The Skeleton Crew Should Transform Special Education

The Latest Stars Wars TV Series Gives Disabled Kids a Hero and Teaches Educators a Big Lesson

I am an education lawyer that helps students, especially students with special challenges, successfully make their way through school. I am not someone who believes that Star Wars is scripture, or that it offers eternal truths, or that George Lucas, and his successors, are some sort of prophets. But, in the past week, when advising parents and students, I have found myself pointing to the Disney Plus Star Wars series, the Skeleton Crew, The series brings the hidden realities of life for kids with disabilities thoughtfully into the forefront. It gives kids with challenges a hero they can relate to. And, it should help their teachers understand them better.

The Skeleton Crew tells the story of four “kids” who find themselves accidentally launched into space and then have to find their way home. It is a story of kids on an adventure, space pirates, exploring new worlds, different cultures, virtue and vice, Its a good story. But, it also has some depth and important lessons.

One of the kids, KB, was in some unknown accident. She has some form of implant in her head and, up to episode six, there were hints that she had some struggles. Her parents expressed concerns about her ability to survive with her additional challenges. There was a theme that perhaps she was holding back, or she had some additional concerns.

KB Puts Brings A Disability to Light So Real Kids Don’t Have To

Then in episode six, she watches as the kid she thought was her best friend climb up a cliff and leaves her behind. Her friend was unaware of why KB was not following or thatKB knew that her limitations prevented her from making the climb.

Star Wars then put into spotlight what every kid with a disability has done: tried to hide that disability, or the full effect it has on them, from their peers and their friends. Wanting to fit in, wanting to not be different, wanting the other kids to include them, and not wanting to face prejudice or assumptions that result in them missing out – these are all really strong desires for kids with additional challenges. So, they hide their differences. They hide their needs. They hide their limitations. They hide what could get them left behind. They hide what makes them special. Suddenly KB shows that this is what she has been doing, and her behavior up to Episode Six suddenly makes sense.

Star Wars gives startling insight into the emotions, needs, and thought processes of some of our most vulnerable members of society.

Teachers Need to Pay Attention to Star Wars

In my role as an education lawyer, far too often, I hear principals or special education teachers say that a student with special needs should advocate for themself, that the school cannot help if the student does not speak up, and they cannot provide the necessary accommodations if the student does not seize on to them and use them enthusiastically. KB shows that thought pattern is just wrong.

The Skeleton Crew explores this better than I can in this blog. It shows how wanting to fit in and be the same, almost always means kids don’t want to do anything that highlights a disability. If they can, they don’t want other kids to know they even have a disability. So, they carefully act in ways that prevent their limitations from coming to light. When their friends, who do not understand, or even know, about the additional challenge charge ahead, the child with the disability falls behind. And if the child is working hard to hide their challenged fron their friends, they are almost certainly hiding it from their teachers – maybe just to keep it hidden from friends.

Schools need to accommodate disabilities and other challenges. That is the law. It is not an excuse that a child “does not want” the accommodations. Educators must not only provide accommodations, but provide them in away that students can actually use them. For most children, that means providing the accommodations in a way that does not draw attention to the disabilities and that does not make the accommodated children appear different.

KB’s story, and her portrayal, no the Skeleton Crew provides valuable insight into the needs of children with special needs and additional challenges. Teachers, and other child-centered professionals, can learn a lot from watching the show. Almost the entire series is short from a child’s viewpoint, which brings the plight of students like KB into view. Children who face additional challenges compensate for those challenges in a lot of ways. One of the biggest ways KB and others do that is by trying to make those challenges invisible.

Educators must know the challenges that their students face. They should not expect the students to make them obvious. They should expect the opposite. And, they should help their students achieve that goal. They need to help their students success academically and socially. The professional standard of teachers requires that. It should not be required that children advocate for themselves and demonstrate their needs. What they need is their educator’s assistance to succeed and that assistance, and any accommodations, to be invisible.

KB has brought that need sharply into focus for the mainstream so that kids with disabilities do not have to. The story illustrates that struggle, and makes it easy to understand. It also gives kids a hero.

Get Education Law or Children’s Rights Help

It can be tricky getting help for a student’s special needs from their school. The rules are different between publicly funded and private schools in Ontario. The video below explains the process for getting that help in public schools. If you need more help, a good education lawyer can assist a student who faces additional challenges to get benefit from their education as much as other students.

Our firm assists students and their parents will all manner of legal problems.  Our lawyers help students in public and private schools, elementary or secondary.  We also assist college or university students.  Are cases are most frequently related to special needs accommodations, suspensions, expulsions or bullying.  However, we can help with any legal issue related to education. We can also assist in other areas related to children’s rights that do not relate to school.  Our firm can provide a wide range of services to assist private schools.  Use this form to book a consultation.