble. We’ve got curricular saws, real swords and all kinds of props on stage that he could get hurt with. He could get a lot more out of being in another class. What about Choir, or Dance class?”

Me, trying to keep my cool, “You completely underestimate the benefits of being in your class. EVEN sitting and watching you direct other scenes, telling the students to ‘stand this way, say it like this,’ and giving them direction, he will learn from that!

He also will benefit from hanging out with the other students and mirroring appropriate teenage inappropriate behavior.”

Mr. Saunter, “So what good is it going to do for him to learn how to act, he’s NOT going on to Drama 2! I won’t allow it.”

Me, “As for supervision, what’s his aide doing? I’ll sign a liability release. Has touched the circular saws yet this year?”

Mr. S:, “I heard you would sign a liability release, but what good does that do if he breaks an expensive piece of equipment or part of a set?”

Me, “I will pay for anything he breaks.”

Mr. Sataner, “And what about rehearsals after school, who’s going to supervise him then? I just don’t have the time to work one on one with any student! AND the kids do rehearsals at their homes; I can’t send to somebody’s house unsupervised.”

Me, “I will come to every rehearsal and sit in the back. I can sit in the other room at the student’s houses if they need me.”

Mr. Satan, “No, the kid’s don’t like adults hanging around, that wouldn’t be right. And don’t’ you have a job?”

Me, “Yes, I have a job, but I am willing to take off of work early ;and do whatever it takes for to be successful. If being in the house doesn’t work, then I’ll sit in my care in front of the house and they can come to get me if they need me.”

Mr. Sataner, “No, that wouldn’t be right. He needs somebody to be right there al the time.”

Me, “Then I can pay a 19 year old boy I know to supervise in the teen's houses.”

Him, “Well, that wouldn’t be right that you would have to pay somebody!”

Me, “I’m trying to make suggestions on how to make this work, and nothing seems to be ok with you.”

Mr. S, “I don’t have to do a play for Drama 1. I could cancel it and not even have one.”

Me, “ I have a network of about 500 families of kids with Down syndrome. If you would like I can send an email and find out what other drama teachers have done in their schools. Would you like me to help you?”

He, “No, I don’t have time. I have to work nights, my wife wants me home she’s always mad at me, this job is sometimes 18 hours a day when we have plays. I have too many students and everything takes so much time, maybe I won’t even do a play for Drama 1 this year. There’s no scripts that have 40 characters, except musicals, and they can’t do that in drama 1. There’s not that many afternoon rehearsals anyway.””

Me, “Wow, sounds like you’re at a cross-roads. “

He, “No, I love my job. I just don’t have time for special needs kids. I have my 4 teacher’s assistants who are seniors and I assigned them to and he takes all their time. They haven’t been able to work with the other students at all. I’ve had them do the skits with because the way I grade it wouldn’t be fair to the other students for to be in their groups.”

Me, “That’s why he has an aide. Why aren’t you utilizing her? He should have been performing with the other students from the class.

He, “ She’s not a trained drama coach.”

Me, “So, you are saying that for to be successfully included in your class he needs an aide that is a trained drama coach. You realize that the school district has to provide the accommodations for him to participate. When we have ’s IEP next week, you need to tell them that so they can provide a trained drama coach for 1 period per day.”

He, “And of the 4 seniors who are aides, has really taken to one boy, Cole, and he’s told me he’s tired. is wearing him out.”

Me, “So change which drama 1 class is in next semester, put him in period 2 instead of 3.”

He, “I thought about that, period 1 is pretty mellow compared to period 3, their my worse class. I’ve done a lot of special grading and made a lot of accommodations for . I guess I’ll have to start marking him down on his daily behavior sheet to get him out of here.”

Me, “Well, not then that would be retaliation.”

He, “It would not, but would be the fair thing to do. I shouldn’t have been so nice. I should have said no. I didn’t mean for him to be in class all year, I meant for him to just be in first semester. I thought I had made that clear when we met last year. I could tell you are good parents and I thought I would let in because you are good parents. And now it’s biting me in the butt.

He, “I don’t know if this will mean anything to you, but I’m a Christian and I’ve stayed awake nights worrying about this and what to do with . My wife says I should just get over it, but it really is upsetting to me that I have to do this.”

Me: Blank Stare and no response.

Mr. S, “I just know that can’t stay in my class for next semester.”

Me, “Well, he can, and he will.”

He, “The other student’s skills have far surpassed ’s skills.

He, “What about Choir, she’s only got 12 kids in her class.”

Me, “ can’t sing, doesn’t want to be in choir and the word around campus is she’s a bitch.”

He, “Well, she’s old and has no patience.”

Me, “And doesn’t need to be exposed to people like that. When he was in elementary school he was fully included in regular education classes. He was accepted, embraced and included by everybody in that school. He participated in every after school activity. (I asked to go onto his computer and pulled up the video that’s online that I made of kindergarten to 6th grade and we started to watch it) I said, when got to Intermediate school the teachers didn’t want to do inclusion. Mr. Graham was about to retire and told me they had never done inclusion before and it was going to fail. The teacher’s were out and out mean to .”

