Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Talking Points #9

Christopher Kliewer
Citizenship in School:
Reconceptualizing Down Syndrome


1. "I started to notice that I didn't like the classes I was taking called special education. I had to go through special ed. almost all my life. I wanted to take other classes that interested me. I had never felt so mad, I wanted to cry."

- This quote was said by a young girl with down syndrome. It makes me sad that she went through her entire educational career only taking classes that the administration felt she needed to take. I understand why she was so frustrated. I feel bad that while "normal" children get to pick and choose certain classes and electives that they are interested in that students with disabilities have their classes chosen for them because people feel like they can't handle picking on their own or that they can't handle taking electives.

2. "It's not like they come here to be labeled, or to believe the label. We're all here--kids, teachers, parents, whoever--it's about all of us working together, playing together, being together, and that's what learning is. Don't tell me any of these kids are being set up to fail."

- I have always felt that learning is a community experience. The child needs to be taught by the teacher, the students need to talk together about what they have learned, and the parents need to enforce what the teachers have taught their children. This should be the same for ALL students, whether disabled or not.
3. "Knock it off! Knock it off! Becky is a girl who has cerebral palsy...She's not allowed in school because of her handicaps. I think her school should just knock it off and let her in.
She needs and education. Just because she is handicapped doesn't mean she can't learn. She's just got to do what she can do, which can be just about anything.
Becky is smart enough to fight back, just like I would if I wasn't allowed I school. I have Down syndrome and I can still do anything I want to do. If I wasn't allowed in school, I wouldn't have learned to do all the things I do now. I have Down syndrome, but I am not handicapped."

- I think that the girl that wrote this is right! It is bad enough that people discriminate those with handicaps, but now there is even discrimination between disabilities. A student with cerebral palsy will probably need more attention than a student with Down syndrome, but that doesn't deny a student with cerebral palsy from a proper education. Also, I really like the fact that the student that wrote this feels like she doesn't have a handicap despite the fact that she has Down syndrome. This leads me to think, if she doesn't feel disabled, why do we, "normal" people, feel like she is? Why do we label her this way?



I liked reading this article. I feel like it is different than what we have normally learned about. I often forget about disabled students being looked over or being discriminated against. When I think of diversity I think more about race, economic status, gender, and or sexual orientation. For some reason I forget that there is so much more discrimination in the world than what is on the surface. Another reason why I liked this article was because special education is my major concentration. I'd like to be one of those teachers that provides the opportunity for all of my student to get a proper education no matter any differences that they might have.

No comments:

Post a Comment