My youngest was born with Down Syndrome. He was main streamed in school through elementary school and then partially so in junior high and high school. None of the other kids were getting a “lesser product” because he was there nor did the teachers spend an inordinate amount of time with him. He and his classmates are all in their 30s now. We see several of them regularly. They ALL say that having him in their classes made them better, more caring and understanding people.
He is the greatest blessing our family has ever had. His life has made all the difference, all the good difference, for us and the people around him.
It’s a shame you apparently missed that experience.
Well spoken, thank you. Some will always see someone with a disability as a lesser individual and in someway taking from the more “normal”. I have seen this delusional argument many time before.
I have a niece who has Downs and is a delight and, yes, their inclusion inside the family and to develop friends/neighborhood activities is a blessing and essential, and can create greater virtue in people who have contact with these special needs children, as well as benefit the Down’s child.
That said-—all “Prussian “school” systems are a dehumanization system for “group think” and destroys individuality and thinking “outside the box”. It is no place for ANY child ever, especially a Down’s child because the environment is made up of many immature children and too few adult role models.
Today’s schools are babysitting places—since John Dewey—that is why it was possible to “mainstream” your child. True education is self-directed and can never be done in an indoctrination center which removed Classical Education and is nothing but a system of mass conformity-—to the lowest common denominator.
Telling others that there is radical egalitarianism-—that ALL children have to be “treated” exactly the same, destroys individuality and critical thinking skills and Excellence and Virtue-— and habituates mediocrity——to the lowest common denominator. To take children who may excel in activities and force them into “group” classes, curtails their fastest growth in the area-—may bore them and make them disinterested. It is why individual “tutors” more closely represent the Natural Family and the child’s Natural design for “learning”, and is always the most effective-—not group anything, unless they are closely matched and few in number, and are always challenged.
Education-—when we had the Age of Reason, and Minds of Newton, Maxwell, Kepler, Galileo, etc-—was geared to the individual and to their interest and to their individual abilities. To force employers/teachers to “take” and “train” everyone or anybody is fascism and unconstitutional——it destroys freedom and Free Choice which is crucial to our system of government and Excellence. “Special Needs” children are just that-—not everyone is trained or equipped to create the optimal learning environment for them, nor can they compete at the higher levels that elite training demands.
Putting children in situations where there is constant distraction destroys reflection and integration of the brain. Down’s children tend always to create distractions within serious discussions since it is beyond their comprehension. That distraction is welcomed and appreciated outside of the classroom but shouldn’t be tolerated when the optimal training and habituations are needed.
It is the same, if you were homeschooling....there is a time when you need the baby to sleep and be quiet when working with your 10 year old and that quiet time and “one on one” is essential for true learning and forming true self-esteem and individualism in ALL children. I have seen many children damaged and marriages ruined because of the “special” attention only given to Down’s children. All children need special time and quiet space so they can reflect and truly become educated. All children have special needs——and to erase those of the genius—by holding them back to a lower standard and slower learning pace by “group think programming”, is not doing them a favor at all. I think it is extremely evil. There is a reason why most of our brilliant ancestors never stepped foot in the ‘Prussian” atheist system which created the Hitler Youth mindset and people who believe “snow is black” and Vice is Virtue like many of our young adults today.