Disability awareness/rights in schools – how do you feel?
blondieblue227
Va, USA Posts: 4,509
Do you think it should be taught?
(copied from the cause homepage)
The disability rights movement started at the same time other civil rights movements like, the African American movement and the women's movement began. However, it took several more years for laws to be passed that would grant equal rights to persons with disabilities. By teaching the history of the disability rights movement to our children, as part of the civil rights curriculum, we will open doors for inclusion, compassion, better communication and respect for our children with disabilities. Not only that, but how empowering for a child with a disability to learn that their voice matters. That people just like them had such an impact on our society. Persons with disabilities make up the largest minority group and are still fighting for equal rights, today. Disability does not discriminate; it's in every race, gender, sexual orientation and age group. Not only is it natural but, it's inevitable. We will all age and with age come issues with sight, mobility, hearing and cognition. Support this movement and you will be molding how you are treated when you become disabled.
join the facebook cause:
Add the History of the Disability Rights Movement to Curriculum
Teach the history of the disability rights movement as part of the civil rights curriculum.
http://apps.facebook.com/causes/395159/97706668
IF YOU DON'T HAVE FACEBOOK:
Add History of the Disability Rights Movement to School Curriculum Petition
to be presented to the US Department of Education
http://www.gopetition.com/online/33286.html
I agree this is necessary. People with disabilities are the largest minority group. Disability does not discriminate although, people with disabilities are often discriminated against. An education of disability history and rights would be befeficial to society.
(copied from the cause homepage)
The disability rights movement started at the same time other civil rights movements like, the African American movement and the women's movement began. However, it took several more years for laws to be passed that would grant equal rights to persons with disabilities. By teaching the history of the disability rights movement to our children, as part of the civil rights curriculum, we will open doors for inclusion, compassion, better communication and respect for our children with disabilities. Not only that, but how empowering for a child with a disability to learn that their voice matters. That people just like them had such an impact on our society. Persons with disabilities make up the largest minority group and are still fighting for equal rights, today. Disability does not discriminate; it's in every race, gender, sexual orientation and age group. Not only is it natural but, it's inevitable. We will all age and with age come issues with sight, mobility, hearing and cognition. Support this movement and you will be molding how you are treated when you become disabled.
join the facebook cause:
Add the History of the Disability Rights Movement to Curriculum
Teach the history of the disability rights movement as part of the civil rights curriculum.
http://apps.facebook.com/causes/395159/97706668
IF YOU DON'T HAVE FACEBOOK:
Add History of the Disability Rights Movement to School Curriculum Petition
to be presented to the US Department of Education
http://www.gopetition.com/online/33286.html
I agree this is necessary. People with disabilities are the largest minority group. Disability does not discriminate although, people with disabilities are often discriminated against. An education of disability history and rights would be befeficial to society.
*~Pearl Jam will be blasted from speakers until morale improves~*
Post edited by Unknown User on
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Comments
just trying to help spread the word.
You don't think this has a natural place in social studies? Teaching young people about tolerance and kindness towards people who are different is not a waste of time. It's one of the best ways to change attitudes in the future.
If disabilities law and rights were taught in school, those with special needs would be better understood and, better yet, appreciated for the struggles they must face.
It would reduce the "difference" chasm by bringing the subject out in open for discussion in the classroom. It would make students (the younger the better) aware that special needs students don't only face their disabilities, they must also face segregation, non-acceptance, bullying, and--the worse offense--abuse by the adults they are entrusted with--teachers and staff. So it might be a learning experience for the teachers as well as the students.
Considering that one in 91 children are diagnosed with autism--and that's one in every 40 to 50 boys (WTF!!!), the schools are going to be quite strained.
I have a four year old son with autism and we are already facing gigantic cold brick walls from the school system. Teaching disabilities as a mater-of-factly--written right into the history books-- might help to bring down some of those walls and make disabilities more common place and acceptable, and looked upon with compassion and understanding, not with indifference or rejection or segregation.
that should be done in the home. we demand too much of our schools and teachers as it is. they're teachers, not welfare workers, social workers, psychologists, doctors, or parents. let them teach. once we figure out a way to make sure our kids can learn to read and do basic math, which they're not doing now, then maybe we can talk about adding new subjects like playing nice to the curriculum.
