A tribute to those who helped a special girl along her challenging path to graduation

Letter
Published: Thursday, June 15, 2006
Graduation represents achievement in many forms, and for our family it celebrates the end of an incredible journey: a journey fraught with diagnoses, assessments, medications, separation, and the joy of coming nearly full circle by graduation day.

The little girl I will watch cross the stage on Saturday to receive her certificate has had to work far harder than most. For two years the behaviours of Aspergers Syndrome prevented Chelsea from even attending school during the critical ages of 12 to 14. When we were finally able to create a shared care home in our neighbourhood, staff would carefully drive my daughter past the school, gradually start to mention the school, eventually go into the resource room for 10 minutes, increase that time to an hour or two until finally she was able to attend full-time with full classroom inclusion. This "phasing in" took nearly two years and was only accomplished through the amazing teamwork of our school, Community Living staff and family.

As I reflect on the way in which my two special needs children are accepted into the community, I can't help but think about a world that existed for families 20 or 30 years ago: a world composed of institutions such as Woodlands, Tranquille and Glendale. I think about the pioneers of the Community Living movement who were moms and dads working with an iron will to close those horrifying prisons housing thousands behind bars and move their loved ones into a natural community setting.

Many challenges lie ahead for us after graduation: a gentle transition for an anxiety-ridden child into the world beyond high school, a meaningful and enjoyable day program, hopefully a means of earning some income for semi-independence. We will take these steps one at a time, always remembering how far we have come.

I pay tribute to the pioneers of Community Living. Without their unfaltering vision and steadfast effort to ensure full community inclusion, we would not be enjoying this special graduation. I also give thanks to the amazing team of school and community workers who have helped us all along the way; the team of peers from Girls Club who paint my daughter's nails and chat about boys and life. Above all I salute my darling daughter. To a very special grad: Well done!

Lorraine Ward

West Vancouver
© The Vancouver Sun 2006