No, Ms. Schuld. You are an artist who was hired to teach children with individual learning styles, cognitive abilities, and motor skills ( fine motor, gross motor) your craft. The sentient human beings you choose to refer to as "disabled" are what I was taught to refer to as exceptional learners requiring exceptional support(s) ( ie, exception to "the rule(s)", some standardized-one-size-fits-all "common core curriculum", etc.) Unfortunately and egregiously for you and your students, your employer did not provide you any support in pedagogy and professional praxis to help you become an education professional who teaches fine arts.

The fact that your experiences occurred/are occurring in Arizona, a state that you tell us does not require or supply teachers with training and mentoring to successfully educate all of its learners, reinforces all the current negative stereotypes of what have come to be commonly pejoratively referred to as
"Red States". A toxic willful ignorance and historical disdain/discounting/dismissal of formal education and training are sadly all too commonplace in such states.

Ms. Schuld, because I am a 65 year-old Black gay male left-handed middle sibling who also is a person living with Blepharospam, a chronic condition that locks shut both pairs of eyelids at intermittent times for anywhere from seconds to hours recently officially "diagnosed" with ADHD and a 'not deemed clinically significant' ASD, I WANT YOU TO CONTINUE TO STRIVE FOR EXCELLENCE in your current profession. LIVES and FUTURES of children and families in Arizona depend on you! (C) VERNON NICKERSON SCHOOLCOACH 2024. All Rights Reserved.