"I started to notice that I didn't like the classes I was taking called special education I had to go through almost all my life. I wanted to take other classes that interested me. I had never felt so mad, I wanted to cry".
Reading this article I immediately connected with it. This quote frustrated me because I think that children with down syndrome and any mental illness should be allowed to take other classes other than special education. In high school I participated in a class called Teaching Pathways; this program was one period were select students worked with the special ed children. This was my favorite class because I got to interact with these children and learn their personalities. The students in this class ranged from severe down syndrome to a speech delay. They not only learned a lot from us but we learned a lot from them. They all had special talents and I learned not to judge a book by its cover. In my high school these children had a separate room where they spent most of the day and then for a few classes they joined the rest of the high school population. Even though sometimes this caused problems such as teasing, it helped the children socialize with the rest of the school. It also helps them to not feel left out. I think that the only way teasing will stop is for them to interact with others because children tease because they are afraid; afraid of the unknown or the different, but if they learn they are like normal children just a little different then it will help them fit in. I remember sitting in my art class with a few of the special ed children in it and when one of them had an outburst the rest of the class didn't know how to handle it. But because I was around them I knew it was nothing to worry about and that the aid would handle it or it would blow over soon. So having them involved in so called regular classrooms also teaches everyone how to act. I think all schools should have their special education children in normal classes for some period of the day to benefit everyone.
I agree with what you have to say. I think that children with down syndrome should be able to be in the class with the other students. I think it is important to include them because they need to feel like they belong as well. Also, I liked in my high school how the special education students got to be in regular classes and then had their own classroom to where they can go back to their comfort zone.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Sara. In my high school some of the "special ed" children were able to be in normal classes as well. I think this helps us integrate all shapes and sizes and personalities and colors into one, finally. I think that to separate classes would be to discriminate and we've been trying to get rid of this for years.
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