Inclusion & Friendships

When Kayla got home from school today and emptied her backpack there was a nice, pink, zippered pencil-case holder with pencils in it. It wasn't one I recognized; I knew it wasn't one that I sent her to school with at the beginning of the school year. I wondered if she lost hers or something, and her teacher replaced it with this one. I thought maybe Kayla accidentally stuck it in her backpack when it was supposed to stay in her desk.

I asked Kayla who gave her the pencil case and she kept saying "Skyler." When I asked her "why" she couldn't give me an answer. 

Then I noticed the pencils. They were new, not sharpened, and had new eraser tops on them. Upon closer inspection I saw that they were those personalized pencils you can buy in a package. The name on them: Kayla.


She still kept saying Skyler gave it to her; I was still confused as to why.

Then Joe discovered the note in Kayla's backpack. I was hoping her teacher might have sent a note explaining the pencil case. But the note wasn't from her teacher. It was written in bright orange marker. One side said, "Love Skyler. To Kayla."

This was written on the other side, "Kayla I love you. You are the friend I ben looking for. I was looking for a kind friend. A soaring friend. A BFF. My BFF."

To receive something so out of the blue like this from one of Kayla's classmates/friends absolutely touched my heart. Not just that she thought enough of Kayla to give her the pencils/pencil case too, but a heartfelt, genuine note of acceptance and love and friendship from the goodness of Skyler's heart.

This is what I hope for when I sit in an IEP meeting and say I want my daughter to spend the majority of her school time included in the general ed classroom. The chance to develop true, genuine, friendships. For typical kids to see "Kayla" and realize the potential for friendships.

Yes, I had to hold back the tears.