Hello

My name is Yvette Silver. I'm a party caricaturist turned middle school math teacher, now in my 12th year of ICT (Integrated Co-Teaching). I teach general education students together with students with IEPs (Individual Education Plans).  In my experience, I've noticed that students with learning differences begin to feel undervalued. Their performance is compared to that of typical students so they almost never see their names on the honor role. Their gains are not appreciated in light of the Herculean effort they must make to attain them. IEP status is confidential. These students soon conclude that something they can't talk about must be bad. As their shame increases, their progress decreases. 

Looking for answers, I researched the history of the IEP. I learned about insurgent parents and pioneering students that broke down barriers. I read about relentless activists and teachers that fought for the right to an education for all students.

Victor and Me is the story of Ben, a student with an IEP, navigating middle school by day while time traveling by night, with Victor, the wild boy of Aveyron, the first documented special education student. Think "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure" meets "Hank Zipzer".  In school, Ben feels increasingly self conscious about his processing and sensory issues. He's bullied, rejected by his first crush, dropped by his best friend, and is suspended for defacing the honor role.

At night, Victor introduces him to the spirits of disability rights agitators, and heroes. Ben uses their examples to deal with his own obstacles. By the end of the book, Ben is an activist himself, who takes pride in his IEP status. He runs for class president demanding an end to the sorting of students by their test scores. To Ben's delight, all his classmates, both with and without IEPs, rally around him, inspired by the idea that students are more than their grades. All students are unique, precious, and in possession of countless gifts, and they deserve to be valued, not judged.