tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33052404.post4888064834962367521..comments2024-02-13T21:31:57.980-04:00Comments on Facing Autism in New Brunswick: New Brunswick Human Rights Commission Guidelines Discriminate Against Autistic StudentsAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05838571980003579163noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33052404.post-47879200824618685522007-10-17T08:29:00.000-03:002007-10-17T08:29:00.000-03:00I am in full agreement with you on this issue. Whi...I am in full agreement with you on this issue. While inclusion is the best educational option for some disabled students, I think it is absurd to advocate it for all of them, regardless of the nature and degree of their disabilities. The inclusion model must coexist with a special education system for those students who learn poorly or not at all in the typical classroom. But when there are serious problems in special education, people, instead of addressing them, take the easy decision of dismantling the system altogether.<BR/>I know of two documentaries about inclusion education of a boy with Down syndrome, "Educating Peter" and "Graduating Peter". I haven't watched them but I read that Peter, after trying his best to endure the strain of the typical classroom, "graduated" secondary school with a certificate of attendance. Wouldn't he be better off placed in a classroom matched to his abilities and needs and graduating with a real diploma for, say, 8th grade? His classmate said, "We have learned more from Peter than Peter from us." I can quite believe this, especially after Peter doesn't seem to have learned very much. But the boy was in school to learn, not to teach. To me, the education system failed Peter.<BR/>The all-inclusion model also will inevitably lead to resistance against introduction of educational standards, because such standards are likely to prove that the Emperor has no clothes, i.e. that many of the "included" students learn poorly.<BR/>Even when inclusion is appropriate, school authorities seem to forget that it requires very efficient strategy against bullying, because disabled students are primary targets of abusers. I know of a 15-year-old autistic boy who was included in a typical school in my city. He was more disciplined and learned better than most typical students. A good example of inclusion, isn't it? But when some of his classmates established a record of misdemeanors and showed antisocial behaviour, nobody at the school realized the need to tighten security. One day, these teenagers brought the autistic student to the school toilet and gang-raped him.Maya Mhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10877457709995369246noreply@blogger.com