Jessie Flips: About Glee and the R-Word

Glee as Loser is right!

Last night I watched Glee with my family in the playroom in our central house in Old Ottawa South. And in this specific episode Finn Hudson said the R-word and I got so mad and really sad because I looked up to Finn as well as the actor Cory Monteith. He should NOT have said that. That word is a word that is hurtful, mean, rude and most importantly really Offensive to people who have Down syndrome just like me. How could the writers do something like this? I can’t believe they would they script that line. I think the writers should know that this word, the  R word hurts people’s feelings, the R word is a word that is harmful. It discriminates people with Down syndrome and I hate it.

The show is about inclusion, the show is about celebrating who we are even though we’re different.  The show is about diversity and creativity. And then they use the R word. Come on writers!! Can’t you see that people who have Down syndrome are people too, can’t you see that we also have a voice. Can’t you see that we ALL have the right to be included. 

Jessie Flips: About Being in a "Regular" Class

Two weeks ago Michelle asked: “. . .  I have a question for you about when you were in the regular education classes—aside from how the students treated you at times, how did you yourself feel sitting in the regular education classes? Was the work too hard? Was it over your head? Did you understand what was being taught? Did you have modified work? How did it make you feel if you weren’t doing quite the same work as your classmates? . . . I’ve been told that during some of the time in the regular classroom the teachers/administrators feel like since the work is too hard for her right now and she’s not doing 3^rd grade level work, that it’s just making her feel bad about herself and as she gets older will cause low self-esteem."

Hi Michelle this was a great question I’m glad you asked. Here’s my answer:

In the regular education classes I felt fine and comfortable. Sure, the school work was hard but I had asked them to adapt the work to my strengths and to my level. The work was exactly the same they just modified it. And it actually made me feel like I can learn. It really helped me a lot. And I learned a lot of new things. I remember in Geography class in high school, we were learning about different kinds of rocks and the work wasn’t adapted so I raised my hand and I asked my teacher to try to adapt the work to my level. Then the next day in class we all used all sorts of visuals that my mom had made to help me learn, and it was really fun. 

This should NOT make you have low self-esteem, or make you feel bad about yourself, you need to adapt the work and if they can’t do that then what you should do is to fight for it. And if the work is too hard try to strike up a compromise where your kid / child can learn. And if they have quizzes or tests then you can use those regular pullout sessions to the resource room as extra time for your kid or child to finish the quiz. Then when they’re done, your kid or child can go back into the classroom.  Your child or kid is learning. No child should be denied the adaptations to learn. They need to learn. They have the right to have an education.

In a segregated classroom it’s hard to learn, in a segregated class you’re not really learning and you’re not really making new friends, and your separated from your friends that you grow up with and play with. But in a regular class you are learning, in a regular class you are making new friends and being with your old friends. In a regular class you feel a sense of belonging and being connected with all the students. In a regular class you work all together. Other people can learn from your strengths and gifts.

Nancy’s says: if they are saying the work is too hard for her, then they have identified what they have to do—modify it! The first response should be modify, not remove. Inclusion is NOT and never has been about everyone doing the same thing or working at the same level. 

This seemed to be something I had to reiterate with Jessie’s teachers: OF COURSE she won’t be doing the same level work in every area. She is not in a classroom with her peers because I think she is exceptionally bright or because I think that she doesn’t have an intellectual disability. She is in a regular classroom with her peers because I think that is the best place for her (and her peers and her teachers) to learn and to create a learning community. 

The bottom line is that including all students teaches all students (those included and their peers) that all persons are equally valued members of this society, and that it’s important and worthwhile to do whatever it takes to include everyone because everyone has something important to contribute. There are always exceptions and variations, but I think the starting point has to be inclusion. And inclusion only works when we accept that we have diverse learners in our classrooms and diverse people in our society. 

I think being fully included all the way through school gave Jessie two key qualities: resilience and a very strong sense of herself as a valued member of a community. While you could call it self-esteem, I think it goes much deeper and stronger than that and is related to her place in the world. 

