Voting Results

When I was 28 years old, I gave birth to my second son, who has Down syndrome. Having been a kindergarten teacher and reading specialist before my boys were born, I worried about Aidan's transition to school literally from the day the ultrasound tech noted soft markers for Down syndrome. I will never forget the first day I visited Frankie Lemmon School in Raleigh, NC.

That day, I saw children with intellectual disabilities, some who doctors said may never talk, not only talking and playing like their typical peers, but reading, working on computers, and playing musical instruments as well! The school's unusual student achievement is because of passionate, well-trained teachers, state of the art teaching materials and technology, a team of therapists that spend more hours with each child per week than at other schools, and the use of cutting-edge therapies such as pet therapy and music therapy.

Frankie Lemmon School gave me the gift of expectation; before visiting the school, I did not know that there was the possibility that my Aidan who could not yet walk or talk could one day sing, play an instrument, use a computer and read. My dream is to expand what is being done at FLS and to share what is being done with other teachers! If I were granted the IKEA Life Improvement Sabbatical Contest, I would devote the year to using my educational background to:

1. Expand the use of cutting-edge technology to teach language to the children with special needs at Frankie Lemmon School
2. To share the life-changing applications of technology in the education of children with special needs at Frankie Lemmon School with student teachers at local universities so that they may learn ways to use technology to teach their own special learners one day
3. Create and maintain a website sharing applications of technology in the teaching of children with special needs for all teachers to learn from what is being done at Frankie Lemmon school and to share their own ideas.