A Massachusetts couple is asking their son’s school district to remove a science textbook that refers to Down syndrome as an “error,” concerned the characterization could lead to bullying.
Books used by seventh graders in Bridgewater, Mass. schools describe Down syndrome by saying “the extra chromosome is the result of an error during meiosis.” The section on the chromosomal disorder also uses the term “mental retardation.”
That description didn’t sit well with Tom and Pauline Lewis. Their son Ian, 14, has Down syndrome and they say the language in the textbook is outdated and could leave Ian’s classmates with a negative view of him and others with the disorder.
The Lewises asked school officials to remove the book from use throughout the district, citing a recent case of bullying against another student with Down syndrome among their concerns. They also pointed to efforts in states across the country — including Massachusetts — and the federal government to replace the term “mental retardation” with language such as “intellectual disability.”
Administrators, however, said it was not financially viable to replace the 2002 editions of Prentice Hall’s “Science Explorer: Cells and Heredity.” Instead they agreed to instruct teachers not to include the section on Down syndrome in their lessons. Further, a committee recommended that the district encourage teachers to conduct classes promoting awareness of disabilities and the meaning of various labels.
Unsatisfied, the Lewises are appealing the decision, reports The (Brockton, Mass.) Enterprise. To read more click here.
Dear Lewis Folks,
I have been a Special Education teacher for 23 years. One of the hardest jobs, as a teacher, is explaining terms and jargon to parents with newly identified students. Mentally Disabled made me think of someone with a bandaged head! Intellectually Disabled does sum it up, but with popular identifications like LD, or Learning Disabled, parents don’t really catch the real meaning. Mental Retardation is a term that says what it is. When used in proper context, with respect, it is a very useful term.
That said, please pull your reality check book out and write a big one to yourselves. We are all full of “errors” people and acceptance is the first step to being a useful person in your child’s life. I had a little guy who was an angel for us at school and as soon as his mother came he was a baby,tyrant, whining child. His mother used to call me to tell her son to drink his milk or go to bed, or whatever…I began to see why this happened. She was never satisfied with what the student did. He needed to be in regular reading…his reading level was pre-primer in third grade, and other things that took him away with his Intellectually Disabled classes for core subjects. He was always confused and unsuccessful but she thought the “normal” would rub off or something. He was miserable. We liked him for who he was and what he could do on his own level. He loved learning sight words and I would make up stories with the words. He loved them. She said it was an unproven method…..don’t be her. When do you start liking him the way he is?
The first comment is powerfully written. With over 30 years of experience working with children of all diagnoses I, too, refuse to join the ‘ban the word’ wagon. I expect to see ID to be the next epithet.
Agreeing with jirrgang having seen inclusion used to the disadvantage of the child. Inclusion has benefits that need to be individually determined.
A child who is unable to learn at the same pace as his same age peers does not automatically benefit from sitting next to them in class. Moreover, everyone in the class knows he is different. The social aspects are near unmanageable for any school. Believing inclusion is the answer to bullying or exclusion ranks right up there with other myths (urban legends, fairytales).
Barbara
Powerfully written? I don’t think so. Research clearly shows that students with Down syndrome learn best in an inclusive environment. When educators do not have the skills, desire, motivation to include, they treat parents as if we’re delusional when we request an inclusive educational environment.
Let me ask you this. Let’s say you have a serious illness, and Doctor A tells you he is going to use Treatment A. You go home and do some research. You talk to someone else you know who has survived the illness. You learn that the current research clearly shows that a new treatment, Treatment B, results in the death of the patent 5% of the time, but Treatment A results in the death of the patient 75% of the time. You go back to the doctor, and you request he use Treatment B, but he refuses. You ask why, and he tells you that that he’s always used Treatment A; that is the standard treatment. He knows best.
Would you continue to go to to Dr. A for Treatment A? Not if you want to live. You would go to Doctor B for Treatment B.
Well, you’re both Teacher A. And your “teacher knows best” attitude is going to limit the future of people with Down syndrome. Read the research, stretch outside your box, l.i.s.t.e.n to what parents are saying. We don’t need you to teach us the terminology. Our kids have had Down syndrome since birth. They weren’t “newly identified” when they walked into your classroom. We research. We discuss. We learn continually about what we can do to help our kids achieve the most success they’re capable of.
And we do love them exactly as they are. EXACTLY. And we want them – just like any decent parent – to live up to EXACTLY who they are.
You see a diagnosis. We see a person. You know them for a short time. We know them for a lifetime. You get them through a school year. We get them through to adulthood – and beyond.
Respect us. We deserve it. And when you start keeping up with the research and following the experts’ advice and quit thinking you know it all because you’ve taught special ed for 20 years in some little town, then you’ll deserve our respect. Other teachers successfully include students with Down syndrome. If you’re having problems with it, maybe you should look at yourself instead of blaming the student or the parent.
Lewis Folks –
Keep up the good fight!
Tamara>>> WOW as a PARENT also I completely agree with everything you said!!! I have therapists come into my home and tell me what my daughter will not ever do, how things will probably be, and what dreams I should give up. Oh, I’m sorry that is right they are the “professionals” so they know exactly what is going to happen. I don’t care how many times you’ve watched inclusion fail in your school, the answer is never to regress and go back to isolating them. It is not only beneficial for our children to be included it is beneficial to all the other students. and DUH @TherExtras they know he’s different, but they understand who he is, not just what he has be diagnosed with. They learn to grow as humans from helping the included child with projects, eating meals together, playing on the playground together. They don’t learn who an individual is by seeing them through the window of a special education classroom. Sorry but gym class isn’t enough time to get to know the kids with developmental delays if they aren’t around them at any other time of the day. Most typical kids think they will hurt the child with a d.d. and see them as weaker individuals. Seeing them in a natural environment everyday, all day shows everyone what our children can do, will do, and want to do.
@jirrgang….. on of the hardest jobs as a parent is making “professionals” understand that you learned from a book, then learned through experience. So in turn all of you personal knowledge is biased on what you learned from someone else’s teachings. We as parents learn first hand through experience, trial and error, and love and understanding. Then we grasp for any and all knowledge that we find. We already have experience so we question what we read, we seek other’s opinions and knowledge, we find research and data to back up the studies we find. WE parents are the PROFESSIONALS. (**not all parents take the second step, those parents then are not professionals and could be more clueless as to what their child needs more than you are – take your whining child for example) Of course my daughter will be in her regular classroom settings, she will do her school work to the best of her abilities and if she struggles I will be right there tutoring her everyday, pushing her to succeed. If she continues to struggle we would be open to discussing holding her back with younger peers that are closer to her developmental age, not segragating her to a hole in the wall where kids go to spit lougies at the ceiling and get by with a diplomia that they can’t even read. Oh, yeah and if she “can’t” learn a subject, oh well she’s going to stay in it and keep trying until she graduates. And do you know why….. because nobody ever succeed from having their hand held and told oh that’s okay you tried and that’s all that matters. Pat on the backs are for small children and dogs not those with developmental delays or who are differently abled.