He, “Oh, that’s not right”

Me. “No, and you would think that when I went to observe that they would have been nice to him when I was there, and they were aweful even with me in the class! They created all kinds of behaviors and it’s taken him 2 years to recover from that year of rejection and hostility.”

He, “You know the kids are great with I never have a problem with them being anything but nice to him. Thespians are the most accepting of people’s differences.”

Me, “See on this video, he was in every choir production. He was in the talent show, the magic act in 4th grade he wrote that himself—his articulation was so bad that he asked a friend to ‘translate’ for him. It was funny; she introduced him as the Magical and said, ‘He speaks ease so I’m going to translate for him.’ She repeated everything he said so everybody would understand it. Here’s the 4th grade play about the 49ers--- came in right on cue! He played violin –yes that was inappropriate but was before the concert started, as you can see after the concert he was appropriate. He also played the trumpet was in the talent show doing dog tricks with our dog. He was never told no he had every opportunity every other student at the school had.”

He, “Why didn’t he stay with band?”

Me, “The other student’s far surpassed his skills.”

Me, "Next year we have to do ’s transition plan. And as a part of that plan he says what he wants to do for a living. I can see being a motivational speaker. He needs to be able to stand up in front of people and not be afraid. He needs to have drama in order to reach that goal. So, he will continue in drama in order to reach that goal.

He, “If there’s one thing isn’t that’s afraid. I really like , he’s so real. He comes up and says, “Dude, you’re funny, or I love you.’ Most of the other kids are too cool for that. What about a speech class, there has to be a speech class here on campus? He’s NOT going on to drama 2. That’s my class and you have to audition for it.”

He, “What about dance class?”

Me, “We’re asking for dance as his PE class, that would be ‘in addition to’ your class, not instead of. I’ve heard that 3 other kids with intellectual disabilities haven’t been allowed into the dance class, so we’ll see if that even happens.”

Finally the bell rang, I thanked him for his time and left---he never said could be in his class.

I wrote him a Thank you note and sent it to school the next day. It said, ”Dear Mr. Sauntner,

Thank you so much for all of the time you spent with me yesterday. I appreciate your fears of the unpredictability of . But at the same time I only ask for to have the same opportunities that all students have. As he gets older his opportunities are fewer and fewer as his typical peers have increased opportunities. When you said you were a Christian I didn’t respond. I too am a Christian; my purpose is to encourage new parents and parents with a pre-natal diagnosis of Down syndrome. It is very difficult to do when I am fighting for ’s basic rights, which is very discouraging. I will leave you with the words of Jesus, “Whatever you do to the least of these, you do to me.” 25:41-46

----I called the person directly under the Director of Education and told her that somebody at the school’s administration needs to explain special education law, ADA and Civil rights to their teachers. That the denial of electives to students with intellectual disabilities stops with and that I am ready to take this further. She is making sure the assistant principal will be at ’s IEP next week, along with the Director of Special Education so we can solve this problem once and for all at this high school.

, Mom to 15, DS, Southern California"People who say it cannot be done should not interrupt those who are doing it!"-------Chas

Diagnosis Down Syndrome: A Site of Hope for New Parents or Parents with a Prenatal Diagnosishttp://www.leeworks .net/DDS/What to Say to Parents of a Child with a Diagnosishttp://www.leeworks .net/DDS/ speech.html

January 10, 2009

Gee I wish you lived in IL.... better yet, in MY School District! We are already waging a war in the middle school for a child there.... it's nuts. Carol in ILMom to , 8 DS My problem is not how I look. It's how you see me.Join our Down Syndrome information group - http://health. groups.yahoo. com/group/ DownSyndromeInfo Exchange/ http://downsyndromeinfoexchange.blogspot.com/Listen to oldest dd's music http://www.myspace.com/vennamusicFrom: McElwee To: DownSyndromeInfoExchange Sent: Saturday, January 10, 2009 9:47:56 AMSubject: Re: [DownSyndromeInfoExchange] Drama about Drama

Your son will not face the same difficulties, I will make sure of it!

, Mom to 15, DS, Southern California"People who say it cannot be done should not interrupt those who are doing it!"-------Chas

Diagnosis Down Syndrome: A Site of Hope for New Parents or Parents with a Prenatal Diagnosishttp://www.leeworks .net/DDS/What to Say to Parents of a Child with a Diagnosishttp://www.leeworks .net/DDS/ speech.html

[DownSyndromeInfoEx change] Drama about DramaTo: "Down Syndrome" <DOWN-SYNLISTSERV (DOT) NODAK.EDU>, DownSyndromeInfoExc hange@yahoogroup s.comDate: Friday, January 9, 2009, 10:50 PM