The Wizard of Oz and the Assumption Trap

by Don C. Johnston
Excerpted from Don’s Presentation at Texas Cluster, Region 10 ATCC08 Conference, July 2008

This summer I attended a play for AAC users in Minnesota at Camp Courage. They put on the play The Wizard of Oz. It was really amazing to see kids all dressed up in costume and makeup using their AAC devices to speak the lines of the Wizard of Oz. I had forgotten the story line at first, but then it all came back to me: The Scarecrow had no brain. The Tinman had no heart. The Lion had no courage. The wizard was thought to have magical powers.

These were all false assumptions about the characters’ abilities defined by others and believed by self. In the end, The Wizard of Oz was a play about correcting false assumptions about people.

In the course of the play the Scarecrow had several good ideas. The Tinman really did care and the so-called ‘Cowardly’ Lion displayed infinite courage. And, of course, the Wizard was exposed as a fraud, but finally was able to use logic to get Dorothy back home.

So much of what we do as AT professionals is about using technology to correct false assumptions. As a student, I was unable to decode words. (Many of you know that I didn’t become a reader until 9th grade.) I was defined as slow, dumb, lazy, stupid, unmotivated, a troublemaker, - you name the label, I got it.

What changed over the years is now we have labels that allow us to define kids such as learning disabled, ADD, autistic, behavior disorder, and countless other terms you might use in your state. The problem with labels is that we use them to lower our expectations. Just like in the Wizard of OZ, our assumptions get in the way of truly seeing a person’s capability and potential.

When I wrote Building Wings— my book about how I overcame my learning issues in school—I never dreamed that I’d have so many students writing to me about their learning issues. We have received close to 1000 letters!

Below is just one example.

From Victor:

Dear Mr. Don Johnston:
I’m glad that you finally had a super teacher that taught how to read. You must have been so happy. I could only read a little bit but now I have a wonderful teacher, named Wendy.
Wendy and the teacher assistants have helped me. I am a better reader. I liked your book because it was a good story and kind of like my story. I hope that I can be successful like you when I get older.

Sincerely, Victor

Good Teaching and Technology Can Make the Difference!

I am very touched by these letters from students! Each one who sent a letter received a signed copy of my book; my way of saying “thank you”. Every letter was expressive of a student’s specific journey; their writing was often witty and incredibly smart!

When you read the letters, you will also know just how able, smart, expressive, caring and human these students are. Each of them has incredible potential with the right teachers, teaching tools, supports and educational environments surrounding them. A whole village of supportive people!

About 25% of the students’ letters were written using some form of technology. There is an incredible difference in self expression between those letters using technology supports and those that are just pencil and paper. Kids using technology are much more able to capture what they are thinking, express their personalities, and they write at least 3 times more.

Supporting Your Efforts

My company is committed to providing supportive technologies for another 20+ years to support your efforts. Our recent partnership with Benetech demonstrates our commitment to bring reading access for students who qualify under the Chafee Act to Benetech/Bookshare.org’s complete library. This fall, these students will have free access to our Read:OutLoud® text reader to over 100,000 online books and educational resources. That’s a great start!

What about students who do not qualify under Chafee?

There are a lot of students that fall under this category and some say that 90% of students with IEPs struggle with reading grade level text. And these students do not qualify under Chafee in the present law. For widespread access to accessible instructional materials to be a reality for every student, we have to provide affordable access. That is why we plan to “break down” the price barriers often associated with assistive technologies. Our latest offering of Read:OutLoud as a “universal access solution” is affordable for every school or district starting at $485 for one school or even less per school for multiple sites. Already, hundreds of schools have signed up, including, the entire State of Virginia. In Virginia, every student with an IEP will have a license to Read:OutLoud!

The Accessibility Materials ACT reads:

(SEAs and LEAs have the) responsibility to ensure that children with disabilities who need instructional materials in accessible formats but are not included under the definition of blind or other persons with print disabilities in 34 CFR 300.172(e)(1)(i) or who need materials that cannot be produced from NIMAS files, receive those instructional materials in a timely manner.

The potential of this law for our students is BIG! If we implement this correctly, decoding will no longer be a prerequisite to learning. Learning will be about thinking, expressing, reasoning. This ACT certainly has the potential to change how learning occurs for our struggling students.

Why, oh why? The question is not why…it’s “when”?

At the end of the Camp Courage play of The Wizard of Oz, the ‘bad’ witch sang the song “Somewhere Over the Rainbow”. She was the only person in the play that was verbal. She had the sweetest voice I ever heard. “Somewhere over the rainbow way up high, somewhere over the rainbow bluebirds fly, and the dream that you dare to dream, why, oh why can't I?” There wasn’t a dry eye in the place. I asked about the bad witch later in the evening thinking that she was brought in just to sing the final song. It turned out she had been non-verbal and an AAC user all her life until the past few years when she began to speak.

If we can suspend our assumptions and look for hidden potential, the question of 'why' goes away. When we use technology tools to support these students’ efforts, then they can reach their dreams now and we will have made a significant impact on their lives.

Let’s work together to help these students reach for their dreams! When students stop asking the question “Why, oh why can’t I?” they drop out. That’s why we have such enormous drop out rates. We don’t have “forever,” like in the Wizard of OZ. We need to reach these students NOW…before they stop dreaming. Let us not let another generation fail. Somewhere over the rainbow bluebirds fly. And the dream that you dare to dream—why, oh why can't I? The work that you do is so important for these students. My company and I stand by you every step of the way! Thank you.

Sincerely,
Don C. Johnston

P.S. Enjoy the letters!

Special thanks to Barbara Wollak, a wonderful educator and advocate for assistive technology programs. The AAC Session at Camp Courage, Maple Lake, MN is for teens ages 12-19 who use synthesized speech devices. Campers participate in a full range of camp activities including boating, horseback riding, and overnight camping and are encouraged to use AAC devices before, during, and after each activity. The goal is for campers to learn the power of communication, while having fun! This year's play was, "The Wizard of Oz: The Scarecrow Who Wanted a Voice," performed for many parents, friends and special guests!