I’d like to see some facts about people with disabilities in school books, not a lesson on sensitivity.
Martin L King was a civil rights leader.
Ed Roberts was the father of the Independent Living Movement.
Just the facts.
Did you see my point?
to the supporters, Thank You.
i suppose, but i kinda feel like MLK and that other guy are not in the same league. i never even heard of ed roberts. and this country's struggle with racism and slavery is a bit more integral to our history as a nation than the relatively uncontroversial passage of the ADA that gave us ramps on every building.
when did simply getting old and dying like every other human on the planet become a disability?
i didn't say that. the person who started that FB cause did.
and the fact that you've never heard of that guy proves my point.
uh come on soulsinging, we usually agree on stuff.
so long as you are not a woman (i jest), you can rise to the ultimate achievement in america by being president.
yeah, but i'm anti-awareness and pc-stuff. i'm tired of every group with some adversity wanting a national holiday and a few days of our school curriculum devoted to their pet cause. and i'm VERY anti-anything that adds more to school curriculums. we're too busy making sure we find a token woman, black guy, mexican, amputee, etc to devote an entire history lesson to in order to prove we're enlightened and equal when we can't even find enough time to teach them how to read, write, and add. maybe once the rest of the world stops making our kids look like illiterate inbred monkeymen, i'll consider adding something more complex to our school load, like questions of ethics and tolerance. but until then, fuck all special interest curriculum changes until we reach a point where at least a high school drop out will know enough math to give me correct change at a gas station.
it started with betsy ross for me. i'm sorry, she sewed a fucking flag. she's not a hero. we just needed to find a chick to praise to placate women. god forbid we acknowledge that historically, women weren't allowed to do shit and thus had little impact on history for a while. instead, we find this token of mediocre housewivery and act like that should be enough to inspire millions. i'm sorry, if you're too dumb to see through that bullshit and realize she didn't do shit worth remembering, then you're too dumb to be bothered by male oppression so wasting time on feel good stories like that is pointless anyhow.
All the bleeding hearts of the world unite bullshit, right.
I get it.
Care about this, care about this. After while you tune it out, it all becomes a constant mind numbing drone after a while.
I suppose you are the persuasion of George Carlin’s ‘nobody has rights’ huh. (In which I do see his point in some ways)
If so, my continued message is completely pointless (to you SS) I’m aware. Lol!
I started this thread because I myself am disabled. So it was a selfish post in some regards. But I also know the disabled community is the largest minority group, and it boggles my mind how often we are forgotten/abused/discriminated etc.
But wait I’m not asking people to be more thoughtful or sensitive, I’m asking for my rights. Just give me my rights. It’s all right there in the ADA. It’s the law. To do so I believe our children need to know a little bit about the history of people with disabilities. How can American be the strongest it can be if a large chunk of it’s population is routinely marginalized?
I don’t think this should be required reading in schools....but if anybody's interested:
The New Disability History: American Perspectives
http://www.amazon.com/New-Disability-Hi ... pd_sim_b_1
what i'm referring to is much larger then the ADA.
If you think the only issue pertaining to the disabled community is the ADA, you are clueless. Beyond the usual abled-bodied clueless-ness. Hehehe!
:x :shock: at some responses here...
Blondie - like i've said before and i"ll say it again - you'd make a great spokewoman... and dealing with people in such a grateful and polite manner.
:shock: :roll:
That is exactly why we should teach at younger age and we wouldn't even be seeing such attitude like that. :P
*says something in sign language that would have gotten me banned*
there. I feel better. :P
EV: It's your band.
~Q Magazine
"Kisses for the glow...kisses for the lease." - BDRII
LMAO!!!
thanks for your support homegirl.
thanks.......one of the reasons why i like the pj board is i get a run for my money. not everybody agrees. it's actually kind of fun to me.
i mean just read the replies off of this one....... Mind you it was still when the board was free so there were more 'fun' people to talk with.
http://www.ivykennedy.com/chat/sicko.htm
or
http://www.ivykennedy.com/chat/ac.dc.htm
they were so good, i had to keep em!
Maybe even 10C could benefit from this....
OK... I'm bitter.
