Michelle Meditz, Chelsea Kim, Selena Figueroa

Group Work 12/3/18

1. How did reading about Lesch’s experiences of never having seen children or
people with disabilities make you feel? She stated that in the past
children/people with disabilities were seen as a source of shame and warehoused.
 There can be/are holes in inclusive education because it’s hard
 Differentiation is not being totally inclusive
 Universal design is important
o Not totally academic based
 Not seeing children or people with disabilities is less common now
o More common when we were in elementary school
 Now we focus on getting children from self-contained to ICT classes

2. Lesch talks about the history of special education in the US and how parents of
children with disabilities fought for their children’s rights to be adequately in
their local schools. Yet Lesch still faced bias as a special education teacher from
her general education peers when she began teaching in a so-called general
education school. Why do you think the general education teachers felt ‘hostile’
towards Lesch and her students?
 Maybe the teachers thought her workload was ‘easier’ because she has less
kids
 The teachers may not want ‘disabled’ children in their school
 The teachers may think her job is easier because there are multiple teachers in
the classroom
 It is not something they are used to, it is new.
o Afraid of what they didn’t know
o Ignorant / afraid

3. With the advent of special education came formal testing and labeling of
students with disabilities. However, according to Lesch this was “distasteful and
troubling for many parents and teachers”. Why do you think that was and still
is?
 Labeling can be distasteful, but when you get a label you can get the services
o But with the services comes another negative label
 Hindering the child’s ability / decreasing their self-esteem
 Self-fulfilling proficiency
o Limiting their own expectations of themselves

4. Lesch talks about the problem of ‘entrapment’ of kids in special education

system and the removal of kids that are “hard to teach”. Do you feel this is true?
Why or why not? Be specific.
  Labeling causes children to struggle to escape labels and the special education
system.
o Labels follow children
o They will be viewed negatively
 These children were considered “hard to teach.”
o The teachers don’t want to change their teaching styles to
accommodate these students
o Easier to just get rid of them and put into another class

5. What did you think of the examples of Tyler and Warren in Lesch’s article? Did
you feel they were in danger of being defined by their disability (the Danger of
the Single story). Have you seen examples like this in your life experience for
people with disabilities?
 Hard of hearing sister- was immediately put into self-contained classes
o Mom flipped out, got her into gen-ed with speakerphone
 Should not be defined by disabilities
 Should be “student with autism” rather than “autistic student”
 Need advocates (parents, teachers, etc)

6. Think of the discussion Lesch talks about the experiment of mainstreaming in

one school she worked in her school. Where her student visited PE, Music and
Ms. D’s class for one period of play. These experiences did not go well for the
students with disabilities. Why do you think they failed? What should the school
and the general education teachers have done differently?
 Students were not being accommodated to
o Feeling overwhelmed
o Over stimulated
 Not feeling welcome
o ‘going to a party where everyone knows each other and you know
nobody”
 Teachers should accommodate and make students feel welcome
 Unknown environment

7. Lesch also talks about another example of her students who were not only
‘stigmatized but also segregated from their peers’. How do you think that
effected the children’s social, emotional, and cognitive development? How do
you think that experience effected the parents of those students?
 The children would feel unwelcome
 Feeling unwelcome may affect their social and emotional development
 Felt uncomfortable because they are not with children they know