31/21: Jessie Flips About Inclusion

A while ago Jessie started contributing to the blog by recording video segments on her Flip video camera (hence Jessie Flips) about random topics that meant something to her. When I asked her to share her thoughts about inclusion with others (especially parents of littler ones) for the 31 for 21 challenge, she agreed to start the tradition back up again, but wanted to start by writing something first. Please note, this is ALL hers, including where the new paragraphs start. Fridays will be Jessie Flips days … and you may get a video or something she wrote. If you have anything you’d like her opinion on or you would like her to write about, just post a comment and she’ll start a list.

Hey fellow bloggers!! I’m so excited to be back and to write for all of you again. I hope all of you had a wonderful thanksgiving. Today I want to talk to you about inclusion, but first I want to give you a bit of a background to what inclusion is. All of us have basic human rights and some of those rights are the freedom of protection from harm, the right to play, the right to an education and the right to be included.

I’m Jessie Huggett, I’m 22 years old and I have Down syndrome. And when I was in high school I was the only person with an intellectual/developmental disability who was in the regular mainstream classes. To me high school was a bit of a challenge because other people were laughing at me and judging me because of my disability. I felt alone, I felt as if I didn’t fit in. And the only friends I had were in lunch club. But my mom and I made a group with other high school friends that I had made and we had called it the J-Squad. The J-Squad helped me with socializing and getting involved in extra circular activities where I could and would learn new things and make new friends. It really helped me to fit in, this group really helped me to be more included.

In a high school setting there are lots of difficulties and challenges where people label and judge people with different abilities  but if you ground yourself with friends and you socialize with others you have a solid ground and a solid base where you can stand up for what you believe in, and the people that are behind you 100% will follow in your footsteps.

I highly recommend that your son/daughter should be included in the community and at school. It’s really important that your son/daughter contributes to the community, it is also really important to be social and to make new friends. And to parents out there I suggest you should believe in your child’s gifts and talents, advocate for your child and tell them that anything is possible if you set your mind to it.

Sure, going through high school can be a challenge and is hard but my mom, dad and I are really proud of what we did. We advocated, we fought for my rights and we accomplished lots of milestones. I agree that inclusion is hard, but it’s worth the hard times because it’s important to be equal. We all learn from people of different abilities. If we don’t go to school together then how can we learn from each other?  But if we do go to school together we can make and build friendships and relationships. 

Jessie Flips: About Living in L.A.--The Nicer Part!

We're still going over the videos that Jessie took in L.A., but one particular on-camera essay deserves a posting, particularly in these rough and uncertain financial times when a good place to live can be hard to come by.  According to Jessie, you can avoid the nastier parts, just let it go, and live in the nicer areas! Because living in the nicer areas (of course) is based only on one's desire to live in the nicer areas. Glad we got that straightened out. Now she just has to share this with Obama (and Harper). 

Jessie Flips: About Her Creative Side

Jessie's latest Flip, about how important the arts are to her.

Links for the organizations she is talking about: Propeller, Ottawa School of Speech and Drama, and H'Art of Ottawa.

Jessie Flips: About the "R" Word

Jessie flips . . . a day early, because she wanted to encourage you to join the thousands of others pledging to end the use of the R word to promote the acceptance and inclusion of people with intellectual disabilities.

Thursdays With Jessie, or Jessie Flips: About Her Future

Welcome to Thursdays With Jessie, or Jessie Flips! I’m not sure which title we will use, any ideas or preferences? Every week Jessie will make a small video with her Flip camcorder about her thoughts or feelings on a particular subject, or about some aspect of her life. She has free reign ( I believe that is rein, as in equine, but I kind of like reign, as in royal), but we might help her brainstorm ideas as a family. She is going to keep them short—probably just a talking head—until she takes a course on editing!

Today, the inaugural edition, is Jessie Flips: About Her Future (please excuse the blocked nose!). There may end up being a number of these (videos about the future that is, not blocked noses . . .  although maybe those too)!