Kliewer's text was very enlightening to read. Unfortunately I haven’t had any interaction with a person with Down syndrome. I have had a lot of interaction with people who have disabilities, so I am very familiar with the judgments, and the lack of expectations that most people with a mental or physical handicap must endure. Kliewer’s perspective from real students with Down syndrome is a wonderful way for his readers to understand more, and be less ignorant and less intolerant of people who have Down syndrome. Fortunately I learned a lot from this text, which I will share with my reader.
Judgment and Democracy:
Community is the key to becoming, or being accepted and equal. Democracy is a word used by politicians and bureaucrats which means freedom for all, only if you are one of the “privileged” of society does this freedom come easily. Society is community; therefore if you are not accepted and valued in the community then you are not privy to the democracy. “Dewey promoted democracy as a way of life in which community both establishes and is derived from each individual’s recognition of the value of every other individual.”
The Society, our communities and our schools need to grasp the fact that every individual has the abililty to add to society. The cliché “don’t judge a book by its cover” are words society needs to live and communicate by. “Community requires a willingness to see people as they are-different perhaps in their minds and in their bodies, but not different in their spirits or in their willingness and ability to contribute to the mosaic of society” (73).
Schooling ad Democracy
“He and fellow educators have substantiated this vision with detailed accounts of actual educational arenas where all students are welcomed, not voice is silenced, and children come to realize their own self-worth through the unconditional acceptance of one another”(74)
The words “unconditional acceptance” stuck out to me. School is a major foundation in the life a child. Creating schools that do not segregate is imperative to the well being of all children and society. Kliewer discusses that peers need to have this unconditional acceptance for each other. There is absolutely no other way but to include all students, with or without disabilities. Kids understand and learn from each other in many different ways. Kliewer gives a few first hand accounts of kids with who have Down syndrome and their experience included and not included with the general population of students. Shayne Robbins, a teacher in a non-segregated school shares her experience with Down syndrome children in her classroom. She explains that these children, although they all have Down syndrome, they are not the same. I think this is a misconception many people have. Shayne tells of Isaac, who has Down syndrome who “might have been considered low-functioning. He had no speech that was understandable to teachers; moved with a great deal of awkwardness “(75); However, Shayne did not see Isaac as imperfect but she designed her lessons with all kids in mind. She drew on every kids strength. Anne, another child with Down syndrome absolutely loved movies, and according to Shayne, knew a lot about them. Shayne knew a good job for her would be working in a movie rental shop. However, the transition planning board thought that Anne would do well as a preschool aide. Anne did not like working with kids but in this world of “privilege” no one in authority decided to ask her, except Shayne.
Kliewer emphasizes that people with disabilities do have a voice and they have significance in the world. They are approachable, they are intelligent, they have hobbies, and passions just like everyone else.
“Vygotsky found that the culture of segregation surrounding people with disabilities actually teaches underdevelopment of thinking through the isolation of children from socially valued opportunities”(81).
Very often school officials think that kids learn better in segregated classrooms. What is it that we are supposed to be teaching? Is it just reading, writing, and math? If school is a foundation for our kids, should we teach about “unconditional acceptance?”
Kliewer discusses multiple intelligences in his text. Multiple intelligences, developed by Howard Gardner is a theory that there are eight different types of intelligence in a person and that these intelligences help a person in learning and processing information. I did a little work with this theory in my classroom a few years back. I think it is time to reintroduce some of these tools. Basically this theory supports the idea that there are many different ways to learn and many different idea of intelligence. Shayne supports this in her classroom. One of the quotes that I found so interesting goes back to the student Isaac. “He was not given credit by the psychologist, who noted that Isaac had not conformed to the specific directions of the test item. Shayne exploded, “He didn’t get credit for it because he didn’t do it right, but he clearly knew which was the block , which was the spoon. And he followed directions in an organizing sense” (84).
Isaac is clearly intelligent enough to determine the difference, however, he did not follow directions. It is like taking a short cut; you get to the end but just in a different way.
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