C. Kliewer's Schooling Children With Down Syndrome

One in five American students has a learning disability this is according to the documentary “Misunderstood Minds’’ produced by WGBH. Children with learning disabilities are more likely to become outcasts in school and in society. The documentary follows five families dealing with a differently abled child; Nathan V, Lauren, Sarah Lee, Adam, and Nathan S. The film focuses on difficulties the families go through, professionalism or lack of it by school officials and demystification.

For the purpose of this assignment, this section of the paper will critically reflect and analyze the portrayal of people with Down Syndrome in mass media. I chose to specifically evaluate CBC New’s portrayal because it is one of our greatest sources of news in British Columbia. This section will look into several of CBC’s most recent news stories that are about people with down syndrome and the adversity they face. We will see that there is a common trend towards advocating for these people as well as trying to rid Down Syndrome from being seen as a disability.

In the video “Inclusion, belonging, and the disability revolution” (TEDTalks, 2014), speaker Jennie Fenton opens with describing situations where people with disabilities are segregated and excluded from their communities, sent to live together away from society, or even treated as lesser humans. She then proceeds to introduce her family, including her six-year-old daughter that was diagnosed with cerebral palsy. Jennie admits to previously having negative or frightened thoughts about having a child with a disability, but with her “seven realizations,” she learned that her daughter was merely on a different path than others, but that no one should ever feel broken or not a whole person (TEDTalks, 2014). After she explains that there are roughly one billion people with a disability throughout the world, Jennie states that she believes in possibility over disability. If a person’s

Though excelling in means of pathos and ethos, the argument has a shortage of strong logical evidence such as statistics to convince wavering readers. The paper also lacks a strong thesis and structural argument, which is necessary when writing to both a wavering and hostile audience. Bauer's unique position as the mother of a daughter who has down syndrome would potentially allow her to exploit the emotion of readers specifically those in a wavering audience, though her stories are deficient of an in depth description of the pain and hardships contributed directly to the term retard. The argument contains factors that would allow it to be fully effective such as a touching personal experience and connection to both the media and the United States dilemma of discrimination and derogatory language. Despite including these positive aspects for a strong argument the author fails to seek a solution, take a fighting stand, and deliver a passionate

Individuals with disability have had a long history of maltreatment in America. From being thought of as possessed individuals in need of exorcism, targeted for heinous experiments, unknowingly sterilized, being labeled imbecile, feeble minded, and retarded, to being shipped off to state schools or mental asylums, those with disabilities were given no consideration as a valuable and able to contribute member of society. In a speech to congress, Frank Bowe, a highly educated deaf-man highlighted this claim by stating, “we are not even second-class citizens, we are third-class citizens” (Bowe, F. 1977--need citation), and Jim Cherry (2001) furthered the ideal in his words, that prior to “1970 we [disabled citizens] had no right to education, to employment, to transportation, to housing, or to voting. There were no civil rights laws for us, no federal advocacy grants. Few people looked beyond our medical needs” (Cherry, J.L, 2001 http://www.raggededgemagazine.com/0701/0701cov.htm). Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 attempted to fundamentally change how disabled people were reguarded.

Disability has been a difficult topic of society for years. Many people find discomfort in the presence of the disabled and many feel pity for those who are disabled. Back in the 1800s, the disabled were perceived as unable to contribute to society, often forced to undergo sterilization, and forced into institutions and asylums (“A Brief History”). In fact, this treatment of the disabled and mentally ill has been persistent until somewhat recently, when the Civil Rights movement took place, and those with disabilities decided to take a stand for their rights. Although people with disabilities continue to face difficulties in finding jobs, legitimizing their opinion, having the right to vote, and choosing whether or not they receive or refuse

In the United States alone over fifty-six million people, or nineteen percent of the population, struggles with disabilities. Each one is unique, ranging from mild to intense, physical or mental, to even behavioral. The way society views this group is as though the handicapped are inferior to others. The aforementioned viewpoint has made terminology such as “retarded” or “slow” second nature in an average American’s vocabulary. It is unjust and has no right in modern civilization.

