NetNews Usenet Archive 1992 #20/NN_1992_20.iso/spool/misc/handicap/6434

Internet Message Format | 1992-09-09 | 7.5 KB

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From: Russell.Goddard,[e-mail] (Russell Goddard, Jr.)
Newsgroups: misc.handicap
Subject: Re: Is education preparing Special Needs Students for the Future?
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Date: 9 Sep 92 16:46:28 GMT
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On 01 Sep 92 15:10:28, Jean Brickey wrote to All...

 JB> 1.  Teachers lack the special training needed to assist and teach
 JB> special needs children.  If a teacher has the special training,
 JB> they do not have the opportunity to use it every year.  A teacher
 JB> may get a deaf or blind child one year, and not get another child
 JB> with these special needs for five to ten years.  When you don't use
 JB> your training, it gets rusty.

You bring up a valid point.  However, in most cases, special training
are not required.  I am a 17 year old profoundly deaf student of a
regular high school.  I have honors classes in my schedules.  In the
past I have absolutely no trouble with being in honors classes.
Whenever I'm here the sensitivity factor rises.  I tell the teacher to
have me sit in the front, look at me when talking so that I can read his
or her lips, and be close to me.  Almost all teachers complied to my
wishes.  On one occasion, I have to move to an another class because a
teacher cannot comply with my wishes.  That teacher has a thick
moustache and beard, and a seating arrangement that puts me at a
disadvantage.

 JB> 2.  Parents often are over protective and the child is never allowed
 JB> to participate in the social activities at the school.  The child
 JB> never gets involved in clubs, sports, school dances and other
 JB> activities.

When I was a child my mother won't let me play outside with the other
kids.  I can see what you mean.  However, the parent's overprotection,
while it sounds like a good thing, can stunt your emotional growth.  In
effect, you are cutting off a viable source of friendships.  I am active
in several activities now.  My parents have absolutely no problem
whatsoever about my being Senior Class President, member of the Academic
Team, liason to other schools for the school's environmental
organization, President of the Computer Club, member of the National
Honor Society, and member of the school's television lab.  I am also one
of only 5 percent of the entire population of the country's high
school-aged people who are nominated to be in the renowned publication,
"Who's Who Among American High School Students."

 JB> 3.  Social promotion.  Students are socially promoted and
 JB> though there is some merit to social promotion, to do it all the
 JB> time is detrimental to the student.  Allowing any child be it
 JB> special needs children or "normal" children to go through school
 JB> without being able to read or write or gain any mathematical
 JB> abilities is what is wrong with our young students today.  The
 JB> United States has more illiterate people then most of the other
 JB> countries in the world.  Not because we cannot teach them, but
 JB> because we allow them to go on through school and never get the
 JB> basic skills needed to function in a technically advanced society.

Really?  The U.S. has more illiterate people than most of the other
countries in the world.  Excuse my ignorance, but where did you get that
figure?  Other than that I agree with you totally on that point.

 JB> 4.  Itinerate teaching.  There is no way an itinerate teacher can
 JB> teach a blind child braille, or a deaf child to sign and read by
 JB> being with that child two or three days a week.  We don't teach our
 JB> "normal" student to read or speak by working with them a few days
 JB> a week.  The "normal" child gets these skills taught on a daily
 JB> basis.  This is not a knock on the intemperate teacher, they are
 JB> doing the best they can with the student load and time they have.

There are other sources of teaching.  The child's teacher does not have
to teach them to sign or read a braille book.  Those skills should be
taught at home or from a competent teacher before the child enters
kindergarten.

 JB> 5.  Acceptance among peers.  Lets be honest, ADA cannot legislate
 JB> attitudes.  Though some people readily accept a blind or a deaf
 JB> child or a retarded or mobility impaired child, the majority of
 JB> society still has problems interacting with special needs people.
 JB> There is a lot to say for being among your peers.

Again I have no problem whatsoever being with my peers.  If I sense a
problem in communication, I tell that someone to speak up, let me read
your lips, ect.  Having a special-needs child actually increases
sensitivity, and teaches children to help their fellow peers in ways
that they never did before.  That's a viable life skill, considering
that there are 43 million disabled Americans today.

 JB> 6.  Money.  It is expensive to provide all the special things a
 JB> special needs child should have for a good rounded education
 JB> Special equipment that should be used with these students costs
 JB> and few school systems can afford the equipment for one or two
 JB> children.

Again, the parents of the child should provide the necessary equipment
for the school.  I wear hearing aids (behing the ears type) and that's
all I need.  Sometimes I wished that the school bought a closed caption
decoder for me to watch some shows.  On that point I'm neutral.

 JB> 7.  Many teachers do not want to work with a special needs child in
 JB> their classroom.  I know of teachers that resent having a special
 JB> needs child in their class.  This is not true for all teaches is
 JB> true for enough of our nations teachers which hinders the
 JB> success of mainstreaming.

Again, all I need is a little more attention.  I am never a burden on
teachers.

Let me tell you something about special education.  I used to be in
special education during my elemtary school years.  The town put me
there because they think I had a learning disability when in fact I have
a hearing disability.  I was out of special education withing 3 years,
enrolling in mainstreamed classes with almost no problems.  As I said
before I am in honors classes.  At one point I was even accepted into
one Advanced Placement class.

 JB> What I have been asked over and over by counselors and even the
 JB> superabundant of a residential school is one question.  What is the
 JB> answer for this problem?  I have my own ideas on what would work,
 JB> but I would like to know what others think.   I would really like to
 JB> know what the rest of you think is happening to our special needs
 JB> students today.  Should residential schools be closed and forgotten
 JB> about?  Is mainstreaming preparing students for the future?  What are
 JB> your thoughts on a least restrictive environment.

I think that each student should be treated on a case-by-case basis.  In
the least restrictive environment, integration with the normal world and
interaction with others that are normal is the biggest advantage.  On
the other hand, if you isolate the child, there's a better chance of
learning since there's individual attention that most mainstreamed
classes lack.  It's all up to the child.
 * TLX 1.1 * Mute? Call 1-800-TALKING and give us your name.

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