Dear Imagine Families,
I’m often asked how I entered the field of Special Education. While I do believe it’s a natural calling, I truly owe my gratitude to Anthony, a young child I met while volunteering at a local YMCA summer camp.
I was assigned as a one-to-one aide to Anthony, a boy who was nonverbal and preferred to play alone, uninterested in interactions with peers or adults. He was easily agitated, sensitive to loud noises, a picky eater—and particularly disliked Wednesdays. Why, you ask? Because Wednesday was the dreaded day the entire camp went swimming.
While other children showed excitement and shouted with delight, Anthony sat in the corner, rocking his body and covering his ears. Despite numerous attempts to encourage him to go in the water, he spent seven weeks shaking his head and watching from the sidelines.
At 14, this was challenging. I didn’t understand why I had been assigned to a child who seemed so disconnected from his environment. I often felt that all my efforts to make his summer enjoyable were going unnoticed. You see, back then, resources and training related to what we now know as Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) were not as readily accessible. For those less familiar, autism is a developmental disability that impacts brain development in areas of social interaction, communication, and cognitive function. It affects how individuals think, feel, interact, and experience the world—across a wide spectrum.
During the last week of camp, as Anthony’s peers jumped into the pool, I headed toward the chairs where he usually sat. Except this time, Anthony approached me and pointed at the pool. With extreme excitement, I asked, “The pool? Yeah? You want to go into the water? Yes!” He casually nodded. Wasting no time, we quickly approached the water and entered together. While I held him in my arms, Anthony shrieked with joy, unbothered by the water drops on the lenses of his glasses. He splashed around and tried to float on his back. To this day, I can still feel his excitement.
After an afternoon that felt so extraordinary, the group changed and lined up. As I bent down to help another child tie his shoes, Anthony came up behind me, gently patted my shoulder, and turned to join the rest of his peers. It was at that exact moment I realized what he was trying to say: he was letting me know that my efforts were, in fact, seen. Unexpectedly, I had learned one of life’s greatest lessons—to give without expecting to receive.
Our children teach us things about ourselves, others, the world, and so much more. In turn, what we can do is love, accept, support, and believe in each of them—across all of life’s spectrums.
April’s Autism Awareness Month highlighted the unique experiences of individuals with autism and advocated for their well-being and inclusion. As we approach the end of this campaign, we invite you to take a moment to reflect on our shared commitment to nurturing and celebrating all children, regardless of their abilities. Imagine takes pride in growing alongside and becoming more diverse within the communities we serve.
More personally, many of our Imagine families have entered the world of support services through Early Intervention and/or the Committee on Preschool Special Education (CPSE). We strongly encourage families to share any and all questions or concerns they may have about their child with their teaching teams to start conversations early. We aim to be proactive, rather than reactive, in ensuring our children receive the support they need.
Whether you have a personal connection with ASD or are less familiar, we want to honor each of our children and their families by recognizing their abilities and strengths. Within our BLOOMING framework, we celebrate the Only One Youcurriculum, which encourages children to respect others for their individuality, build a strong sense of self-identity, and acknowledge both diversity and commonality. We do this by individualizing our instruction, scaffolding children’s play, and encouraging staff to see the “whole child.”
As we celebrate differing abilities, we remind everyone to apply the “Golden Rule”: treat all individuals with the same respect you’d want for yourself. At Imagine, we believe each of us has something that makes us unique. All kinds of communication are valid. Everyone deserves acceptance. Progress is progress, no matter how small. Let’s celebrate the small victories—together.
Warmly,
Jessica Cha
Director of Special Development and Training
[email protected]
Some Resources for Families
Love, equity, & access for young people with disabilities
Protecting every child’s right to learn
Resources for Autism Awareness
What’s Next?
Stay tuned to hear more about what Imagine is doing to continue to do more to support all our students.
