Talking Points # 9

Quotes: Citizenship in School- Reconceptualizing Down Syndrome
Author: Christopher Kliewer


1. "I started to notice that I didn't like the classes I was taking called special education. I had to go through special ed. almost all my life. I wanted to take other classes that interested me. I had never felt so mad, I wanted to cry (Peterson, 1994, p. 6)."


This quote makes me sad. I feel like the teachers and administration didn't let Mia voice her opinion and chose her own classes. They made her take special ed. classes because she had a disability which I think is wrong. I think that if a student thinks he or she can succeed in a regular class, they should at least be able to try it.


2. "The movement to merge the education of children with and without disabilities is based on the belief that to enter the dialogue of citizenship does not require spoken, or indeed outspoken, language."


This quote is interesting to me. At first I didn't understand it, until I kept on reading. The next line explains it a little more. It means that communication is built on one's ability to listen deeply to others. Therefore, you MUST listen to someone and hear their opinion in order for it to be successful.


3. "It is seen by the area school districts as an exemplary program for all young children, induding those with what are defined as the most severe disabilities."


I was so happy when I read this part of the text. I felt like the couple paragraphs before this the author wasn't focusing on children with disabilities. This quote is saying that the school Shoshone School is educating 10-16 children of all sorts of ages and with all sorts of ability levels, which means they educated children with disabilities and children without disabilities in the same classroom. I think that the children with disabilities feel a lot better knowing that they are in a classroom with children without disabilities. I also think that they feel as normal as they can in a classroom with children without disabilities.


All in all, I enjoyed reading this article. I feel like it will help me down the road because I am majoring in Special Education and this was all about Special Education.