Recinceptualizing Down Syndrome

• The article I read this week was called “Citinzenship in School: Reconceptualizing Down Syndrome”. The article was a great read! I really enjoyed being able to learn about special education. It is not a field that I really see myself in, but now that I understand the importance of integrating all learning types into the classroom, I think it is so important that every teacher learns at least a little bit about special education. Mia, the person who this article focuses on primarily, talks about how she was segregated from her other peers and put in “special Ed” classes. These classes did not interest her and she was frustrated. After she graduated, she later returned to take content classes, such as journalism. She now writes for a Self Advocacy newsletter for  people in the Down Syndrome community. I thought this story was very inspiring and really opened my eyes to the issues of grouping students like that. Who are we to deny someone from taking a class thy are interested in? It’s proven that children learn better with all sorts of learning levels in classes, so why not integrate? I think, and the article kind of confirms, that it is a societal and judgment issue. We have a stigma against people who may be different then us, and it seems easier to just group them all together and let someone else’s take responsibility. But that does nothing to better society. I think that kids can be really mean, but that also if they are exposed to people with different abilities and are able to work with them in a safe space, it can help teach them empathy and work to desensitize them to these differences.  A quote that I loved from this article was “dialogue cannot occur between those who deny others the right to speak and those whose right to speak has been denied to them”. We need to take into account people who’s voices may have never been heard in order to become better educators and build better citizens of a global society. 

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.today.com/today/amp/tdna122258

This is an article that I thought was really special about visibility in the Down Syndrome community. Lucas was voted Gerber Baby of the Year! I hope that we can continue to normalize the special needs community, because there is no reason why we can’t all just work and be together!