tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34418484.post1546331763254129763..comments2023-08-01T06:37:08.027-05:00Comments on Growing up with a disability: Understanding the less common perspective: A Thanksgiving reflectionDavidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09360723110664693186noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34418484.post-26646768462053038322014-03-21T14:16:10.664-05:002014-03-21T14:16:10.664-05:00Thank you very much for sharing your school strugg...Thank you very much for sharing your school struggles, it's very educational for those of us working in the cerebral palsy field to have patient perspective.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34418484.post-46545870289636053132008-02-13T21:08:00.000-06:002008-02-13T21:08:00.000-06:00I'm currently trying to figure out the hoops of ge...I'm currently trying to figure out the hoops of getting a book I've written on this topic published.<BR/>I'm autistic and I was traumatized by how my teachers and classmates treated me in school.Ettinahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08230821659466586897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34418484.post-35272973270651596402007-11-27T17:09:00.000-06:002007-11-27T17:09:00.000-06:00that certainly is well written, and, as a campaign...that certainly is well written, and, as a campaigner for inclusion myself, has given me much to chew over.<BR/><BR/>Cheers<BR/>Matt<BR/>www.matthewgoodsell.co.ukAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34418484.post-23672306840058341732007-11-27T14:17:00.000-06:002007-11-27T14:17:00.000-06:00Yes - thank you for linking to it.Yes - thank you for linking to it.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09360723110664693186noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34418484.post-54215593335382853812007-11-27T13:17:00.000-06:002007-11-27T13:17:00.000-06:00Great post! Do you mind if I provide a link from ...Great post! Do you mind if I provide a link from my blog (http://pipecleanerdreams.blogspot.com) to this entry? Yours is a message that needs to be spread far and wide.Ashley's Momhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05621835327282616218noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34418484.post-2387267360105615092007-11-26T05:01:00.000-06:002007-11-26T05:01:00.000-06:00Great post and essay David. It seems you have the...Great post and essay David. It seems you have the same problems there as we do in Australia.Jacquihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03039454415384297225noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34418484.post-10306523563824902122007-11-25T20:35:00.000-06:002007-11-25T20:35:00.000-06:00Thanks for the comments, everyone.Ruth, it's good ...Thanks for the comments, everyone.<BR/><BR/>Ruth, it's good that your nephew has you to talk with about his school experiences. One of the things that's hard when you're a kid is to develop a self image that is different than the message you are receiving from the school system.<BR/><BR/>Elizabeth, I found the 80/20 rule interesting, but not surprising. It gets even more complicated when you consider that most children have both strengths and weaknesses. In my experience, the teachers had a difficult time understanding that a child with a disability has strengths, too.<BR/><BR/><EM>“…the system is run by time and people who run on a different time will always be hated.” </EM><BR/><BR/>I found that observation to be very thought-provoking and true. As a matter of fact, I did my best learning at home, where I moved through some things slowly and some things quickly, at the pace that best suited me. I realize that most kids, disability or not, don't have the opportunity for home schooling that I did. It is hard to feel optimistic that things will change without massive attention, funding, and a major paradigm shift by our society.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09360723110664693186noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34418484.post-49111519480310619212007-11-25T08:02:00.000-06:002007-11-25T08:02:00.000-06:00wow great paper!wow great paper!Greg (Accessible Hunter)https://www.blogger.com/profile/14284270514731142757noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34418484.post-13633408135076384082007-11-25T01:21:00.000-06:002007-11-25T01:21:00.000-06:00I appreciated reading this point and it brings up ...I appreciated reading this point and it brings up several critical issues: Why are teachers given years of training but assumed to impact only minutes of a student's life each day while an assistant can have little or no training and make a tremendous impact (and/or impediment to a single student).<BR/><BR/>Teaching is the 80/20 rule; you are trained and told to teach at the pace of the majority and let the rest fall where they may (I think the embacing of the "Bell Curve" gave a front of credibility to this). As a teacher I ran into students in my remedial english course who were, and I don't say this lightly, geniuses. One girl stands out in particular, as her perception and comments were at a graduate level (but spoken in her own short hand so if you did not think on her level you would not understand her references) - for example, she could not easily write papers, she was tactile based so in one course she make a sculpture which embodied the basic conflicts within the subtext of the book. She got a zero. Because "You were assigned to write a paper." - She got a zero and after the years of this honestly believed that people didn't understand her because she must be too stupid for them to understand. <BR/><BR/>So, you can see, I don't see teachers as our salvation. I know that the system is run by time and people who run on a different time will always be hated. I am very interested in your experience because not only was I to be placed in a "Special school" until they saw me do math. I ended up being "paired" several times and ironically, it was I that was left behind for being too boring (sorry, I was in school) until high school. I went to a private school of a cult religion which had a GREAT, GREAT many faults, but which for reasons I am unclear was ALWAYS about complete inclusion. So I guess you could say I had the system you wanted of a type; every class was adaptive in one for or another because every class had at least one student with some form of disability. Plus of course, many of our adult friends, mentors AND teachers had at least one form of disability (the advantage of having a school where teachers don't actually have licences). <BR/><BR/>I can only imagine the giant tide of what public high school would be like and I can tell you what made our school different, but I don't think it is something that will be achievable in our lifetime. From a child, I lived in a environment where a person with a disability was ALWAYS the most important person in the room; and their needs were ALWAYS more important than anyone elses. I mean, I learned when I was 4 or 5 not to touch a guide dog. I learned at 11 how to talk to a person with hearing imparment. Indeed in P.E. for example, there was a boy with one arm, so ALL activities for everyone were made to maximize one arm. Like I said, I don't think that will fly in public schools but I like your vision of universal education.Elizabeth McClunghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03627373214555333537noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34418484.post-41814941888682622782007-11-24T21:45:00.000-06:002007-11-24T21:45:00.000-06:00I enjoyed reading this post-- thanks for sharing.I enjoyed reading this post-- thanks for sharing.Karen Putzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09098620301550608119noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34418484.post-51241537562042095172007-11-24T17:59:00.000-06:002007-11-24T17:59:00.000-06:00David,It's been a pleasure being a fellow blogger ...David,<BR/>It's been a pleasure being a fellow blogger with you! <BR/><BR/>My 11 year old nephew with CP struggles at times with these issues. He gets labeled because some subjects are hard for him and/or he's not educated according to his strengths, rather than his weaknesses. Encouragement in those areas is fine but should not be done at the expense of a child's self esteem. The transition to middle school has been , er, challenging because certain educators dismiss his educational learning experience as "out of the norm" and therefore not worth their time. He too has an aide which is a help but also, as you state, can create problems. There needs to be more oversight. <BR/><BR/>I agree that a respectful environment that fosters each child's gifts is, by far, the most important factor in his progress or, in some cases, lack of progress. I've seen him blossom in some classes and literally " wilt " in others. As he gets older, he is better able to discern the feedback he gets in the educational system - and advocates like you who have traveled the same path help pave his way. Thank you.Ruthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00170658770134559035noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34418484.post-27630656085392699872007-11-24T10:23:00.000-06:002007-11-24T10:23:00.000-06:00David, I really enjoyed reading your essay. Thanks...David, I really enjoyed reading your essay. Thanks for posting it.<BR/>CillaAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34418484.post-46692175559842080572007-11-22T22:16:00.000-06:002007-11-22T22:16:00.000-06:00That is a very fine essay, David. It should be req...That is a very fine essay, David. It should be required reading for all new teachers.<BR/><BR/>And thank you, too.<BR/><BR/>Happy Thanksgiving.Kay Olsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04944108413520042042noreply@blogger.com