Citizenship in School: Reconceptualizing Down Syndrome
By:
Christopher Kliewer
Quotes:
"In establishing a representation of citizenship for all, Shayne recognizes the transnational relationship of human reciprocity:community acceptance requires opportunity for individual participation in the group, but opportunity can not exist outside community acceptance."
In order for everyone to be accepted, they need to be treated equal. Being treated equal means having the same opportunities as others in the group or community. This goes for everyone, whether its dealing with gender, race, age and/or special needs.
"if you came into the room and were told there was a retarded child in the room, a child with special needs, i don't think you would pick Lee out. The kids really agree he is as capable as they are".
A lot of times people think that is someone has a learning disorder, it is very obvious to others. This is not the case. They just learn differently, but they are just as capable of learning.
"We will not recognize the diverse contributions of those who wear obscuring labels until we move our focus from the disability and look for the complexity and individuality we take for granted in ourselves."
We take for granted how easily math, English, or whatever it is one is good at until we see someone going through the struggle. Even at that moment it is sometimes hard for people to realize what they are good and and appreciate it. We need to stop labeling others, and in order to do that we need to decrease expectations and standards, as everyone is different; therefore we learn differently.
I love this picture. It shows that given equal opportunities, children can accomplish the same goals, no matter if they are a different race, or even have disabilities.
This article explains why mixing special education students with the rest is a good idea.
I liked the quotes you picked, and the picture! I agree that everyone including teachers, need to realize that everyone learns differently and that one method doesn't work for everyone.
ReplyDeleteThis post makes me think of my friend who is dyslexic. She is one of the funniest people I know and is so caring and it is easy to tell that she is highly intelligent just by talking to her. Yet she spent most of her school days in separate special education classes because she was labeled a "slow" learner. You're right, we all learn in different ways and it doesn't mean one is less intelligent than another.
ReplyDeletei like how you said in order to be accepted everyone needs to be treated equal. Which is definitely 100% true. I loved reading this. I like reading other peoples views.
ReplyDeleteI love the picture and how they are all children, showing that it all starts when we are young
ReplyDeleteI love this picture. It really shows how children with special needs can be successful
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