I don't think you do get it, but that's what happens when you decide you don't have to read the whole post
My only point is a response to your question there, and it's another question: How can America be the strongest it can be if an EVEN LARGER chunk of its population is so thoroughly failed by an already overtaxed school system that it routinely finishes years of school without basic literacy and math skills? THAT is a far more alarming and pressing problem to my mind. It's not that I've got it in for disabled people or single their cause out. I think we need to axe about 75% of our current school curriculums and focus on teaching our kids valuable and useful skills instead of trying to give them what amounts to a humanities-lite degree in its uselessness.
like i told 81 i'm cool with his/her opinion.
that was much straight forward and to the point than your other posts.
Like you, I understood better with the latest post. I do agree... I am not happy with my children's curriculum and it could have been done better to make their education worthwhile.
I just found out that they are going to start this project where kids will learn Chinese for half the day and the other in English! WTF??? They say it'd improve their cognitive and critical thinking skills... which I'm all for.
But CHINESE?! Why not ASL, the 3rd most used language? :P
But anyway, I'm getting off the point here.
Back to topic - the point is that they've already included minorities - women, African-Americans, gay movement, etc... but little or none on the disabilities. groans.
if they get it, so shall we.
EV: It's your band.
~Q Magazine
"Kisses for the glow...kisses for the lease." - BDRII
glad i managed to make a little more sense this most recent time around
i wanted to respond to this one though... i would argue they haven't included many minorities. obviously, we have afr-amer history month and lots of focus there, but outside that, what is there? do we learn about any hispanic heroes? i didn't. can we lump them all together or does it have to be separate days for latin and hispanic heritage tributes? the gay movement... they are definitely NOT getting mentioned in the curriculum or i can promise you the right would be having seizures over it. women... we give them a token story about betsy ross and then send them on. i'm not saying those with disabilities are less deserving than any of those groups, just that it's not like everyone else is getting in on the pc-pie and only the disabled are out cold.
as to chinese, i largely agree. on the one hand, i think our insular xenophobia is bad and more emphasis on foreign language skills is a good thing, esp given that we'll all have to speak chinese in a few decades anyway. though i'd think a similar program for spanish would be way more useful for most people. but the fact that they try to justify it as somehow teaching cognitive skills is complete bullshit. that's why our schools suck. all this innovative bullshit to make sure everyone feels real good about themselves is killing us. used to be you rightly felt a little embarrassed if you were a fucking moron and you worked to avoid that. now nobody's embarrassed about anything and if you're a fucking moron you go on tv to play game shows against children and laugh about how dumb you are while claiming that it isn't true and it's just that the tests don't measure your inner smart person right :roll:
hehe, we've probably regressed now... our school system infuriates me and i rant about it often, thus my exuberant language before... it's becos fo the schools not the disability movement!
and now i'll stop hijacking the thread
I completely agree with you there.
I learned a lot in my women's studies and culture diversity courses in college, wishing I had learned this in public schools... I was surprised to learn a lot i didn't know. But yes, I did notice that there were a lot of information left out, insufficient or lack of. And also information that were NOT included in history classes when growing up!
Perhaps that is something that could be done in schools...because they are practicing "zero tolerance" policy now (which i personally find a joke because we live in a town that is dominated by the Whites AND Republicans.
Yeah I totally agree that the education system is totallly fucked up. :evil: we teach kids it's okay to be different but expect them to exceed the 'standard' education established by who ... uh... say that again?
The town board here rejected one teacher's proposal of using the vacant building here on the main street so she could practice the 'individualism' philosophy to achieve academically as well as emotionally and pyschologically...etc.... saying how the building zone wasn't approved, not because of her teaching approach.
Yeah right! They're just afraid that the parents would love her teaching method and fuck the public education system.
*mutters* So much it's really for the children.... :(
EV: It's your band.
~Q Magazine
"Kisses for the glow...kisses for the lease." - BDRII
My aide in school sometimes had to persuade teachers to grade me fairly. (I was in regular classes) I’m glad she did that. Teachers if they weren’t used to me would coddle me with the grades. Completely stupid! If I earned an F I earned it fair and square.
My mom and I were watching Britain’s Missing Model (competition for models with disabilities) and she turned to me and said I think everybody should win.
At times I feel like I’m a stranger to my mom. Hello, am I a stranger to you; I’ve been your daughter for 30 years!?
Mom, I can’t believe you said that. This is a competition, not Special Olympics!
