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"I don't want to be labeled"

LABELED. The word majority of people fear. It has been brought up to me recently about how people have the fear to be labeled. I am in a psych class for the exceptional child and this topic came up last night. One big barrier for kids with special needs is there parents not wanting them to get help because they don't want their child to be "labeled". because of this the child suffers because he/she cannot get help and teachers have to be on their tip-toes to not offend the parent(s) or the child.

Don't get me wrong.. i feel for these parents. we live in a world that people need to be perfect and if you are not perfect then you failed. so for a parent to have a kid with a disability, they feel as if they did not do their job correctly. it is a hard truth and one that i know my parents and myself had to deal with. but what i want the parents to realize is it is their job to turn that label into a positive..

However, this brings me to another thought as to why I am going into the occupation of teaching special needs. i know what it is like to be labeled. "oh you know that student with the disability". or "that disabled student". i understand how frustrating it can be because it is never just the "student" or "nicole". that little add on is going to be there and is never going to go away. it's going to take time to realize that fact but i want my kids to know to never let that define you. accept that it is apart of who you are but you are worth way more . God created all of us with flaws and beauties. when i am in my future classroom my students will never hear me judge them by their disability for that is what they do not deserve.

we all have to face things we struggle with on a daily basis but the challenge and the hope is to see past that. Let me put something in perspective for you. the difference between you and I is that my struggle is on the outside. it would be like saying to you "oh you know that student who has an issue with cheating" or "that dumb lying student".

this whole issue reminds me of the verse in 2 Cor 12:9-10 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
this verse reminds me that God is with you in your weakness and will always be there to fight the enemies who like to attack your weakness like people who label me as being disabled. i find my worth through Jesus. he is the one that makes me strong. that has me stand up for myself and others like me so that the world can know that we deserve more than a label. we deserve a chance to show our beauty through our disability. Go ahead and call me "the person with the disability" BUT i will show you that i am so beyond that.

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