Talking Points 8

Premise:

Down Syndrome
Learning Disabilities
Education
Community
Personality
Stigma
Inclusion in the classroom

Argument:
Kweiler argues that all children, particularly those with down syndrome can be a participating and valuable asset to a nonsegregated school community, once the fact that they have a disability is looked past.

Evidence:
1. "Aknowledging students with Down syndrome as thoughtful, creative, and interested learners with personal identities that distinguish them from all other people suggests an individual value that enhances any context containing the child.

2. "Shared value exists in relationships in which individuals, including those with the most severe disabilites, are recognized as thinking,feeling, caring human beings with personalities all their own."

3. " In classrooms that recognize all children as citizens, teachers and peers have rejected the image of community burden attached to Down syndrome.Rather, the student is recognized as a participating member of the group."

Points to share

This article hits home for me. My cousin has Grand Mal Down's and lived with me for a short time when I was young. He was a student in an inclusionary high school, but had specific aides and classes. Therefore, while he was not in a segregated highschool he was in some segregated classes. He was labeled uneducable, and now uses a computer, and other appliances, is working towards getting a job and living in a group home. The experience has added to my life story, taught me sign language, and created a very special bond between myself and him. I understand the benefits he provides to all the different people he comes into contact with on a daily basis.