them self-determinant but teaching society that people with disabilities have the right to be self-determinant. “Te Brehm scholarship
gave me the confidence that I had made the right deci- sion in terms of going back to school. I was doing very well jobwise, and it was hard to give that up. Tere were a lot of times, particularly in the first year, when I thought maybe I should just go and get another job.”
University, then set academ- ics aside to become a work- ing wife and mother. Aſter a series of personal challenges, including a divorce, she recalibrated her course and is now nearing her master’s. She talks about her affec- tion for the program, her own struggles in school as a youngster, and how being a Brehm scholar in 2010-11 was a game-changer in her academic career. “I promised myself a re-
J
ally long time ago I was going to get my doctorate degree. When I got married, I kind of put all those things on the side. Tat changed aſter I went through a divorce; I needed a way to take care of everyone and have a job where I was a helper and still be a mom and pay the bills. It’s divine intervention that I’m here. It’s an absolutely great program. All the profes-
22 Eastern | FALL 2011
ulie Bennet received a degree in psychology from Central Michigan
sors that I’ve interacted with have always made me feel like a person, not someone they need to spend time with be- cause it’s part of their job. “I was in special read-
ing classes throughout elementary school, always two rooms behind. When I finally did learn to read, I brought as many books home from the library as they’d let me. I love to read now. If you set a goal or set a plan, you’re the only one that can make it happen. “I was thinking of doing
the thesis but didn’t think I would have the time or the ability to make myself ac- countable or the know-how to get started. Te Brehm scholarship enabled me to be accountable to do what I wanted to do and gave me a tool to set that up and do it, actually do it. It’s still sur- real, in many, many ways. Being able to do research on something you are inter- ested in kind of makes you own your education again. Eventually, I will have the PhD that I promised myself in sixth grade. “Te Brehms are amaz-
ing, down-to-earth, caring, loving people. Tey’re like an extra pair of grandpar- ents. Tey’re really inter- ested in you and what you’re doing and your story.”
M
ichael Peacock bounced around from Michigan
to Alaska to Seatle to
Florida, sampled a variety of disciplines, and was an administrative assistant at the University of Michigan- Dearborn before realizing that special education was his calling. He’s a student teacher at Lincoln Consolidated Schools in Ypsilanti, working on a chapter in an upcoming book, nearing completion of his master’s, and just began his year as a Brehm scholar. He talks about how his own story influenced his commitment to a holistic
of all the kids who haven’t been labeled who might be eligible for special ed but haven’t goten on some- one’s radar for some reason: maybe they’re female, maybe they’re white, maybe their parents are influential in some way. “It’s all a mater of who
decides who gets what, so education as a whole should be meant to benefit all of the students. I don’t see why there has to be a distinction between I have a degree in special ed and you don’t. A
I think of all the kids who haven’t been labeled who might be eligible for special ed but haven’t gotten on someone’s radar.
view of education. “I might have a different
perspective on education than most teachers. For me, it’s teaching kids how to nav- igate the world, not just how to play the game but what the game is. If you think about disabilities in terms of being a social construction, we create the story, and the story is what normal behav- ior is. So how I see my job is to let these kids know what they’re dealing with. “I think I have a unique
perspective because I’ve gone through a lot of those things. I dropped out of high school and got my GED. In my early days, I had a serious drug and alcohol problem. I have a bipolar label. I think
lot of what we learn could be helpful for any teacher. If you’re a general education teacher, you think, ‘I don’t have the patience for that’ or ‘You know how to do that and I don’t,’ so even before a kid walks into a room, there’s a schism. Tat doesn’t make sense to me. “From Phil Smith, my
conception of special education completely f lip-f lopped. Initially, I saw it in the way that most people do, which is, ‘Oh, I have to help these people, I have to have the patience.’ And I’ve since learned that teaching is teaching, good teaching is good teaching, and there shouldn’t be a difference.” 3
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