Visionary founded first classroom for children who have an intellectual disability Monday July 18, 2011 -- Kristian Partington
Don Frisby died in 1976, but his legacy carries on in classrooms across the continent where children of all abilities have the opportunity to learn and reach their highest potential.
In Kirkland Lake, where his vision of education for children who have a disability took root in 1947, his legacy was honoured with an induction in the Kirkland Lake Hall of Fame on Canada Day.
As a teacher, he’d always believed that children who have an intellectual disability had a right to an education and in the 1940s he began teaching at the Queen Elizabeth School in Kirkland Lake, which at the time was the largest school in the province north of Toronto with a population of more than 1,200 students.
One of his roles was IQ testing and those children with scores less than 50 were sent to an institution in Orillia, according to the law of the day.
He was a man of principle, says Kirkland Lake Community Living executive director Heather Topliss, and he knew the law of the day was unjust and he pushed for a classroom where those children might learn as typical children would.
In the basement of a church in 1947, his first classroom opened and within a year, a provincial inspector noted progress in children that nobody expected, and a precedent had been set.
Just over 10 years later, Frisby’s vision of a school dedicated to meeting the needs of children who have an intellectual disability became a reality with the opening of the “Alpha School,” so named because it represented the beginning of a new era.
Topliss says that before Frisby opened that first class in 1947, there is no record or any jurisdiction in North America that had an education program designed to meet the needs of children who have an intellectual disability.
Today, Frisby’s vision of “special education” has evolved into one where inclusive education in classrooms across the nation is a reality.
“It’s absolutely fantastic” to see that legacy honoured, says Topliss.
“I’m so proud to be a part of it.”
If you have questions or comments, feel free to contact 800-294-0051, ext. 24, or e-mail kristian(at)axiomnews.ca