PS Why does Europe get all the reality shows with people with disabilities?
cast offs: Survivor, the Disabled Version
i understand your point way better now.
thanks for saying that.
this is far out, but do you think the womens rights movement played a role in why there's not tons of good teachers now?
they all went for the high paying biz job instead of the low paying teachers gig.
Please place this post after my post at the top of this page.
We now understand soulsinging thoughts on the education system. (it’s fucked regardless of the disability rights movement) But before he made that totally clear, I shared this chat with the creator of the cause and I got her permission to post this.
here’s what she had to say:
"i suppose, but i kinda feel like MLK and that other guy are not in the same league. i never even heard of ed roberts. and this country's struggle with racism and slavery is a bit more integral to our history as a nation than the relatively uncontroversial passage of the ADA that gave us ramps on every building."
The reason people know about MLK is the fact that we all study about him in school. Why? Because people believed it was important for that history to be taught to our children. A group of people fought for that to happen just like we are doing for this cause and when it happens people will know who Ed Roberts is. He is the father of an equally important movement where an equally large number of people have been and are still struggling for their equal rights. They are in exactly the same league. The passage of ADA was NOT uncontroversial and the belief that it was shows a clear need to educate our society on this issue.
-There was a 25-28 day sit in where people with disabilities risked their health and well being to raise awareness on this issue.
-This movement started at the same time of the movement MLK is known for yet it took 6-8 additional years for laws to be passed that should allow people with disabilities to have equal rights. Why did it take that long? Well to grant equal rights to a person based on race you just had to change policy. To grant people with disabilities equal rights you had to alter transportation and buildings. So, big business' started to lobby against it. Despite these protections people with disabilities are still fighting for equal rights.
-ADA did not just give us ramps, which people without disabilities benefit from, as well. It gave people with disabilities rights to an education which allowed people like, Judith Heumann, to become productive members of society. It allowed her to work with companies like World Bank and become Vice President of the World Institute on Disability and Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services where she had a staff of 350 people. An opportunity that was provided by giving her equal rights to an eduction something she had to fight HARD for. Just think what more education could do for our society. Do you have any idea how many modern conveniences you benefit from because a person with a disability had a need that was not being met?
http://www.icdri.org/technology/ecceff.htm
-Do you remember learning about Hitler and the atrocities on people of Jewish faith? Did you know that people with diabilities were also massacred in large numbers in these same chambers during the same time because of their disability? Did you know that there were laws that required children with disabilities to be put to death? That those laws eventually required those children to be institutionalized, taken from families who wanted to care for them? Did you know that in the middle of town, where they kept slaves caged, that in those same cages they kept people with disability on display in what they called "idiot cages"? Did you know there was a practice called "passing on" where towns would load up people with disabilities and drop them off in the next town? The list goes on and on...
I hope that is enough to show you this movement has equal importance to other civil rights movements and that the founding father of this movement should be equally known for his contributions to society. For more information on the hisotry of the disability rights movement go to:
http://www.mnddc.org/parallels/index.html
"when did simply getting old and dying like every other human on the planet become a disability?"
The point to this statement was not really that age is a disability but that disability is a natural part of life. In an effort to help people without disabilities get that and make that connection it was stated in this way. Point being, aging is a natural part of life and so is a child being born with a disability. There is no difference between a healthy child who happens to need glasses from an elderly person who eventually needs glasses from a person with a disability who happens to have a vision impairment related to their medical condition that requires they wear glasses. There are different factors for why they need glasses but, their vision impairment is a natural part of who they are and a natural part of life.
*slides the beer to SS by pushing it a bit too hard, winces when it slid off and hit the floor just right before SS could have caught it* Oops, you see why they always picked me last in gym... :P
LOL...I didn't get that 'coddling', but... like your aide, my 'special education' teacher sometimes had to talk to the 'mainstreamed' teachers about how to grade me differently than others. It was complicated because it all depended heavily on the interpreters.
I could tell you that all sucked except for one, but we all had to share the interpreters so sometimes I'd have no interpreter for a class that day. Lousy interpreters could not translate properly, causing me to miss important information - even misinformation. Some interpreters even covered their asses and I'd end up looking like an idiot, when it was really at the fault of the interpreter. :evil:
I had a rich boyfriend, who was also popular and the school's DJ on its radio, in 10th grade who learned ASL by taking courses. Such a sweetheart, right? That's what everyone thought. :roll: The problem was that he was too possessive of me and a lot of times I felt smothered by him.
