Talking Points # 9

Citizenship in School:

Reconceptualizing Down Syndrome

by Christopher Kliewer

1. "It's not like they come here to be labeled, or to believe the label.  We're all here- kids, teachers, parents, whoever- it's about all of us working together, playing together, being together, and that's what learning is."

I really like this because I don't know how many times in school I have seen a person with disabilities get labeled. They are not aliens, they are people who just like you and me have feelings. It isn't about labeling them as different, but working together and getting by day to day with each other. We have to be able to work together because that is what life is all about. People learn best from others not from being outcasts or alone. Learning isn't something that people do just by sitting and listening alone. The best learning takes place when people work off one another and support/help each other. I'm glad that some schools see this.

2.  "Just because she is handicapped doesn't mean she can't learn."

This is so true. Handicapped people are not incompetent. Maybe it appears they can't learn because nobody gives them a chance. Some of the most brilliant minds are handicapped.Once again they are people and learning may be a little harder, but none the less they have the ability to learn just like you or I. I have heard of a lot of autistic people who have difficulty learning some things, but they are geniuses in another area that I could not begin to understand. Everyone can learn and everyone can grow. I remember in high school when the students with handicaps would all sit at the same table and whenever any student who wasn't handicapped walked by and got quiet. No wonder they probably feel labeled when nobody can even walk by them without putting their head down and avoiding eye contact. It is almost like people are pitying them. I would hate for someone to always pity me.

3. "That's what learning is. It's taking risks and seeing stuff in new ways...Maybe you don't read the book exactly like the author wrote it, but you're making sense of it... and then the next day, maybe your dance changes."

This is an awesome quote. I think what it is saying is that not everyone sees things exactly the same and that is fine. That's what makes us all unique and what makes learning so interesting. We are constantly changing and developing and this is all apart of learning. If everyone played it safe without any deeper connections to the material how would a person get a deeper learning. I don't have to learn the same way someone else does. The point is that I learn.

I was surprised to read an article like this because it is kind of different from what we have been reading, but I liked it. I"m always surprised by the articles because a lot of time I have thought about these subject subconsciously, everyday I go to school, but I never really got to think about them or decide my point of view. I'm going to be sad when we are done with these because I leaned a lot about my beliefs, morals, values, which all make up me as a person.. It really was a self discovery in many aspects.