“This book gives me hope,” said Diane Mosley, mother of Spencer, a boy with significant disabilities similar to Mikayla. “It shows in simple terms that it is possible to welcome a student who uses a wheelchair, can not speak, and has medical issues. These kids welcome Mikayla.” But they didn’t always welcome Spencer. She fought for meaningful inclusion and encountered many more obstacles than welcome mats. Adults put up the barriers by their own beliefs (he couldn’t learn so why should he be here), their inexperience (how do you involve a student who can only communicate with a switch, and even that is not consistent?) and their own lack of creativity for providing modifications and accommodations. With tears in her eyes, Diane said, “this book says so eloquently what our dream was for our son.”

While the dream didn’t come true for Spencer, who died in 2006, it is real for Mikalya. Mikayla’s third grade classmates at Lower Nazareth Elementary School in Nazareth, Pennsylvania wrote and illustrated Our Friend Mikayla. It is an honest account of how a group of nine-year-olds discovered that at our core, we are more alike than different. On the first page they write, “She is in a wheelchair and has lots of disabilities. But that does not mean we cannot be friends. ”

This is a rare book. Rare because it comes from other children; not from adults telling them how to feel or act. It addresses the reality of more students with significant needs being included in regular classrooms. They acknowledge that when Mikayla first came to their class, they were afraid of her. They write, “we felt scared because we though Mikayla was different and not like a ‘normal’ kid.” But just like the rest of us have to learn how to interact with people with different ways of communicating and being in the world, they learned that there was nothing to be scared of. They learned this because wise and brave adults gave them information, opportunities, and held the expectation that they would figure it out. They did. They learned she was in a wheelchair because she had brain damage. They learned she like bright colors, American Idol, and shopping for clothes. They learned she can skate at Rollerway using her wheelchair.

“People were way too protective of Spencer,” Diane explains.” So he missed out on lots of opportunities. In this book, the kids figured out that she could be the pitcher in kickball by pushing the ball down a ball ramp. I would have loved to see that for Spencer.” People with significant disabilities are both easier and more difficult to include in regular classroom. Easier because it’s obvious they have limitations so others know they need help with most tasks. More difficult because it requires effort to find out who the person is, what they like, what they can do, and what is most helpful to them. Our Friend Mikayla is a wonderful resource for teachers. Reading about someone else who has a disability is a safe way to start a conversation.

This picture book, in its refreshingly matter-of-fact approach, gives readers a way to talk about fears, obstacles, similarities, and disabilities. How else can we converse about meaningful inclusion for those most impacted by their disabilities?

Our Friend Mikayla
Written and Illustrated by Mikayla’s Third-Grade Classmates The Bubel/Aiken Foundation, 2006
www.bubelaiken.org