essentialsaltes (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
essentialsaltes) wrote2012-12-14 07:50 am
essentialsaltes) wrote2012-12-14 07:50 am
Does this make any sense at all?
Dad complains about his 18-year-old son's 4.0 cumulative GPA.
Why? Because the son has the mental capacity of a 6 month old.
I ask you, is school the right place for this child?
Don't get me wrong. I don't want mentally disabled children rounded up and placed in a pit with all the gruel and fingerpaint they can eat. But, despite the legal right to a public education, what is the point of allegedly teaching algebra and world history to a child who cannot read, write or speak?
Is the father a trailblazing leader of mainstreaming? Not really. What he wants is actually very reasonable and touching:
"My goal isn't for him to do algebra. My goal is to have him walk. I would love to hear him say 'mom' or 'dad.' But I know that's probably never going to happen."
Maybe there are therapists/special ed teachers who could actually help with those things. Maybe that's actually what the student is getting in 'school', which would be a good thing. But this fictitious mastery of Algebra and World History is a grotesque lie.
(Dad is also probably right about what's actually going on... this helps the school's average GPA.)
Why? Because the son has the mental capacity of a 6 month old.
I ask you, is school the right place for this child?
Don't get me wrong. I don't want mentally disabled children rounded up and placed in a pit with all the gruel and fingerpaint they can eat. But, despite the legal right to a public education, what is the point of allegedly teaching algebra and world history to a child who cannot read, write or speak?
Is the father a trailblazing leader of mainstreaming? Not really. What he wants is actually very reasonable and touching:
"My goal isn't for him to do algebra. My goal is to have him walk. I would love to hear him say 'mom' or 'dad.' But I know that's probably never going to happen."
Maybe there are therapists/special ed teachers who could actually help with those things. Maybe that's actually what the student is getting in 'school', which would be a good thing. But this fictitious mastery of Algebra and World History is a grotesque lie.
(Dad is also probably right about what's actually going on... this helps the school's average GPA.)