One day in science class during our senior year the interpreter couldn't be there because of another class to interpret and the teacher called him, "Maybe you can help her?" Without even asking me, he accepted his offer.
I was oh so pissed off! I do NOT rely on fucking anybody! My mother did not teach me that growing up. It was the interpreter's job!
"No you are not! You didn't even ask me first! I don't want you to interpret for me!!"
"Fine! You don't have to watch me...I'm going to do it anyway" :evil:
I turned my face away to ignore him and he tapped me on the arm, but I refused to look at him.
Then he grabbed my fucking breast to get my attention and I lost it. I hit him with my fist.
Two girls, sitting behind us, who hated me for some reason...one had a crush on him, I guess. They gasped and gave this "What a bitch!" look. Everyone thought I was a bitch, but if they knew what I was dealing with, they'd completely understand. :P
At the end of the year, I was looking through his yearbook and saw this girl from science class writing something like, "Melissa is such a bitch! Good luck with Missy (his new girlfriend) and getting into (I forgot which Michigan University)!!!"
I used to visit him at his dorm at Wayne University when I came home from college in NY...well, old habits you know. :P
He says to me every time I visited him, he thought we were getting back together. I said nothing, sitting there and listening to him about how he was getting help getting into another university, ranting and then about his future.... how I was part of it, blah blah blah... this part is where I get tuned out and start looking around.
I saw a photo album under his bed, which I knew was pictures of him and me, but what caught my attention was papers in it. I pulled it out and he totally freaked out, trying to take it away from me - getting physical with me.
All I saw was "A+! That's just sad!" and I managed to run out of his room into the hallway. I told him to stay the fuck away because I was going to read it. He got scared.
I read three pages and could not fucking believe a word he wrote. He complained how hard he worked to earn the A's or B's while his deaf girlfriend was getting better grades than him that she did not deserve...because she got the teachers to sympathize her. That she manipulated them by using her deafness into getting the grades she didn't deserve.
I fucking lost it. This was the 2nd time I got physical with him. And he knew it was coming. I screamed on the top of my lungs and rammed him into the walls. He screamed and signed, "I was hurt!!! I wanted us together!!"
Before more students came out to witness this fight and feared they'd be calling the campus cop anytime soon, I insulted him back, "I am done with hearing boys! I am going to date deaf men from now on. You hearies suck!!!"
And ran the fastest I could out of that dorm and sped away. All the way back home. It had to be at least 90 mph and I wasn't thinking straight, even drove on the wrong side of the road when I got off the freeway! Luckily for me, it was like 3am in the morning and nobody was around, even cops.
That was one A+ paper that asshole did not deserve. :P And that was the last time I ever saw of him.
EV: It's your band.
~Q Magazine
"Kisses for the glow...kisses for the lease." - BDRII
but don't you agree that a person who is very important to a movement that effects millions of people around the world should be known. i am not saying that their should be just a course on him but he should be mentioned in a socialk science class. after all, having a disability can be very hard on young children and teaching them that they can still live a great success life is stilll possible no matter what disability they have. by not talking about certain topics makes it possible for stigma to come into view.
Well turns out some bitch (yes a girl) sitting at the lunch table heard my comment and told the principal. So the principal calls me, my parents, my friend, and his parents into school and breaks the big news that I'm getting suspended. YES they were suspending me. And I laughed. And my friend laughed. And our parents laughed. It was all so stupid because we can tell the principal was trying to be a hero by suspending me because she thought that my friend was "damaged" or something by my comments I guess. Well guess what...I called my principal out on how she was totally unaware we were friends and that by suspending me she was pretty much proving her own lack of awareness for people with disabilities. So at the end of the day not only was I not suspended, but the bitch who told on me got a detention. LOL she was pissed.
So bottom line, I don't think disability awareness is something that should be taught in schools. Yes we should be aware, but it's kind of up to the parents. Disabled people aren't a minority group either, imo. I'm not trying to call you out blondieblue, but I think the people who say the disabled make up a minority group are trying to push them out of society even farther than they already get pushed (unfortunately). Parents...teach your kids that people with disabilities are no different than anyone else, and your kids should be fine.