What is “ableism”? To help me get a better and complete understanding of what I was reading, I decided to read more about the term “ableism” before I delved into the text. I found a great definition and explanation on the Center for Disability Rights website, which I have linked here: “Ableism is a set of beliefs or practices that devalue and discriminate against people with physical, intellectual, or psychiatric disabilities and often rests on the assumption that disabled people need to be ‘fixed’ in one form or the other” (Leah Smith).
3 Talking Points:
“Applied to schooling and child development, ableist preferences become particularly apparent. From an ableist perspective, the devaluation of disability results in societal attitudes that uncritically assert that it is better for a child to walk than roll, speak than sign, read print than read Braille, spell independently than use a spell-check, and hang out with nondisabled kids as opposed to other disabled kids, etc. In short, in the eyes of many educators and society, it is preferable for disabled students to do things in the same manner as non-disabled kids.”
Disabilities don’t have to be seen as a negative, or as something to work against, it is actually a trait, like eye color, it is a feature that helps to make a person uniquely themselves. Merriam-Webster defines “disability” as a physical, mental, cognitive, or developmental condition that impairs, interferes with, or limits a person's ability to engage in certain tasks or actions or participate in typical daily activities and interactions. For many people with disabilities, they are able to accomplish and do many “typical” and “normal” things, they just have a different way of doing so that works for them. It is a social construct that gives “disabilities” a negative connotation. One does not usually realize that they way they are, their abilities or how they do things are negative until society tells them it is, or creates situations in which their ability is a disability. For example, if a student is dyslexic, and is only given reading assignments to learn content, they are likely going to struggle and their ability to learn will suffer, therefore creating a disability. If taking the focus off of reading and finding another way that works for them to learn the content, their “disability” is not really an issue. Different people have different ways of doing all kinds of things, to get to the same end. In education we want to provide students with an education that will help them to lead full, rich lives and give them the ability to participate in society. Not everyone gets to that end in the same way.
“Though research strongly indicates that students with LD [learning disabilities] need more intensive services in reading than their nondisabled peers and that they should receive this assistance throughout their schooling, focusing their special education program solely on learning to read is not appropriate. For students with LD, this reflects the ableist assumption that special education’s role should be to change disabilities even if that is not fully possible.”
My husband, as a child, was “diagnosed” with learning disabilities. He struggled with reading and required special education classes to help with this. I didn’t know him as a child, but twenty-something years later, he still talks about how painful it was for him to be in those classes, and how difficult it was for him to get through the days at school. His mom has reminisced with me about countless mornings of arguing to go to school and afternoons as a young child he would either come home so upset, crying and frustrated from the school day or take a long nap, mentally exhausted from school. His dad would spend hours every night after dinner trying to help him with homework. He hated school with a passion, he couldn’t enjoy learning because the days were spent trying to bring him to “standard”, to get him to be able to read and write and spell - things that just went against his grain. As Hehir states, “school time spent devoted to activities associated with changing disability may take away from the time needed to learn academic material”. However, if you gave my husband an engine he could take it apart and put it back together again with ease, he could build things and seemingly figure out anything, he aced geometry because “it just made sense”. After reading this piece by Hehir, I can’t help but look at his experience in a whole new light, and if anything, feel angry for him. I see how smart he is, but he will forever carry that negative thought about himself, that he was “dumb” in school because so much time was spent focusing on his learning disability, rather than, as Hehir puts it, encouraging “disabled students to develop and use skills and modes of expression that are most effective and efficient for them”. Hehir talks about focusing on getting the content to students, instead of simply worrying about bringing their reading/writing/spelling etc, up to “standard” so that they can then learn the content, which in turn increases success. “Special education should not mean a different curriculum, but rather the vehicle by which students with disabilities access the curriculum and the means by which the unique needs that arise out of the child’s disability are addressed”.
“Using the analogy of architecture, we often attempt to retrofit the child with inappropriate interventions after they have failed in school, rather than design the instructional program from the beginning to allow for access and success. And, as is the case with architecture, the failure to design universally is inefficient and ineffective”.
I believe Hehir is referencing here to take a proactive rather than reactive approach when teaching. As educators, we should assume that there will be different abilities and types of learners, and a one-size fits all approach is simply not best practice in education. The goal should be to get students the content, not try to mold how they learn and THEN teach. That is frustrating for the educator and a disservice to the students. My background is in medicine, and every patient’s medical needs and physical health is different. The route for patients to get to optimal health looks different for everyone, as every patient has different backgrounds, medical history, conditions and thus every patient has a different care plan. Patients cannot all be treated the same, and neither should students. As health care providers, we prepare for all different types of patients requiring care. At a hospital for example, there are various tools and supplies available for all types of medical conditions and abilities. A patient may not be able to walk, or eat or have the ability to use the bathroom, however staff are prepared to care for them, they do not assume that every patient will require the same level of care. One could say that hospitals are “universally designed” with the assumption that patients of various abilities will be cared for, and education should be as well. Educators should be prepared and be provided with the tools and taught skills to teach various types of learners.
Argument Statement: Hehir argues that “ableist assumptions in the education of children with disabilities not only reinforces prevailing prejudices against disability but may very well contribute to low levels of educational attainment of education and employment”. He offers six components to address and promote change to ableist attitudes and actions within education: including disability as part of schools’ overall diversity efforts; encourage disabled students to develop and use skills and modes of expression that are most effective and efficient for them; special education should be specialized; move away from the current obsession with placement toward an obsession with results, promote high standards, not high stakes; employ concepts of universal design to schooling.
Connections: While reading this text, I thought about our discussions and other texts, especially Alan Johnson, about privilege, power and oppression. Ableist attitudes promote systems of power. If a disability is treated as something to be ashamed of, as something to work through, or against, it gives privilege, power and advantage to those who are not disabled, thus putting those with disabilities at a disadvantage, creating a system of oppression.
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