"Citizenship in School: Reconseptualizing Down Syndrome" by Christopher Kiliewer

QUOTES

Overall, this was a very powerful reading, especially coming from the view of a girl who had actually experienced being segregated from the so-called "General Education" classroom. This has been my favorite reading so far. Out of all of the readings we have done so far in the semester we have discussed a lot about race, but we have not really touched about disabilities. This is a very important topic and just like race, disabilities also play a role in SCWAMP. I could relate most to this reading becausse this semester I have had the opportunity to work in an inclusion classroom and I really loved the experience. This article confirms the way I feel about inclusion classrooms and why I think they are great for all students with disabilities.

The first quote that I would like to discuss is "Success in life requires the ability to form relationships with others who make up the web of community" As stated in the reading it is important to learn to work with others. Too often children with disabilities are placed in a self-contained classroom where they do not get the same interactions that they would get in a general education classroom. If there is a self-contained classroom with 7 students in it and most of those students have difficulties with social interaction, it will be more difficult for them to learn how to interact with others. In an inclusion classroom, they would have the opportunity to work on their social skills by interacting with other students in the general education classroom.

The second quote that I chose from the reading was "Such acceptance is the aim when children with Down Syndrome join their non-disabled peers in classrooms." This made me think of my experience in the inclusion room. The more children are exposed to their disabled peers, the more comfortable they become. They get used to it and all of a sudden the students treat them like they are no different. I was luck enough to see this in action. Although the classroom I was working in had no physically disabled students they had students with disabilities. The general education students are so good at including the other children during recess and they even help them with assignments. They don't treat them differently at all! Children with down syndrome should be given that chance to thrive in a classroom with their non-disabled peers.

The last quote I chose to write about was "School citizenship requires that students not be categorized and separated based on presumed defect." Just because a student has Down Syndrome does not mean that they are not capable of functioning in a general classroom. People assume the characteristics in Down Syndrome mean that they can't break that mold. That should never be an assumption of people with disabilities. just because they may have difficulties with communicating or other skills does not mean anything. They are just as capable as non-disabled people and we have to be sure to treat them with respect knowing that.

Comments: This reading was amazing and shows plenty of examples of how segregation isn't necessarily the best placement for students with Down Syndrome or disabilities. This reading is very eye opening to the direction we should be moving with inclusion of students with disabilities.

Hyperlink:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UzCn2WCUE8
Starting about half way through the teachers talk about stradegies to support students with down syndrome in the classroom.

This is a great example of trial and error. In 7 or 8 years it will be too late for the students that could have benefited from inclusion. We should be doing what the bottom cartoon shows. Trying it out and learning from the experience to make improvements in the future.