In article >,
Julia Altshuler > wrote:


> There are kids who really need class work taught at their grade level,
> not one with Down's syndrome children there who are being mainstreamed.
> So you get dueling disabilities. The Down's syndrome kids will
> benefit most from being in the regular classroom, not segregated out
> with other Down's syndrome kids. The ones without Down's syndrome will
> benefit from being in a class with other children who are learning and
> progressing as they are. What to do?


Be reasonable, maybe? Sometimes I wonder if some parents are being
selfish about this. It's too hard to take care of their disabled child,
so let the school do it.

There was a family in our area who made a big deal out of having their
kindergarden daughter be mainstreamed. She had an older sister who was
on the same soccer team as my daughter. So, I sometimes saw the
kindergarden kid at games. I watched her one game. They parked her on
the sideline, so at least she had something to watch. Not one parent,
or anyone else, paid one second of attention to that kid for the whole
game. We're talking an hour here, probably. Not one word, not one
touch. Nothing at all. She was in a stroller. It was a tiny stroller,
and she was a good-sized five YO. They had her well-strapped in. She
just sat there the whole time, flailing her arms and legs around and
making noises. Her behavior wasn't a problem, but I imagine it was a
big problem in the classroom. How come if it's so important for her to
be in a regular classroom, where she pretty obviously wasn't going to
get anything at all out of it, they can leave her totally without
attention for an hour? Now, I don't really know anything about this,
and maybe she got something out of the game, and maybe she got something
out of being in a regular class, but it made me sad to see her there
without any attention at all for an hour.

--
Dan Abel

Petaluma, California, USA