Bella Roumain

4/14/22
ED 242/Meyer

Social Imagination

Everyone faces challenges in all aspects of life, and how we cope with these struggles makes us
who we are. Society is constantly evolving to become more and more accepting of our differences. We are
all unique and these differences are what make us stand out. My mom always told me, "life would be
really boring if we were all the same." As a kid, I didn't really understand how impactful this was, but
now I think about it on a daily basis. She is legally blind and lives with a recessive eye-disease. One time
I asked her if she wishes she was born without the disease, and she said that she would never want to give
it up. Even though, it makes her life a lot harder because she struggles with facial recognition,
transportation, and technology, she said that it has made her a better problem-solver because she's
constantly brainstorming accommodations. Also, she said the best thing to come out of it is that she sees
the good in everyone. For example, if anyone sees her walking home from Target with arms full of
groceries, more likely than not, someone from our community pulls over to offer her a ride. Our
differences are what contribute to the diversity and variety in our society, and we shouldn't try to hide
them.
While reading Wonder, I realized that our society still has a long way to go in regard to
acceptance. This wasn't my first time reading this book, but I definitely read it through a different lens this
time. Instead, I read it from an educator's perspective. It is about a boy named August Pullman who has a
facial deformity. He was homeschooled by his mom until he was in 5th grade. The transition between the
bubble at home and the realities of a "real" school was really difficult. He has a very strong family support
system who shelters him. It was also interesting to read the perspectives of the people in his life and how
his struggles directly affected their daily life.
When he started going to school, he immediately wanted to quit because of the social interactions.
His peers didn't treat him with respect and he struggled to make friends. The Cheese Touch chapter, his
peers avoided touching him. For example, in science class, "He moved his foil off the plate hust as my
powder began to melt too, which is why I went to move mine off the plate, and then my hand accidentally
bumped his hand for a fraction of a second. Tristan jered his hand so fast he dropped his foil on the
floor…" (72). It was difficult to read at some points because we're all human, and no one deserves to
experience bullying.
Auggie is brillant. He excelled at school, he was given a gift. However, his peers question his
abilities because they say that he's never been to a "real school." In the beginning, he kept to himself and
his goal was to make it through the school day. As the school year progressed, he made a couple of
friends named Summer and Jack Will. He was attacked on the 5th grade field trip by older students;
however, there was a silver lining. The other kids in his grade stood up for him, and after that experience,
everyone was more friendly toward him and spent more time together.
Auggie is very fortunate to have a loving and caring family who is dedicated to making sure that
he is happy and successful. He faces a lot of challenges socially which indirectly affects his education. He
was homeschooled for his whole life until 5th grade, and he didn't have much peer interaction because the
other kids were "afraid" of him.
It is sometimes forgotten how important social interaction is especially in elementary and middle
school. Lev Vygotsky's Socio-Cultural Theory says that children learn a significant amount from their
peers, camp counselors, members of the community, school staff, etc. There is only so much a child can
learn in a classroom because application to the real world has limitations. Learning from the environment
helps student build their self-esteem and gain confidence. Additionally, it teaches children how to learn to
trust outside their family. These are all things that Auggie had never really experienced before going to
school which made his adjustment very difficult. It was interesting to read about Auggie's perspective on
life because I haven't experienced the same things. His story was an amazing representation of the
importance of the community at school. The family always follow the child into the school and
communication is key to a student's success. Creating a safe and supportive classroom environment is one
of my biggest goals because students learn best when they feel comfortable to fully express themselves.
I also read Neurodiversity in the Classroom by Thomas Armstrong, a non-fiction book that
focused on how individuals with neurodiversities succeeded in the classroom. Going into this class, I
didn't have much background information about neurodivergent individuals, but, now I have a solid
foundation about the subject. This book taught me about Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder,
Autism, Intellectual Disabilities, and Emotional and Behavioral Disorders. The one thing that they had in
common was that they all heavily depend on trusting relationships. They really need someone who can
encourage them and teach them that mistakes and failures are learning opportunities. This is what Auggie
struggled with. He isn't neurodivergent; however, he needs close relationships that he can depend on
because he faces difficult social situations. It's also important for neurodivergent individuals to find a
positive role model who has a similar condition. Those role models show them that they are capable of
achieving great triumphs despite their differences. For example, "One of the most important ideas for
students with learning disabilities to understand is that there are many individuals out there in the real
world like them who have become successful in spite of (or perhaps because of) their condition" (32).
This section stood out to me because I had never thought about the benefits of celebrities being open
about their struggles.
 Students with learning disabilities can have an Individualized Education Program (IEP) which
connects the student, school, and parents to come up with a plan to help the student in the classroom.
Most of the time, this involves accommodations. Students with accommodations complete assignments or
tests in a slightly different way that makes more sense to them. When Mr. Tushman invites Julian, Jack
Will, and Charlotte, who have been at Beecher Prep for a long time, to tour Auggie around to his classes
is a scene that helps Auggie start school. The purpose was to acclimate him to school before the first day.
I think it's cool how Mr. Tushman really helped Auggie feel comfortable at school. He wasn't mentioned a
lot in the middle of the book, but I could tell that he was always watching over Auggie. Each and every
student needs help with something different as we all are different in our ways.
These two books offered two different perspectives that helped me develop my knowledge about
neurodivergent individuals and those who are discriminated against based on the way they look. In my
Canva poster, I picked the most significant ideas from both Wonder and Neurodiversity in the Classroom
in bubbles that float around the student in the middle to demonstrate that those are important to a student's
success. I feel more prepared as a future educator to individually welcome all students into my classroom
and embrace their differences to enhance our environment.
 Sources

Palacio, R.J. Wonder. Penguin Random House, 2014.

Armstrong, Thomas. Neurodiversity in the Classroom. Genny Ostertag, 2012.