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En pige med lav IQ har brug for hjælp

Spørgsmål: Jeg har en datter på 12 år, som for nylig er gået ud af sjette klasse. Hun har ingen indlæringsvanskeligheder eller intellektuelle handicap, men hendes IQ svæver omkring 70. Hun er en flittig, energisk elev langt ud over hendes evner. Jeg forstår, at skoler ved lov er forpligtet til at give en passende uddannelse. Det er svært for mig at definere, hvad det er. Jeg elsker at være i min datters almindelige klasse på grund af de sociale færdigheder, det giver, men jeg synes, at mange af de ting, de laver i almindelig klasse, er fuldstændig spild af hendes tid. Denne aktivitet skete så ofte, at han ikke havde brug for den. Selv at udskifte det giver ikke mening. Men deres bolig til studerende med intellektuelle handicap eller alvorlige behov forekommer også utilstrækkelige. Jeg vil have ham til at lære livsfærdigheder, information som folk bruger hver dag: grundlæggende matematiske færdigheder som tid, penge, måling, hvordan man beregner rabatter osv. Grundlæggende engelskkundskaber som hvordan man skriver en smart tale, hvordan man læser en avis med forståelse Vente. Jeg ved ikke, hvordan jeg skal få min datter til en ordentlig uddannelse og samtidig bevare sin grunduddannelse. Nogen gæt?

tak for din hjælp.

A You have child who's caught in the middle of a cultural and programmatic shift in education. The inclusion movement has, in too many instances, cut out appropriate options for a girl like your daughter. She needs to be with 'typical' kids to learn and practice appropriate social behaviors, and she also needs specific instruction in basic life skills which have been learned incidentally by children her age in the regular classes. In the early grades it was probably easier to provide you daughter with this combination of services, since teachers more naturally cater to younger children who are learning at different levels. Once a child reaches upper elementary grades and certainly by junior high school, even heterogeneously grouped classes serve a much more narrow range of student skills. Because there is no real continuum of service, kids like your daugter end up spending time in regular curriculums that are over their heads. They are often placed in these classes ostensibly to address social goals, but often end up either being ostracized and scapegoated. Some take on the role of class clown or 'mascot,' or worse, just feeling more and more 'stupid' (and that's their word, not mine). For the other part of their day, they are in classes for students with skill levels and needs that can be far below their own. It is obvious that neither environment meets the criteria of the 'least restrictive' setting required by special education law.

So what's to be done for students like your daughter? In schools that are practicing appropriate and responsible inclusion, many children are working on individual goals at their own level in heterogeneous classes. Large group (or whole class) instruction is at a minimum, since that approach misses so many kids (including the gifted and talented learners). Small, closely supervised, cooperative activity-based learning groups are common, and individual needs are met via individual (sometimes computer-assisted) tutorials (sometimes requiring additional staff but often involving cross-age groupings with students from other grades with the same needs.) The focus is on accountability for both teachers and kids, as well as mastery of content and skills at a level that is commensurate with childrens' need and potential. This all sounds somewhat idealistic, the fact that when this is done in enlightened schools, all kids and all teachers benefit. Does it cost more? Often. Is it worth it? Always.



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