One thing that I found to be super interesting was Ms. McManus's perspective on the students she works with. I noticed how she really sought them out to be a person first, she did not identify them as their disability just like we learned in class. I enjoyed being able to hear from her perspective of the story with the principle and her students who was blind. The principle was astonished at the fact that she was able to walk up and down the stairs, and Ms. McManus took it as an insult because he does not going around saying that to other stunts but because she was blind he did so, and she wants her students to be treat just as any other student in the school would be. She treats her students like they are typical students and has expectations for them that are reasonable but she does not give them any pity.The way she speaks about her students, not using 'normal' but 'typical' when talking other students is really fascinating because you don't see many teacher taking these precautions. And because of this, she is automatically setting her students up for success.
I can understand her frustration with the principle, but I also think that it could have just been a first-time natural reaction of being surprised or excited for the student being able to navigate the stairs so well. I agree with Ms. McManus that is extremely important to treat the students like typical students but that is not a "natural" action and will take practice if you don't work in that field or around individuals with deficits. It is a human reaction to want to be respectful of a person's deficit initially, especially when you don't know them personally, but I think it takes practice for a person to understand that the person will ask for help if they need it.
I really resonated with her response to the principal, while I'm sure it came from a good place it could have the impact of being belittling and insensitive to that student. It's important that as a society we remove the stigma and discomfort that many people struggle with when they haven't interacted with a person with disabilities before. I think it's also important to engage the student's themselves in these conversations and let them set the standard of respect, although this should not be their job. Ms. McManus's expectations and goals for her students gives them an opportunity to challenge a lot of the stigma that surrounds disability and prove them all wrong. I loved how intentional Ms. McManus was with her language, it showed that she really cared about her students so much so that she would go the extra step to challenge her own thinking and perspective and to forever commit to growing and bettering herself so she can best serve her students.
I found this interesting, as well as she, talked about her students graduating with those in their class just like how her kids would have instead of being the so-called "normal" being in class till they are 21. That success factor is amazing how she does this in a way to advocate to show that students who have a disability or even adults when she talked about them briefly that they should not be treated any different from those that are 'typical'. It gets those kids to believe in the future that they can do anything they put their mind to. I love especially on that point when she talks about the race car driver and how he wants to be a blind man to go 200mph I hope he accomplishes that goal. As that will inspire those not only with a disability but everyone that you put your mind to something you can do it. Great discussion!