A Gardener Of Sorts

I have always been a gardener of sorts. As an organization development consultant, I worked with management, and dug around in an organization’s history and culture to uncover its values.

When the organization’s early values were identified, we learned what members thought was important when the organization was formed. It proved valuable to examine implicit and explicit values before we implemented any long-lasting change. Often many of the existing values sustained their future.

But not always.

The organization chose which values to leave behind, and which to support their desired changes.

I'm digging again -- this time into the history of disability. Significant milestones made by courageous citizens have positively impacted children and adults. 

But is there more to be done? Undoubtedly.

For the past decade, I have bumped up against visible and invisible barriers as I parent my daughter with complex special needs. During my daughter’s early years, it was apparent her development was delayed. The winter before kindergarten started, my daughter’s special education team conducted evaluations that would provide her with an education label mandatory to get services.

Developmental cognitive delay (DCD) became the lens that people viewed our daughter through. It was common to hear lines like, "Well, kids with cognitive delays don’t ever...," and "Don’t hold high expectations for a child with a cognitive delay," and "Kids with cognitive delays are better off by themselves where there is not much pressure."

Over the years, a few educators did not begin a conversation with me until I disclosed her label. Some asked for the label before they asked for her name.

When working in organizations to unearth their culture, I said to employees, "If you come across something that gets in your way of implementing change and you're not sure what it is, you've probably found a deep rooted organizational value."

Only recently I have begun to understand what our family tripped over when we attempted to get our child the help she needed. This past summer, a speaker at a conference said that through his research on children with disabilities, the only group he found that was treated with less respect than the kids labelled with EBD (Emotional Behavior Disorder), were those labelled DCD (developmental cognitive delay).

As he stated his comment out loud, a knot formed in my stomach. It made perfect sense. My daughter is often treated differently than her peers. And sometimes as her family, we are too. It is common for people, who do not take the time to get to know her, to assume she has limited potential.

In order for people to look at all individuals and see what they can do rather than what they can't do -- what must still change?

Imagine for a moment a large group of people coming together -- a group comprised of families, medical practitioners, teachers, special educators, occupational, speech, and physical therapists, mental health professionals, clergy, personal care attendants, friends and concerned community members?

What if we use the internet as our meeting space?

What if we share conversations, and tell stories that exemplify advocacy, triumph and promise? Together we can broaden the definition of ability, and more effectively partner to nourish every child and adult to reach their potential. We can plant new roots into our culture that supports potential.

Please join me to create this vision through the use of this blog -- Seasons of Potential. The more voices we have involved, the more impact we can make. In addition to commenting on blog posts you can suggest topics, be a guest facilitator or recommend a resource (app, book, dvd, store, workshop, etc.) Just submit a completed form.

A culture takes concerted effort to change. It also takes time and patience. But with shared vision and focus, it can happen.

Our discussion starts as the leaves fall off the trees, and continues through the cycle of the seasons, to explore change and growth.

I look forward to hearing your voice.

--Allyson

This week's theme: Cultivating our culture for potential

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