First day of school for girl with disabilities offers lessons for classmates, parents
By
Mary Schmich, Chicago Tribune, Sept. 9, 2011
Dominika Tamley started school Tuesday.
That morning, despite the fused shoulders that limit the range of her short arms, Dominika managed to shrug her 5-year-old self into her giant new backpack and set out for the brave new territory of kindergarten. The backpack, covered with Disney princesses, was pink and purple, a match for her glasses, her socks and her hearing aids.
What are those pink things in your ears?
My hearing aids.
Why is your face like that?
This is the way I was born.
Dominika's mother, Karen Tamley, had prepared her daughter to meet such questions in school. Be direct, she counseled, keep it simple, move on.
Tamley might have picked up this advice from the Chicago Mayor's Office for People with Disabilities, where she is the...
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