One of my proudest moments in my time in this role as Specialist Teacher here at BOIC so far has been sitting to support one of our students to write and present to his class a special speech. Below you can read the speech - he has given me permission to share it (although I have changed the name) and I hope you learn something from it, as I sure did! An up and coming speaker in the future to watch out for!
Understanding Differences
Kia ora koutou katoa my name is Sam and I am in front of you to share a story. I am just like all of you... I am labeled by my gender - I’m a boy. I am labeled by my age - I am a teenager. I am labeled by what I do - I am a student. I am labeled by my place in the family - I am a son, I am also a brother. I have a couple of extra labels. I have Asperger's’ Syndrome and I have seizures.
Here’s the thing….I want you all to go away from my speech understanding that…..it’s ok to be different. We are all different. What it is not ok to do is to make fun of different peoples “labels” that they are given. Get to know people before you start judging them. If you got to know me you would know that I am not just a “white boy”, I have a strong and proud Whakapapa. I have Asperger’s Syndrome but I am not “stupid” or “dumb”. I'm not “weird” just because I can’t control my seizures. I’ve heard all this and more, it's enough!
People need education about this. And I'm here to give it
Let's start with my Asperger's… you may be thinking what really is Asperger's?
Asperger's is a difficulty that affects communication and social skills. It is part of the Autism Spectrum. The Autism spectrum or ASD affects communication (verbal and non verbal), social skills and behavior in different ways. There can be commonalities for students who have ASD, but they interpret the world differently to other students. I also have non epileptic seizures. Basically these seizures are brought on by stress and anxiety. It means the brain isn't coping with everything going on.
However this does not mean that they are not what you call “normal”. It also doesn’t mean that they are less intelligent.
In fact, you may recognize some of these names; they are some of the worlds most creative and intelligent people. Kanye West, a talented producer and musician, who struggled with epileptic seizures. Ed Sheeran, a successful and talented songwriter who overcame speech difficulties. Also, Bill Gates who is one of the most successful innovators and entrepreneurs of our modern time. Who has autism and was badly bullied.
I’m going to give you some examples of how I’ve been drowned in discrimination since an early age.
I can remember when I was in primary school, friends were hard to come by and if I did find some they usually didn’t stick around. This is because my Asperger’s was never understood. People didn’t know why I was different. They could see how I acted differently…..but no one understood why! My behaviour, like anger and violence was because of the anxiety I felt inside school. Anxiety over things that might not bother other people such as getting into groups for work. Often I was left with people looking at me with resentment or fear. This was a lonely feeling.
Fast forward to high school. I was excited and ready to start fresh at high school. But just before the new school year started I was put in the hospital for a week. I had started having seizures, and nobody knew why. There was no diagnosis and no real reason why, even though I had lots of tests. Not only was I worried about myself, but my mum and dad struggled seeing their son in a hospital bed with no answers. So I didn’t get to start school with everyone else. In fact, I was not allowed to come to school for a very long time. That made it so hard and frustrating for me. I was sick of being so different from everyone else. I just wanted to go to school and learn. This feeling once again...led to me becoming quite depressed. When finally I was able to join back at school normally, people still kept pointing out my seizures.
Basically, feeling bullied or judged or isolated has been a constant theme in my life up until now, and this has appeared in many different forms. To try to illustrate this let me tell you about culture. A lot of people assume that I am ‘white’. Which part of me is. And I’m not sorry about that. But by calling me ‘white’ in judgement is to deny and disrespect the other parts of my culture and identity.
Ko Poerua te maunga
Ko owhareiti to roto
Ko Tumatauenga te marae
Ko ngati Teara ngati kopaki te hapu
Ko nga Puhi te iwi
I'm not saying I’m innocent. I have made fun of people, I’ve judged people and I’ve been the bully myself. But I’m learning just like everyone else each day how to be a better me.
He aroha whakato, he aroha puta mai -
If kindness is sown then kindness you shall receive.
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