Reconceptualizing Down Syndrome

Citizenship in School: Reconceptualizing Down Syndrome by: Christopher Kliewer

Talking Points #10

Reflection:

At the beginning of Kliewer's article we heard about Mia Peterson's story, and how she had to take special education classes pretty much all her life.  When she wanted to be in other classes that actually interested her, and it upset her.  I can make a connection to the article we read about Finn last week because the kids in Chicago were put into classes based on their test scores, and some did not like it.  It isn't fair for kids whether they have down syndrome or whether they should be placed in higher level classes who actually want to get an education.  I really feel for Mia if she wants to be in different classes why shouldn't she be.  She shouldn't be treated differently from any other students just because she has down syndrome!  I think Mia's story is great because after finishing school in segregated placements she went back to take classes that were denied from her at first.  This story alone proves that people with down syndrome can do anything anyone else can do. 

In this article they talk about how people with down syndrome should not be judged, and I like/agree with that.  These students may have down syndrome, but just because of that they shouldn't be judged.  Just like everyone else in the world shouldn't be judged.  What I learned from the Promising Practices event is that we need to create safe spaces for; not only lgbt students; but for students with down syndrome too! When Kliewer talked about Schooling and Democracy in the article he mentioned something that Douglas Biklen outlined.  He said that schools act as cultural sorting machines.  I completely agree with that they will place kids in classes based on their ability, gender, ethnicity, and race.  I think this is wrong how they just throw kids in classes based on those types of cultural things.  They should be placed where they think they should be, and where students want to be.  Students need to be placed in classes that interest them.  This is why I feel like everything before college was not interesting at all because in high school we never really had the choice of what classes to take.  Now, in college we have our major and what we want to learn, and we can take the classes of our choosing.  We still have to take gen eds too, but college is definitely a step up from high school in my opinion. 

My favorite part of the article comes when he talks about Shayne Robbin's classroom.  In their school they didn't place students based on their abilities or whether they have down syndrom or not.  In each class they had about 10-16 students of multiple ages and ability levels.  In her class she had had 6 students identified as disabled, and the other ten were identified as not disabled.  This is a great school I think because students with a disability or down syndrome should not be placed into special classes because it has been proved that they can do just as well as any other student.  I think all schools should be like this in the world.  I don't think it would effect anyone from what they need to learn.  I think what Shayne did with her classroom is inspirational because having a mix of students is not the easiest task, but she gave focus on each child in the class and gave goals for each child.  Especially, with her student Isaac and his love for reading.  Issac's love of reading and his capacity to decipher printed language was an important bridge in the community, and Shayne helped him through that.  Proving that classes with mixes of students can work, and each student can get the individual attention they need and still achieve the goals they set out to do. 

I also like the part when Gardner notes about mathematics, and math teachers.  Gardner through his research has come up with seven valued patterns that are very important in my opinion.  These seven patterns would help students with their problem solving.  According to gardner, 5 out of these 7 patterns are neglected in our schools.  I think if they were implemented students would do so much better, and they could learn to problem solve a lot better.  My placement teacher is trying to implement a similar kind of thing in her classroom.  She tells the students to struggle that is the only way to problem solve, and I agree I think it helps.  If these students don't stuggle at all they will never learn, and I think that is an important concept for all teachers to learn. 

Overall, I really enjoyed reading this article, and I think that students with down syndrome shouldn't be treated any differently than anyone else.  The stories in this article are very inspirational, and it goes to show you that anything can happen whether you have down syndrome or not! I found this article online that talks about school placement's for students with Down Syndrome and I think it is very interesting.  Also, the video below shows how people with down syndrome can do anything they put their mind to, and what they are proud of, and what they accomplished.

 



 

 

Comments:  In my comments this week I want to know what you guys think about students with down syndrome.  Do you think that students should be placed in non special education classes?  Do you think they should have the choice to be in the classrooms they desire?  I think they should.  They can accomplish anything anyone else could.  I think some of these stories are really inspirational.  This article can be very helpful for anyone I think who wants to accomplish something.  You can do anything you put your mind to!