Field Trip Access-Denied

When I attended school. one of my favorite activities besides music class was going on field trips.

School field trips were fun because they typically involved going somewhere that was going to be exciting like a museum, pumpkin patch or to see a play.

The night before a field trip, I would pick out a special outfit to wear and talk about it all night long to my siblings, The Super Coopers. To say I was geeked to go on a school field trip is an understatement.

As a child, I would’ve been extremely hurt if I had arrived at school on the next day only to find out I couldn’t go on the field trip that I had been highly anticipating. I would have been even angrier if the reason that I couldn’t go on the field trip was because I had a disability.

This is where this post goes to the left.

In recent news, I learned a student was denied access of going on a field trip because he was autistic.

Now, some people may argue the point that, some with autism have behavior outburst and very low attention spans therefore they shouldn’t be allowed to go on field trips.

For others who are advocates like myself, I believe in full inclusion when it comes to going on field trips or any place else.

By no means am I naive to the fact that some people with autism have behavioral outbursts and low attention span, but so do others who aren’t autistic. This is a big world, and the one fit all notion, just doesn’t work for everyone. Therefore, we need to be creative in our attempt to make sure everyone is included.

You ask, what does that look like?

Perhaps, two paraprofessionals who the student knew well needed to accompany the student. Maybe, a parent, sibling, or relative should have gone on the field trip? Or maybe someone could’ve have taken the student on the field trip in the vehicle that he liked riding in or even a deal could’ve been made to offer a reward for good behavior when he returned. My point is sometimes there needs to be some out of the box thinking to accomplish full inclusion, but if it’s your mission, it can be done.

In my opinion, no child should be denied from going on a field trip unless it’s because the reason being is life threatening. At no time should a child be denied of going on field trip because he or she has a disability. That’s just absurd and discrimination to the highest form in my book.

So here we are. My question is, what can be done so this will never happen to another child? Things that tend to happen to you in your childhood tend to impact you later in life. Let us advocate to rectify situations like this so children will continue to forge towards their future with vision of possibilities instead of a bunch of roadblocks.