Inclusion! What's In It For Everyone?

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.