Editor's note: The following article is authored by the Massachusetts Organization of Educational Collaboratives (MOEC) in celebration of 50 years of Special Education. In 1975, the U.S. Congress enacted the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (EHA) to ensure that all children with disabilities have access to a free and appropriate public education. Congress changed the name of the law to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) in a 1990 reauthorization. IDEA was again reauthorized in 2004.
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At The Education Cooperative (TEC) in Walpole, Thai-son Dang, 7, of Needham, gently tapped on his drum. It was his turn to read, and his poem was set to music.
Feeling the rhythm, young Thai-son read his “Drum Poem” at the front of the assembly.
Thai-son and nine of his fellow students, who all utilize wheelchairs for mobility, contributed poems to the newly published book “Wishes on Wheels: Poems of Power and Possibility.” For most of the students, the project not only provided a first opportunity to write poetry and read it aloud, but also their first time speaking or performing before a crowd of their peers.
“Hear the beat of my drum,” Thai-son said, seated in his chair at the front of the room. “It goes pa-rum-pum-pum-pum. When you play, it sounds loud. It’s more fun when you play with a crowd.”
The audience cheered their support for the novice poet.
“You can play it fast,” he said softly into the microphone. “You can play it slow. You can play with friends. You can play rock and roll. Do you like the drum? Oh, I like it too. It’s more fun when I play with you.”
Applause flooded the room. Thai-son glowed.
Photo courtesy of Massachusetts Organization of Educational Collaboratives. Thai-son Dang, 7, of Needham, poses for a photo with his new hero, Matt Brown. One of Dang's poems is featured in Brown's new book, "Wishes on Wheels."
The Project
TEC School students accepted a challenge posed by fellow wheelchair-user and Norwood native Matt Brown.
Brown was paralyzed from the neck down following a boyhood hockey accident. He and his friend, Suzanne Galvin, a former third-grade teacher, have collaborated on the new book, “Wishes on Wheels,” featuring the poetry of Massachusetts students who rely on wheelchairs.
"Wishes on Wheels" captures the voices and hearts of children in Massachusetts and New Hampshire who use wheelchairs to support their independence and mobility. All profits from sales benefit the Matt Brown Foundation, a 501(C)3 which focuses on supporting and helping people and families impacted by paralysis.
“When you hear our poets read their poems, I just want you all to remember that it doesn’t matter how we get around, it doesn’t matter how we communicate, we all have stories to tell," said Brown.
Last school year, Brown and Galvin reached out to TEC Executive Director Emily J. Parks (formerly superintendent for the Westwood Public Schools) and TEC Campus School Program Director Meredith L. Faletra. A partnership was quickly formed.
Finding A Voice
“With this project, our students embraced poetry as a meaningful way to express their voices, share their experiences, and talk about what is important to them,” Parks said. “Our educators welcomed this project with enthusiasm, providing the support needed for students to use their skills, take risks and express themselves.”
Photo courtesy of Massachusetts Organization of Educational Collaboratives. Lexi O'Malley, 20, of Walpole, reads her poem with a little laughter and assistance from TEC Special Education Teacher Evelyn "Evie" Abbott. “This project provided our students with an opportunity to be heard, respected and recognized for who they are,” Faletra said. She noted the positive experiences of not only publishing the poetry book, but also poetry recitations in a school-wide assembly, community book launch, and children and young adults finding a role model in Matt Brown.
At the poetry recitation before their school, all 10 student-poets took turns at the front of the room, reading their creations aloud. Some used help from a teacher and some spoke via electronic devices. Others used their best speaking voices to lift their poetic verse above the background noise and to the ears of a grateful audience.
“Sharing your voices and your hearts and your hopes and your wishes with us means more than you can know,” Galvin told the young poets. “We’ve learned what makes you feel happy, proud, loved, independent, strong and brave. You are all now officially published poets," she said. "Your powerful, heartfelt, creative and honest poems touched all of our hearts.”
Wheels and Wishes
Lexi O'Malley, 20, of Walpole, wrote a love poem to her gait trainer, a device she uses to exercise and walk unaided.
“Sparkly hot pink gait trainer,” she said, her eyes choosing words from a digital display and an electronic voice pronouncing each verse. “Flying down the hallways … Step. Step. Step. Independence, fast and freeing. Flying down the hallways. Focus and concentration. I feel strong.”
Trinity Elias, 18, of Norwood, followed suit, writing about her motorized power chair.
“It’s purple,” she said, reading her poem. “I like the color of it. I like to use it a lot indoors. I need help getting through the doors. I can’t do it myself. I feel happy and more comfortable using it.”
Photo courtesy of Massachusetts Organization of Educational Collaboratives. TEC Campus School Program Director Meredith L. Faletra greets Trinity Elias, 18, of Norwood, who wrote a poem about her purple power chair. Later that day, she cruised the TEC Campus School hallways in her purple power chair, waving to friends and fist-bumping staff.
Across Massachusetts, educational collaboratives are embracing the arts as they teach students who face incredible challenges how they can be heard.
Now, after a half-century of special education in the Bay State - 50 years since Congress enacted legislation mandating all children with disabilities have access to a free and appropriate public education - the once voiceless are receiving the tools they need to speak out, loud and clear.
The students rose to their challenge.
“This is a true testimony to the progress and vision we have made since IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) was passed in 1975," said Joanne Haley Sullivan, Executive Director of MOEC.
Thanks to the Massachusetts Organization of Educational Collaboratives for sharing this story with Westwood Minute. MOEC is the professional organization representing the Commonwealth’s educational collaboratives.
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