While reading Hehir’s article, I was mortified by the depiction of Penny’s social worker in that she believed that Penny could not possibly have hope for her disabled son to lead a relatively normal life in the future (p. 11). I have a friend who is currently earning her Master’s degree in social work and working with autistic children. I am sure that she realizes the differences between children on the autism spectrum and other “abled” children, but I know that she wants to help them lead their lives in a way that is as normal as possible. She sees their developmental disorders as differences rather than a sentence that they shouldn’t have hopes and aspirations. Furthermore, she certainly would not be telling a parent that coping with a disabled child is like coping with the death of a child. Maybe this child didn’t turn out precisely the way you imagined him, but what part of life ever does turn out that way?
Similarly, it was interesting to see Cyndi Jones' point of view that “a disabled person is presumed deserving of pity – instead of respect—until the person proves capable of overcoming the disability through extraordinary feats” such as the blind man who climbed Mt. Everest (p. 13). I think it’s true that we often pity disabled people so much that we stop seeing them as people. We focus so much on what they can’t do rather than finding ways to include them in mainstream life experiences (like education). It’s hard for me to see a solution to this problem because disabled people are taken out of the classroom. Even in my experiences as a student and now as a substitute teacher, disabled students are often paired with aides and not always incorporated into mainstream classrooms. This shows society’s view that disability is a tragedy, and we should quietly pity these people who live “lesser” lives. However, perhaps if we stopped looking at disability as a tragedy and saw disabled people as real humans, we would provide them with the extra tools and resources they may need to live adequate lives alongside the rest of us.
This certainly goes along with socio-emotional learning. If a disabled child is told all his life that he is different… So he can’t do this or can’t do that, so he’s not allowed into mainstream classrooms with all of his “normal” classmates, so he shouldn’t even bother having dreams about having a job or a future, he will certainly believe it himself. How can learning occur if this child has already been written off by society? Are we just going through the motions and pushing him through school because we pity his status? Are we really doing our best to try to equip him to find a place in this world? I sincerely hope that society understands that yes, disability makes certain things difficult or even impossible for some, but no one should be told that they can’t work towards goals or dreams. No one should be looked at as if they don’t have talents to offer this world.
Nicely said.
ReplyDeleteThe more schools are able to integrate students with disabilities into mainstream classes (and at young ages), the more empathetic all students will be and the more natural it will be for them as they grow older to be with all diverse people and not think of it as 'pitying' to be or have a difference.
I wonder if offering more diverse subjects in schools would help (or even as after-school subjects). I am thinking specifically of my daughter, who in high school a few years ago really wanted to take ASL and could not find it offered anywhere nearby. She does not know anyone who is deaf, she just had an interest. She is currently majoring in Communication Disorders.
Skills like this might also be useful to have for future jobs in education. Right now, students who have disabilities more severe than a learning disability are transported to a school which offers the needed services (very costly, too). It is too much to hire additional personnel for a single student. However, if a teacher, aid, or other support personnel already had additional skills, this would allow schools to retain students, integrate them into classrooms, and possibly save costs. It seems to make sense to encourage new personnel in the field to consider this kind of learning.
Kate,
DeleteThe first part of your blog made me think about a controversy that was going out on in the Midwest a little while back. Lawmakers were trying to ban certain prenatal testing because many women who were finding out that their not yet born child would have a disability were deciding to terminate the pregnancy. I definitely don’t agree with banning prenatal testing but that is another story altogether. Who are these people? Like you said, having a disabled child should not be looked at as the “death” of a child. If you are going to have an abortion because the child isn’t exactly what you wanted I think they should be reevaluating having children at all. One of the excuses the people were using for having the abortion was that having a disabled child is time consuming and a financial burden. Yes, having a “disabled” child can be costly and time consuming but having an “abled” isn’t time consuming or costly? A girl that I went to high school with gave birth to a girl with Down’s syndrome and tragically her daughter died only a year later because of SIDS. I am willing to bet that she would do anything to have her daughter back “disability” and all. It is awful that there is such a negative stigma around children who learning differently.
I agree that some good can be done if we change the perception of those with special needs. Peers can gain respect, educators can lose doubt of skill, and both parties can afford a loss in pity. Students in the Life Skills classroom in my school perform invaluable tasks, like notice and office supply delivery, and weekly plastic recycling. The high school offers a work program, where students with special needs can apply and work for local businesses. I think this also helps shape the students' own perceptions. They see themselves as valuable, hardworking, useful, and needed. It is a human right to feel validated, and that means everyone.
ReplyDeleteKate,
ReplyDeleteI too found myself mortified by a lot of what was in that article. People are essentially written off as potentially valuable to society once it is discovered that they have a disability. What I found worse in the article was the extreme focus that people placed on the disability, going out of their way to help the individual "conquer" their disability instead of allowing them to excel in a different path.