Peter, a boy diagnosed with Down Syndrome, was first seen filmed as a third-grader entering his first year in a general classroom rather than one with only students with disabilities. “Educating Peter,” was a film made in 1992 following Peter’s journey being the first child with a severe mental disability, to be included in a general classroom at his elementary school. Elementary school was a challenge for Peter, his parents and his teachers. However, as Peter continues to get older, the film “Graduating Peter,” showcases the story of Peter’s academic accomplishments and struggles as he prepares to graduate from high school. A particular part of the video that stood out to me was when Peter’s mother talked about the loss of control she

In order to fully serve all students within a classroom setting, it is helpful to consider the membership of each individual class member. The criteria used to consider a student’s membership or citizenship within a classroom community comes from the book, Schooling Children with Down Syndrome: Toward an Understanding of Possibility, written by Christopher Kliewer in 1998. “The four elements of citizenship (are): 1) a belief in one’s ability to think, 2) a belief in one’s individuality, 3) a belief in the reciprocity of the relationship, and 4) a shared social place.” (Rapp, p.129, 2012) The ultimate goal for each student is to achieve full citizenship where the contributions of each member are considered by others and the academic needs of each member are also being met. Rapp further explains Kliewer’s elements to possess a “belief that everyone is capable of thinking-thinking deeply, thinking creatively, thinking for themselves” (Rapp, p.129, 2012), “the belief that each person has unique characteristics all his or her own” (Rapp, p.130, 2012), “you believe that everyone has something to give and everyone has something to receive; everyone is a teacher and a learner” (Rapp, p.129, 2012), and “it is a place where each individual belongs and where he or she is valued and can take risks without fear or failure or persecution.” (Rapp, p.129, 2012) The common theme of Kliewer’s elements revolves around ideas of being open minded and believing that

This essay will discuss the term - learning disability or (learning difficulties – a term sometimes used interchangeably) and some possible causes. The nature and role of advocacy as a part of the empowerment process will also be considered. All these will be done in relation to Kelly – a person with Down’s syndrome as a case study. It will explain the progress made with Kelly by her support workers and how these can be further developed to ensure a more independent and meaningful life.

This week’s discussion dealt with Individuals and Disabilities. Over the years, people who have a “disability" have been subjected to prejudice and more. And the first way to diminish someone is through language, by using words or labels to identify a person as "less-than," as "the others—not like us," and so forth. Once a person has been identified this way, it makes

People who suffer from the difficulties of having a disability as well as being discriminated against may have complications managing. In daily life, individuals seek the approval, acceptance, and companionship of their peers; those with disabilities are no different in what they seek. Therefore, being out casted can have very disturbing conclusions. A woman and her daughter experienced severe brutality because of the daughter’s mental disabilities. In order to escape the cruelty the woman killed both her daughter and herself (Williams, Rachel). As if it isn’t wretched enough, others with disabilities also feel the discrimination against them, more so than other groups of society. In addition to discriminating, people do it

There are many people with permanent disability’s that contribute to our society in very useful ways. In most cases, these people are viewed as being courageous. This kind of a reaction is typical but not always honest. There are a lot of people are uncomfortable around those that are considered “less than normal”. In her article The Abortion Debate No One Wants to Have, Patricia Bauer writes about Down’s syndrome and abortion. Bauer is a former reporter and bureau chief for the Washington Post.

Today’s society is different in its thinking when dealing with people with disabilities. There had to be many changes made in its labeling, and approach when dealing with people who may have physical/mental differences. The ostracize behavior that people were known to disturb in society has changed a great deal, due to the many federal laws that have been put in place to insure the well-being of people that have disabilities. In 1972, one very well-known case is Mill vs Board of Education of the District of Columbia this case address how the constituted rights of students were not being meet by not providing them with a public education.” Many disabled children had been excluded from public education prior to 1975,24 Congress, through the Act, sought initially to set up a process by which states would find children in need of educational services and bring them into the system”(Kotler, p.491,2014).