Day 12: Special Education

Today instead of the normal routine, we were asked to visit a special education school an hour away in the rural town of Tesquisquiapan (everyone say it with me: Tes-kees-kee-uh-pan). I had the impression that it was because they needed support, but it was quite the opposite- the school is an example of what a school for children with special populations could and should be both here and in other countries. The students were grouped by developmental level primarily, so that children who were able to gain literacy skills could be grouped together while those with more severe disabilities were together. There were more support staff as well. The impressive part of the school was the vocational aspect. The older children began with pre-vocational schools (called "taller", like shop, or workshop), where they made beaded necklaces or prepared bags of seeds or candy. They then moved to cooking and computer classes, as well as housekeeping. The school was unique in that it had a complete house built on site, fully furnished, that the students cleaned and cared for. The oldest students studied cosmetology or carpentry. Along the way, the students developed their language and math skills so that someday they could (if their cognitive skills allowed) sell their products themselves.

My experience with special education in the United States for students with moderate to severe disabilities, while at elementary and middle school levels, indicates that we focus on "life skills", skills needed to be independent such as telling time, counting money, cooking, cleaning, and generally taking care of oneself. While I don't deny the importance of these things, I was so impressed at how the students I saw today were able to build skills to someday hold a job, and I don't know that we do enough of that in the US. I need to learn more about high school programs to truly compare, but it was really a pleasure to watch these children and adolescents. At the end, we were treated to delicious food from the cooking class, bracelets and chocolate from the pre-taller, and beautiful key holders from the carpentry class.

After the visit we had lunch and shopped the markets of the town (daily photo below, this one of the church in the main plaza). I am now resting up for my big weekend trip to Mexico City. The blog will likely be on hiatus until I return, because there will be so much to do, and I am not expecting to have internet access at my hotel. I am excited beyond words for tomorrow, when I get to visit one of the great ancient pyramids, Teotihuacan. Hasta pronto, see you soon!