Representation Matters – Especially at the Holidays
Written by Jennifer Reese
NOVA-Regional Network Coordinator
Center for Family Involvement
I know it’s an unpopular opinion but I absolutely hate yard inflatables as Christmas decorations. Now I am not a Scrooge and I have a ton of Christmas/Holiday spirit. We decorate and I have many cute or pun-y Christmas shirts and even some leggings. I often joke that it’s not really Christmas in the Reese house until it looks like Christmas threw up on my 15 year old daughter and her wardrobe.
This year I caved on my yard inflatable boycott but for the best possible reason. In early November, I started to see on Social Media that Wal-Mart had an inflatable Santa with an elf in a wheelchair.
I immediately jumped on it and bought it. I shared it on Facebook and many of my friends with kids who use wheelchairs bought it too. We were all so excited to have a display to put outside our houses that supports and represents our kids.
It’s not the 1960s anymore. People with disabilities live in your community and go to school with your kids. They aren’t shipped off to an institution and hidden away. We try to do a lot of fun family activities at the holidays and Christmas lights are one of my daughter’s favorites.
My kid is not going to be in the holiday band performance or chorus concert. But there are things we enjoy as a family. Our little town has a Christmas parade supported by local businesses and features little league and sports teams, girl scouts and boy scouts, dance and cheer organizations and the High School Band. A friend is a Tuba player and introduced us to “Tuba Christmas” a few years ago. It’s a concert with Tuba’s and other brass instruments that come together and play holiday favorites and carols. We also enjoy some of the drive thru Christmas light displays.
We were lucky that the organization “A Kid Again” sponsored families like ours to attend Winterfest at the Kings Dominion amusement park. We received free tickets and were even able to bring my daughter’s aide. They went ice skating and let my daughter’s wheelchair go on the ice, we decorated cookies with Mrs. Claus and got to enjoy the park, the lighted displays, the concerts and shows, and some of the rides.
So some of our Christmas traditions look different than other peoples and we can sometimes be limited by accessibility but we aren’t about to keep our daughter home and not let her enjoy holiday activities and time in the community.
Categories Inclusiveness, Representation