Prompt One:
Federal regulations state that children with developmental disabilities will have free, public, and appropriate education, but what are the practical implications of this practice? Does the student benefit from being "mainstreamed?" Do their peers gain insight or empathy? Do we enrich classrooms, or make teachers' lives more difficult? Consider either a learning disorder or an autism spectrum disorder in your discussion. This site has a more detailed description of autism, and autism spectrum disorders.
Prompt Two:
We will be talking a lot about teens within their peer group, but one interesting recent finding relates to how they may view themselves. Take a look at this short article (
found here) related to a common question on the MMPI (a test we talked about Intro Psych). What do you think are the implications of this shift? Do you think researchers may be right about technology? What do you think?
Response to Prompt 1:
ReplyDeleteThe practical implications of a student with developmental disabilities being mainstreamed could have both positive and negative effects. One could argue that it would put an extra burden on teachers who may or may not be properly trained in educating children with such disabilities. Also, it could put a financial burden on schools that may already be making budget cuts and laying off workers. This mainstreaming may or may not be positive to the student and his or her peers. It could be positive and students could develop meaningful experiences and relationships with disabled peers; or negative that could result in bullying or abuse.
In my experience from the perspective of a student in a high school that mainstreamed kids with developmental disabilities, I found the overall experience to be positive. Many students were open to each other at times of lunch and break etc; and in the end I think the overall relationships and experiences resulting from this effected me in a positive way. Also, some students had special helpers in class to compensate for any extra attention that was needed, which seemed to alleviate some of the extra burden on the teacher. This is all anecdotal and from my perspective so I cannot say how it ultimately effected any children with developmental disabilities, but I know that it had a positive effect on many people.
Response to Prompt 2:
I think that this finding and the shift in how teens and people view themselves is extremely interesting. There definitely appears to be a connection between the increase in technology and the increase in peoples belief that they are important. The statement to agree or disagree with is somewhat broad, but it does say alot.
I believe that I am an important person. In the world that I grew up in, it would have been weird if I did not think that I was an important person. Ghandi said that "Everything that you do will be insignificant, but it is very important that you do it." There is a difference between significance and importance, and it is important to understand that. In the scale of the whole universe, I am pretty insignificant; but I exist. Is existence alone enough to prescribe importance? I think so. Realizing this is also very humbling, because with it, one also realizes that everything is equally as important. I am no more important than anyone else or any animal or tree in the universe because they all exist like I do. The implications of realizing this are pretty important and I think it could lead to a new enlightenment of empathy on earth that can hopefully save the planet. There is definitely a connection the comes from the emergence of technologies that have subsequently resulted in a more interconnected world.
I agree with the idea that is crucial to understand the difference between being self-important and knowing the significance of your actions. Humility seems to be a trait that many humans lack, as a singular or individual perspective can lead to an inflated ego.
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