Feb 23

Circle of Friends

By Mike Boyd Classroom, Community, Micah's Story 1 Comment »
Mike Boyd

Mike Boyd

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.

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Feb 17

Through the Same Door

By Micah Fialka-Feldman Classroom, Micah's Story 2 Comments »
Micah Fialka-Feldman

Micah Fialka-Feldman

My name is Micah. I am 25 years old and I want to tell you about my life and my dreams.  In first grade I was in a special ed classroom because I had a cognitive disability.  I was not in the same room as my friends.  After about four months, I told my parents, “I want to go in the same door as my friends.”  That was my first dream for myself.

My parents listened to me. They helped me to get my dream to come true.  I was moved into the class where all of my friends were and I stayed with my friends all the way through high school.  It was cool. My friends helped me and we had fun. Sometimes they would write down what I wanted to say in my journal because I didn’t write. I had a great Circle of Friends and we did fun things together during recess and sometimes after school.  Some of them are still my friends now.  I got help from my teachers too.

In high school, I still went to the general ed classes.  I learned other ways to do some things. Because of my disability I don’t write. I have a lot of sight words, but I don’t read like most of my friends. I use special software like “screen reader” which reads whatever is on my computer screen. I also use Dragon Naturally Speaking ®. I talk into my microphone and the words I say go on the screen. I can read and send my own emails. I can learn a lot by using the computer. All kids like me should know about these things.

Since 5th grade I was a part of my IEP meetings (Individual Educational Planning). My friends would come for the first part to talk about what they thought I was learning.  Sometimes I did a power point of my dreams and what I wanted to learn in school.  It was cool to have my friends at the meeting because they had good ideas to help me. They didn’t stay for the whole meeting., they thought it was kind of boring!!!

In high school, my parents wanted me to run cross country. At first I didn’t like the idea, but I got use to it.  I could only run about a block in my freshman year. When I was a senior I ran 2 miles in 23 minutes.  I was proud….and tired.

I still learned a lot in high school. Sometimes I didn’t write a paper but I would interview someone on a topic and video tape it. I would give this to the teacher and it would be my paper.

I will tell you more about my life in another blog.  There is a lot to tell you. I travel all around the country to speak at conferences about my life and how other kids can be included in their schools. I tell teachers and parents to help the kids have big dreams.

micahff@aol.com

www.throughthesamedoor.com

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