These Wheels of Change: A Special Education Memoir

By Dawn Lucan

Dawn Lucan, an educator, athlete, Autism Activist, and Special Education activist with eighteen years of experience, has done a variety of things throughout life. She has been an educator, athlete, and volunteer. The one role that she has played in life that she cherishes the most in memories are of her volunteer days since she focuses on Special Education or educating disabled children's issues. As a former Special Education student herself in the 1970s and 1980s, she has an interesting perspective on both helping parents through her outreach. Come walk with her through her life of how Special Education has helped her and how it influenced her into her path today!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Feb 6, 2015
• ISBN: 9781312898042

Book preview

These Wheels of Change: A Special Education Memoir

These Wheels of Change:

A Special Education Memoir

Dawn Lucan

Copyright © 2015, Dawn Lucan

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored, or transmitted by any means—whether auditory, graphic, mechanical, or electronic—without written permission of both publisher and author. Unauthorized reproduction of any part of this work is illegal and is punishable by law.

These Wheels of Change: A Special Education Memoir

ISBN 978-1-312-89804-2

Other Books by Dawn Lucan available through Lulu

Practical I.E.P. Manual

Practical Autism Manual

Practical Learning Disabilities Manual

Practical Rare Syndromes Manual

Practical Learning Disabilities Manual

Practical Down Syndrome Manual

Practical I.E.P. Manual

Introduction

I never thought of writing a biography until someone mentioned it to me several times within the past few months. I never thought of my life was interesting to begin with at all. If I picked up a biography, my life would seem too unbelievable given my background that it had ever happened in someone’s life.

I have been a Special Education advocate trainer and activist for eighteen years now. I have always enjoyed impacting people’s lives for the better with my knowledge of both the student’s side and the educator’s side of Special Education. I have to warn you that being an activist takes a lot of time and effort to get a movement noticed and growing. I had some lucky chances that helped it grow in the early years of the internet. To you, it may seem that it is easier to do, but it is easier said than done at times.

I have had many job titles in the past which were both paid and volunteer work. The most enjoyable and most fulfilling work that I have ever done was through my volunteer work. I love my volunteer work most of all because I have touched many lives since I started in 1996. It is when I started working with parents of disabled children besides educators in hopes of improving knowledge of Special Education. I never dreamed that it would lead to so many directions in my life and helping many lives since then throughout the country and eventually the world.

Until recently, I only thought famous people or world leaders of some form would write their own autobiographies to which people would be interested in them. It was not until I started reading my latest selected book from the local public library that I became interested in writing this book more. When I thought about it, I had a feeling other people would be interested in it.

I must remind you that throughout this book that my school experiences take place during the 1970s and 1980s. Much has changed since I attended school on both laws and school policies regarding Special Education placement. It may seem from my family’s experience that my classroom and school placements would be easy. I can tell you from working with many different families since 1996 that some classroom placements are easier than others in obtaining now.

I do have my frustrations with the Special Education system today. However, the problems are lessening as newer teachers are entering into teaching, and the teacher training system has improved over time.

Teacher training in colleges has adapted for the times with Special Education classroom placement. I must mention that I did graduate with a degree in Elementary and Early Childhood Education. However, I did study at one time Special Education at a suggestion of my college advisor since I could not get into my first choice of education majors. My first choice was actually Secondary Social Studies Education, but it was very competitive. I am thankful for her advice to this day.

My life has had many different influences and mentors. Some of these experiences have been good and bad at the time. However, it has shaped me into the person who I am today. I would not exchange these experiences for anything at all. I can tell you at times that these experiences have made me a better person in the end.

I will not in this book mention any particular names or families I have encountered throughout my life journey in this book. I have chosen from the start of my journey as both a Special Education activist and advocate trainer to keep these things private. I can tell you from personal experience that some of these stories would not be believable even if I mentioned them to you. It is because I have come across some really horrific stories from families when things go wrong in the education system. Besides, I do respect other people’s privacy.

Throughout this book, I will share both my experiences in life and some of the lessons I learned from them. Sometimes, I learned the lesson fast after thinking about it while other times that it took a few minutes to a couple months at other times.

To me, life is always a journey because you will never know where it will take you at times. I hope you enjoy my journey through life from reading this book. There is much to learn from my experiences, and I hope I expand your horizons through it.

Dawn Lucan

The Early Years

From my earliest memories, I remember being different than the others in my interests and how other people treated me. My favorite early memory was of a storm coming in with lightning, and I was watching it from the sidewalk near my family’s townhouse. It was beautiful, but it was still a distance away from where I lived at the time.

I attended preschool like the others in my suburban neighborhood. I went to one highly recommended by my neighbors in fact. It was a very close neighborhood to say the least.

My first school memory happened in first grade. I was attending a local public elementary school. I was supposed to have an experienced Special Education teacher with years of experience and instead I was assigned to a first year teacher due to increased enrollment in the Special Education program. My parents were disappointed to say