Children with Disabilities

4
PERSPECTIVE
From pioneer to advocate
for inclusion
By Nancy Maguire
Nancy Maguire is a disability
activist from the United Kingdom.
She is a qualified social worker but,
after travelling abroad, decided to
campaign for the rights of people
with disabilities, especially young
women. She has worked with
disabled people’s organizations
in Asia and Southern Africa, and
hopes to obtain a Master’s degree
in policy and development.
I was born in London in 1986
and have a condition called
osteogenesis imperfecta, commonly
known as brittle bones.
Many children with brittle bones
grow up protected – overprotected,
some might say – from
any possibility of hurting themselves.
My parents wanted me
to be safe, but they also wanted
me to have the opportunity to
play, make friends and lead as
normal a childhood as possible.
In the 1980s, inclusive education
was still a fairly new concept.
Like most parents of a disabled
child, mine were advised to
send me to a special school.
My mother is a teacher, and
after visiting the recommended
school she was convinced that
it would provide a substandard
education. My parents have
always used my older sister
Katy, who did not have a disability,
to gauge what is acceptable
for me: If they thought
something wasn’t good enough
for Katy, then it wasn’t good
enough for me.
I was the first child with a disability
to attend my primary
school, and in many ways I felt
like a guinea pig for inclusion.
For example, despite having a
positive attitude towards including
me in all aspects of school
life, my teachers lacked experience
in how to adapt physical
education so that I could get
involved in a meaningful way.
Like most childhoods, mine
wasn’t always easy. I spent a
lot of time in hospital, and even
within an ‘inclusive’ mainstream
education system, there were
times when I was excluded.
For example, I wasn’t allowed
to go to my nursery Christmas
party because the teachers were
worried I would break a bone.
THE STATE OF THE WORLD’S CHILDREN 2013: Children with Disabilities
Also, at high school they had a
separate table in the canteen for
children with disabilities and the
teachers could not understand
why I refused to sit at it. Despite
setbacks and obstacles, however,
I managed to flourish both
educationally and socially.
I was always encouraged to try
new things. My extracurricular
activities included swimming,
ballet, wheelchair tennis, drama
and singing. In many of these,
I was also the only child with a
disability. Interestingly, I often
found these groups more inclusive
than school in terms of
how much I could participate
and contribute. I felt wanted
and people found creative
ways for me to get involved.
Nonetheless, there were many
things I found difficult to do
because of my limited mobility.
I would sometimes feel upset
because I couldn’t do things as
well as the other children, and
as I grew older and more selfconscious,
I became reluctant to
put myself in situations where
my difficulties were on show.
In my teenage years a lot of my
friends went through phases
of being a ‘goth’ or a ‘rude
girl’, which involved dressing
or behaving in ways designed
to attract attention. Whilst they
were doing everything they