Christopher Kliewer "Citizenship in School: Reconceptualizing Down Syndome"

Kliewer's article "Citizenship in School: Reconceptualizing Down Syndrome" is about how students with disabilites should be viewed as equals in the school system and be able to participate and learn in a "normal" school environment instead of specialized schooling. Kliewer argues that putting kid's with down syndrome and other disabilites into special education classrooms with actually hold these students back academically more so than if they had been placed in a normal classroom. Kliewer feels that "success in lkife requires an ability to form relationships with others who make up the we of community. . .we must learn to work with others, and this holds true whether we ultimately are destined to lead a multinational computer software firm, inspire a civil rights movement, raise caring children, bag groceries, or chat and feed squirrels with an old man on a park bench." I feel this is true to his theory about disabled kids because regardless of whether they are in a sped program or not, once they are forced to enter the real world they will have to learn to form relationships and it would be a lot easier on them later in life if they learn social skills earlier rather than later. Douglas Biklin states, "society itself is hurt when schools act as cultural sorting machines and discriminate on the basis of ability, gender, ethnicity and race." To me, this quote is correct because it doesn't give students experiences that they will be abvle to relate to in the future if they are only put with kids like themselves. Diversity helps students learn about others as well as themselves, and forcing kids into a non-diverse environment will only hinder their ability to learn and grow. Also, the fact that "schools have traditionally taken a narrow position when defining and judging student intellect" seems very unfair. Just because someone is different or has a learning disability does not mean they are any more or less smart than the student who appears more "normal". some children just need more stimulation to get them motivated to learn or need different tools of teaching to succeed.

Overall this article was hard for me to read and did not keep me focused. I liked some of Kliewer's ideas and rationalizations, but the good stuff was sometimes overpowered by the boring stuff. The parts I liked most were the little stories he added. They made it a bit easier for me to read through and helped to make sense out of the information.