08 Aug Dream Big, Plan Smart: Creating Better Post-School Pathways for Students with Disability
Marlena Katene, a recent Year 12 student living with cerebral palsy, believes that every young person deserves more than just a plan — they deserve a dream. In this powerful first-person piece, she shares how a future shaped by inclusion, support and belief can change everything for students with disability.
A Harsh Glimpse of Reality
The other day I met a 34-year-old man and he told me about his job. It was a job that sounded fairly tough to me. He left home early, as he had to catch a bus, and spent all day packing up boxes and organising them in crates to be taken away each day by couriers. It sounded like a fairly boring job, but he seemed to like it. Where he worked was not a nice air-conditioned office with new computers and fancy artwork on the walls. It was a hot shed with the fans blasting, with approximately 120 workers and people working at wooden tables. He went on to tell me that for a 36-hour working week he would earn $5.20. I wondered if this working arrangement was where the term ‘sweat shop’ came from. You see, this man had Down syndrome and he works in a sheltered workshop.
Facing My Own Future
I am a recent Year 12 student and, like all senior students, I was excited, but also a little scared, about the future. I was scared because I heard stories like this man’s all the time. I have cerebral palsy and am non-verbal. I use facilitated communication, and an electric wheelchair to get around in.
The Power of Support and Early Inclusion
A few years ago, I attended a workshop on post-school options and knew I was one of the lucky ones. I realised that due to my family (mainly my mother) and friends, I would have a positive future, despite my having cerebral palsy.
Starting with a Dream — Even a Crazy One
As a young child, I attended a ‘mainstream’ school from the beginning, and this mainstream education has continued through to my senior schooling. I used to love going to school and dressing up in home corner with the other children. I remember dressing up in a nurse costume all the time – it was my favourite. I had one at home as well, and remember that as a child I dreamt of being a nurse when I grew up. Could you imagine it? A patient would walk in needing a simple needle and end up leaving with stitches or a needle being removed from their eye. Even as crazy as it seemed, my family never laughed at this dream. The planning for my post-school future had started the day I walked into the classroom.
Mainstreaming is More Than a Policy — It’s a Belief
This is why so many parents of children with a disability fight for what is known as ‘mainstream education’ for their children. For a parent or caregiver of a regular, healthy child, I am sure that Year 12 and beyond would be the last thing on their mind as they watch their child begin their schooling. My mother knew I would never be a nurse, but she had a dream. She followed up this dream with a plan that I would receive an education. She decided that I would learn in the same manner as my classmates and that my schooling would not be about filling in my time with ‘programs’. She dreamt that my future would be better than that of people with disabilities in the past. It was because of my mother that I can now look forward to working on having a great career after school.
Real Learning, Not ‘Programs’
Because I have cerebral palsy, there are certain things my body will not allow me to do. I have always been ‘mainstreamed’ and some of the teachers I had in the past could not see how I would ever get a job. Some of these teachers offered ‘programs’ as alternatives to regular schoolwork; for example, a shopping program instead of going to my maths class. If they had shared my mother’s dream this would never have happened.
Friends Make All the Difference
All parents need to start dreaming from the moment their children are born. Dream like there is no tomorrow, and be creative. Get to know the community. Children with disabilities need able-bodied friends. Friends like these are the key to success. They are the future work colleagues, employers or even employees of people with disabilities. Without my able-bodied friends, I would not be able to run the jumping-castle business I currently own.
Looking Forward with Confidence
It has been great to see that schools can cater to diverse needs. There were many ways in which I achieved my final-year certificate and I achieved it just like my peers. My disability is one part of my life and, unless there is some miracle, I will have it for the rest of my life. It does affect certain things in my life, but I still have dreams and goals. My life will not be about programs, and it saddens me when I hear stories of educational facilities offering these instead of the real opportunities I have had.
Dream First — Then Plan
It is hard to believe that mainstream education for people with disabilities has been around for more than 20+ years. The way I see it is that even if you took all people with a disability out of the classroom, you would still have a diverse group of people. I would love to see people think more like my mother about post-school options for children with a disability. I do not mean that I want them to be planning which university they are going to, or which career they are going to choose, as that is impossible. What I mean is to start with the dream. From there, develop a plan, believe in yourself and be around people who will share your dreams and help you to achieve them.
Illustrations by Rosalie Street
