Should My Wordless Kid Go to School with Your Normal Child?
Of course we should educate every child that can actually be educated, but there’s a problem here that all the advocates seem to be glossing over:
Every special needs student is entitled, by federal law, to an Individual Education Program that is agreed upon by the teachers (special ed and mainstream), support staff and administration of the school. The IEP is developed by all the parties involved to create a educational environment most appropriate for that student, in the context of the entire school’s learning environment.
The problem is that the dividing line between those who are entitled and those who are not is completely arbitrary! Or, to put it another way, is there any student at any level who wouldn’t benefit from the individualized attention of an IEP? Of course not!
So what we’re really arguing about here is where to place that dividing line (and, secondarily, some are using egregiously offensive terminology in their arguments.) So maybe the author could drop his tone of moral superiority, and Curtis could do away with his outrageous slur terms, and we could discuss the actual question of how much individualized, customized education is due to what kind of students, as the adults and citizens that we presumably are.
