Quote:
Originally Posted by flip
So I have a coworker who has a daughter aged 10 or so. So she's in about grade 4. She goes to a Catholic elementary school.
Here's the issue:
There is a retarted kid in her class (sorry but I'm not PC enough to use mentally challenged all the time) and he is quite disruptive and requires a lot of time from the teacher which should be spent on the other kids. My coworker's daughter has been complaining to her mom that it is very difficult to be in this class because the retarted kid is a constant disruption who requires attn.
My coworker went to the school and complained to the principal of the school on the grounds that a) this child needs more care than the teacher can offer and b) since she is giving him all this care the "normal" kids are losing out on an education.
The principal replied by saying that they do not offer retarted kids special education because the retarted kid needs to be accepted and the "normal" kids need to learn to accept him.
This is great and all that they want to teach tolerance but at the expense of the children's education? I for one remember seeing the "special" kids at school but they were all in their own class and had caregivers with them all the time. Sort of like that Simpsons episode where they move and Bart gets put in the special education class with the Canadian kid Gordie. ("I'm from Canada and they think I'm slow, eh.")
How does everyone feel about this? Personally, while I like tolerance this case is BS, this kid clearly isn't just a little bit slow, and needs to be in an environment with other challenged children where he can receive proper care.
Is this common nowadays? Do you think the Catholic School Board is just too cheap/poor to provide proper care for this kid? Or is the principal serious that we are in such a PC society that retarted kids can't even get special care because it would be offensive to not let them have the same education as everyone else?
Discuss.
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I think the principal makes a valid point here. Tolerence of others is something everyone can benefit from be it a mental disability, physical disability or racial for that matter.
How long has this been a problem? The school year just started, have these two kids been together since Grade 1? It's quite likely the disabled individual will learn the ropes and be less of a disruption as time goes by.
If he/she is severly disabled they wouldn't be there to begin with.
It's hard to say for sure without more information about the disability if it is a good placement.