Shortly after he returned from a disability convention in Orlando, Garrett Mayersohn, a wheelchair bound eighth-grader at Westglades Middle School in Parkland, wrote a letter to his school principal.
Gov. Charlie Crist, Garrett wrote, had signed a bill asking Florida public schools to recognize the first two weeks of October as disability history and awareness weeks. During that period, the school should offer programs that create awareness about disability among its students, he said.
Christine Flynn, the principal, and staff were only too willing to oblige.
“These are exciting times for us,” Flynn said. “All through this week, we have programs that create disability awareness. A lot of our clubs have embraced the idea. We are doing this for the first time but I’m sure this will become an annual tradition here. In the coming years, the scope will broaden further, too.”
Garrett, understandably, is a happy young boy. “I’m glad they are doing so much. People sometimes make fun of those with disabilities. Creating awareness will prevent that from happening. My friends treat me like a regular kid, but not every child with a disability is as lucky as I am.”
The commission has tried to bring in as many programs as it can for special needs children, Mayor Michael Udine said. “I am not surprised that Garrett took the lead in making this happen. He is an unbelievable kid and a very good friend. He is going to be a leader.”
Disability history has been largely ignored in curricula at the elementary, middle school and high school levels, said Robert Mayersohn, Garrett’s father. “This is a step in the right direction. Twenty-five years ago, there was a lot of segregation between kids with disabilities and mainstream children. Some schools even used to hide children with disabilities.”