These are some questions that I thought of while reading this article and I decided to respond to them for my blog post. So drop a line and tell me what you think.
Should there be special education classes?
Yes. There should be special education classes. In fact, there should be special education classes in every school and I think they are a necessary and vital resource to have. I do have some stipulations, however. I find it ridiculous when a student who is deemed "disabled" is automatically thrown into a special education class or program. Those classes and programs should be need/want based and they need to be personalized to the student with the learning disability, otherwise it is ineffective. Special education classes should exist as a catch-all where all the disabled students go to be in the same room. Everyone has the same destination in school and that is to learn...Some students just may have a different means of getting there.
Should disabled students get to chose where they learn?
I definitely think that students with disabilities should have a choice of which classroom they should be in. If they decide that they wanted to be placed in non-special education classes then so be it. I think then, after a certain period of time, that student should be assessed on their progress and depending on those results, the proper actions can be taken -- do they stay, or should they try the special education classes for a little bit.
How do these disabled students feel? What do they think?
This is a hard question to answer. I am not disabled and I don't know anyone personally who is. For me however, I think that disability is like race in the sense that it's there, it's present, and there is no denying its existence. I do not think that disabled students should be made to feel less about themselves or that they are a lesser person than the next student. They have to live with their disability every day. They don't need to be reminded of their incapabilities. Just like many of the topics we have covered this semester, disability is a sensitive topic. This is why I think that special education programs need to be taken seriously and have to be seen as resources rather than burdens.
Could I educate a disabled student?
That would be a great challenge for me. I would sure like to try. I'm becoming a teacher for that rewarding sensation to know that I have taught someone something important. If I can do that with a disabled child, I can't even imagine the immensity of that feeling. If I could educate a disabled student in a way that was effective, specialized to their needs, and respectful to their personal feelings then I would do it in an instant.
I didn't realize how strongly I felt on this subject until I read this article. How do y'all feel?
Here is a link to Wikipedia for some general information on Down's Syndrome.
To answer your questions:
ReplyDeleteI agree, there should be special education classes, but there should also be classes that are combined.
I agree that disabled students should get to chose where they learn, and in the case of Anne, they should have choice in their personal lives.
I have to agree with your last question, which is one that I have thought able greatly, as I'm sure many of our fellow students have as well. To teach a disabled student properly is to give them the knowledge and power to make a difference (as with any student). If I could act in the same ways as the teachers in the article, I would consider myself an amazing teacher. It was an eye-opening article, both for teaching disabled students, but also to gain insight into the lives of disabled students.