When it comes to educating the young, the intelligent and normal should not have to suffer due to the “feelings” of the “special” or to fulfill their “need to be accepted” or their parent’s wish for normalcy. And yes I’d argue for their isolation and against mainstreaming preceisly because they would do better in an environment that caters to them rather than one that drags down a class of regular kids. By your standard you could care less what type of education anybody gets as long as everyone’s included in it.
To return to the article mentioned, if nutcase Korean boy HAD been singled out and entered into a special needs program, I’d bet money his lunacy would have been documented quite awhile before he ever got to VT. But hey his parents got to sweep their conerns under a rug cause good little Cho was “just like all the other boys and girls.”
You don’t get it. It’s not about the “feelings” or the “need to be accepted” of my son or the retarded children I went to school with or the special needs students who have been in my other children’s classes.
It’s about preparing them to live in the same world as the rest of us even though they will always be odd or slow. Where do you want them to go after they finish their special schools?
My son is extremely bright - just what path do you think that brightness would take if his interactions had been limited and he never had a chance to find a productive use for his talents? Let him be a scientist and find cures - there are lots of oddball scientists and engineers in the world, and it’s a better place for it.
If my son had been disruptive and made learning difficult for others I would not have wanted him mainstreamed.
The retarded children I went to school did not disrupt classes or make their fellow students unhappy. You assume these outcomes will always be negative and they are not.
Mrs VS