In my senior year of high school, all of my friends were talking about college. I would hear them say things like, “I got into the University of Michigan.” I realized that I wanted to be able to say that I got into college, too. I thought it would be a cool experience to be a college student. [In 2005], a new program started at Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan, for people with developmental disabilities. It was started by a few very caring people who thought outside the box. They are my parents, teachers, university people and me. It’s called Oakland University Transition.
My first day of college was a bit scary, but I got used to it. Overall, the transition was fun and exciting, and I had a good teacher who helped me make my dream to go to college come true. I take two buses to the campus and sometimes get a ride home with a friend. In the Oakland University Transition program, students like me take two to four classes and do volunteer job training exercises at the Lowry Childhood Education Center and the student radio station, WXOU. I also work at the Student Activities Center. We’re also involved with the recreation and social stuff on campus. I still have an IEP, and I have meetings at the end of every year, just like I did in high school.
When I was a second semester senior in high school, I was definitely ready to move on to life after high school. I was ready to be out. When the school social worker asked me if I wanted to earn a half-credit by being a peer tutor for a tenth grader who had a cognitive disability and was included in the general education science class, I gladly accepted. Truthfully I wanted a blow-off class, and this definitely sounded like a great option.
My responsibilities were to assist Micah in reading and writing. It took some time for me to understand exactly what that meant. When I would read from the textbook, he would get bored easily and his eyes would wander out the window. As time went on, I realized that Micah was not really absorbing much of the material. He needed something else to stimulate his mind. Thus, I began using real-life examples and talking about science and how it relates to our everyday life. If we were talking about velocity in science class, I talked about the speeding cars in the school parking lot. If we were talking about solids, liquid, and gas, we went to the drinking fountain and let the water run over our hands. Micah began to understand the basic concepts of science as we know them today. As time when on, I realized that I was not just teaching Micah, but rather Micah was also teaching me. Micah was challenging me to learn about him and the ways he comprehended the material.
Although my sole focus in the beginning of the semester was to assist Micah in science class, I began to learn about Micah as a person. We began to spend time together outside of class. I began learning that Micah had the same needs as me and that we shared a lot in common, especially sports (Go Pistons!). This might sound strange, but I believe that when kids with disabilities are not included and actively participating in school, general-ed students never learn how to develop relationships with them. You get a very narrow picture of who they are. They are just the “spec ed” kids. They are just labels – someone you might say “hi” to, but that’s about it.
Being with Micah opened my eyes and I guess my heart, too. I now know how important it is to get to know the person. To start from a place that recognizes that all human beings share the desire to have friends and hang out. I learned that you can only become friends over time, over conversation, and being involved in real activities.
I am reminded of an incident during one school year when a new student arrived and was not only new to the district, but also new to the culture of the United States, having lived in a different country prior to moving here. The Circle of Friends befriended him and asked him to join their meetings and activities. It was this group of youth that helped him feel welcomed in a new environment. This was a wonderful example of taking the term “special needs” to a new dimension…I think that these young people understand that there are many forms of special needs that need to be addressed and nurtured.
I moved to suburban Detroit from out of state toward the end of fifth grade, when I was ten years old. I found myself as the much maligned new kid amongst 75 or so children who’d been together since kindergarten. What easily could have meant disaster for my self-esteem instead became a love affair with my new friends. I was almost immediately embraced, welcomed, and included by Micah and his peers, a group known as the Circle of Friends.
It turns out that being the new kid is a blessing in disguise. I’m sure Micah at the time thought little of what he had done. But look, that’s the whole point! To him I was merely a new friend. A quick display of friendliness and compassion on his part meant the entire world to someone else, that being me. I won’t ever forget that day…Circle of Friends more than opened my eyes; it opened my heart and opened my mind.
I no longer see the world the way I used to see it. No more cool kids and weirdos or jocks and dorks. No more retards. Micah, his family and his circle have taught me to view and accept people as individuals without classifications. Just because someone stutters doesn’t mean they aren’t worthy of conversation. A blind man would certainly enjoy being read aloud to. Someone who can’t run so fast may still get satisfaction from being a member of a track and field team. A child who has poor penmanship could well be a magnificent writer. Luckily, the standards by which society measures people are evolving, if ever for the better…
Thanks to Micah and his Circle of Friends, I feel as though I am a better friend, a better person, leading a better life.
I met Micah in the first grade, and that day we met will stick out in my mind for the rest of my life. You see, my desk was kitty-corner to Micah’s, and Katie’s (still one of my best friends today) was right next to his.
One day we were all sitting there at our desks, and Micah got sick, real sick. It ended up on his desk, my desk, Katie’s desk and so on; I think you get the point. Just about every single person in the class started laughing and saying “sick, ughh,” but I didn’t. At that time I had absolutely no clue who Micah was, but that was not the point. I didn’t know Micah had what some may call a disability or wasn’t able to read or write like most of us were learning, to me he was just like everyone else. To this day I feel the exact same way, he is just like everyone else…different.
No, Micah can’t read as fast as you can, but when you read something to Micah he will remember it better than you will. That is what I wanted to explain my whole entire life to people who look differently at Micah. They see this kid, and some just don’t want to give him a chance, but Micah has made me want to succeed. My whole life he has looked up to me, acted like me, and in no way could I ever let him down.
After first grade we didn’t really meet again until third grade when Circle of Friends was started. Circle of Friends was an after-school program created to give students an opportunity to interact with Micah. Each year a different group got to hang out together, but each year is was the same idea, to have fun. We did many things such as community service, visited a local tv news broadcast station, went to sports events, and so on. We met at least one time a week after school to discuss with the school social worker things we felt Micah was doing good with and things we felt he needed to work on. After the talk we went on to eat, play, and have fun with one another.
In my senior year of high school, all of my friends were talking about college. I would hear them say things like, “I got into the University of Michigan.” I realized that I wanted to be able to say that I got into college, too. I thought it would be a cool experience to be a college student. [In 2005], a new program started at Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan, for people with developmental disabilities. It was started by a few very caring people who thought outside the box. They are my parents, teachers, university people and me. It’s called Oakland University Transition.
This blog is written/edited by SpecialQuest community members and does not necessarily reflect the perspectives of SpecialQuest Birth-Five or funders. 
