As I was trying to determine a bias that I could
phlog about, I thought this was going to be simple! I would talk about how I
have issues with parents of children with special needs. If that was what I had
issues with then good luck to me since that topic is so generic and that phlog
would be more like a project and would take months. So in narrowing down the
topic it is the parents of children who have multiple exceptionalities that the
child basically is incapable of learning. Granted I understand that the child
is entitled to a Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE), but come on parents
please have some common sense. Since FAPE is a federal law it is not so much
with the parents I have issues with it. It is with the federal government that
I have real issues with. They require educators to provide instructional time
to every child, even to children who have been diagnosed as being unable to
educate.
I have a hard time with parents who put on a good
show making the courts think that what they are doing is in the best interest
of the child. When in reality it seems that the parent is looking for a place
to take their child, in order for the parent to get a break from their child. All this is being provided by taxpayers. I
know this can be a controversial topic, and parents have a hard time
understanding who it is that makes the decision of their child being able to
learn or not. I know that I am currently taking classes to become a special
education teacher and my opinions about students, who have been diagnosed as
being unable to educate, will probably change as it would if it was a child of
mine who had been diagnosed as being unable to educate. At this time I feel
that the teachers who are teaching students who have been diagnosed as unable
to educate could be better used elsewhere.
I agree this is a tough issue, being in the special education field myself. I think we're gonna see the entire spectrum of students and parents. It is easy to want to work with student's who have multiple disabilities and who have parents that are 100% engaged in their children's education. I think even knowing that this bias exists for you is a big step in overcoming it if you so choose. When I think of FAPE and how sometimes it may seem difficult, I remember those examples in history when students with disabilities who were not only excluded from the academic process but who were systematically wiped out. This helps me to understand that not only should we as a society try to stray as far from that end of the spectrum, but we should endeavor to do all in our powers to try and enrich our society by enriching the lives, as best we can, of students who for all intents and purposes seem like they cannot be educated.
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