Saline MI
2-20-2018 5:58am

Saline sophomore Conor Waterman wins national 'Yes I Can' award

Conor Waterman, a sophomore at Saline High School, recently returned from Tampa, Fla. where he received a "Yes I Can" award from the Council for Exceptional Children.

 

The Yes I Can program recognizes the accomplishments of 12 students across the nation who demonstrate excellence in six categories. Conor's win was in the self-advocacy category.

 

Waterman, who is hearing and visually-impaired and has poor muscle tone due to hypotonic cerebral palsy, advocate for himself by participating in his Individualized Education Program (IEP), as well as teaching classmates and teachers about his disabilities and necessary accommodations.

 

"Other kids with disabilities have to advocate for themselves," said Conor's father, John Waterman. "But Conor went above and beyond. His testimony before the state house and senate and in front of other groups is really why he got the award."

 

John Waterman is executive of an organization called PEAC (Program to Educate All Cyclists) that helps disabled individuals learn to ride bicycles, and Conor helps spread the word and raise money for this organization, as well as advocating for cyclists with state legislators.

 

"I talk to them about cycling and keeping streets safer for Michigan," Conor Waterman said. His testimony helped pass legislation known as "Nathan's Law" after a young person who was hit and killed while riding a motorcycle. The legislation mandates two extra hours of driver's education to help motorists learn more to drive safely around motorcycles and bicyclists who are sharing the road.

 

Closer to home, Conor began sharing his story and demonstrating how his adaptive technology works starting in the first grade. His teacher wears a "Roger pen" around the neck, and a device called a "boot" attaches to Conor's hearing aid, amplifying the teacher's voice. Conor also has to sit front and center of a classroom in order to be able to see the board clearly, and said this is extra important in math class, and he needs a quieter atmosphere to take tests.

 

However, Conor is just a regular kid in many other ways, and has built a "school family" for himself by joining the swim team and, despite his hearing impairment, auditioning for and participating in the high school's Chamber Choir.

 

He started as the slowest student on the swim team but has moved up and hopes to compete at the state level in his junior or senior year.

 

"My swim family is a brotherhood," Conor Waterman said. "We're always there for each other, cheering each other on in the pool and out of the pool."

 

Conor Waterman said he'd never been to a conference like the one he attended Feb. 9 to receive his award as part of the CEC 2018 Convention & Expo.

 

"The ceremony was really very nice," he said. "I was in the back with the other people, and everyone was really nice. I got to meet so many other people with disabilities who had fascinating and amazing stories, and I could relate to them."

 

He said he was a little nervous on stage with everyone's eyes on him, but it was also a good feeling.

 

"I felt like I was the teacher and they were the students. I had a real voice that people would listen to, and I could tell them what they needed to know," he said.

 

What he thinks other students should know is that they should be more accepting of students with disabilities. He wants teachers to respect and follow the IEP for disabled students to give them the best chance of success.

 

Mostly, he wants others to see him first and foremost as an individual.

 

"If I was autistic, I wouldn't want to be referred to as 'the autistic kid'. I'd want to be called by name," Conor Waterman said. "We might have disabilities and barriers in our way, but our disability isn't who we are."

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