Sean's Story
“Sean’s Story - A Lesson In Life”
What sort of education is best for a child with special needs? Does inclusion prepare a child who is mentally challenged for the real world or is it unfair? How does inclusion affect the whole classroom? The delicate subject of "Sean's Story" is inclusion, the principle that disabled children should be admitted to regular classrooms. "Sean's Story" is only partly about Sean, an 8-year-old boy with Down syndrome, whose mother fought successfully to have him transferred from Ridge, a school for the disabled, to Sparks, his neighborhood elementary school. Also another student named Bobby, another boy with Down syndrome, whose mother is pleased with the attention he is getting at Ridge. The schools are seen in contrasting close-ups. At Ridge, children like Bobby are learning elementary skills that may equip them to find jobs at places like McDonald's or a grocery store when the time comes. At Sparks the attempt is made, with the help of specialist, to bring the new pupil as close as he can come to the level of normal children of his age. I particularly find plenty of disagreements among parents and teachers about which children are being better served. The parents who demand it motivated mainly by their own need or in the words of Sean’s mother, Dee Begg, are they moved by a child’s need "to be out in the world, to experience it"? The parents who stay with schools like Ridge maybe limiting their children’s potential or as Bobby’s mother maintains, would sending him to a regular school be like “putting a 5-foot-2 kid on the varsity basketball team and expect to succeed". The teachers who complain about the burden of teaching disabled children maybe merely shirking or are they responsibly concerned that the rest of the class is being deprived of its due attention? And perhaps Sean has added something to his classmates' education. They tell that they are pleased to have him with them. One girl reports, "Now, when he hits
What sort of education is best for a child with special needs? Does inclusion prepare a child who is mentally challenged for the real world or is it unfair? How does inclusion affect the whole classroom? The delicate subject of "Sean's Story" is inclusion, the principle that disabled children should be admitted to regular classrooms. "Sean's Story" is only partly about Sean, an 8-year-old boy with Down syndrome, whose mother fought successfully to have him transferred from Ridge, a school for the disabled, to Sparks, his neighborhood elementary school. Also another student named Bobby, another boy with Down syndrome, whose mother is pleased with the attention he is getting at Ridge. The schools are seen in contrasting close-ups. At Ridge, children like Bobby are learning elementary skills that may equip them to find jobs at places like McDonald's or a grocery store when the time comes. At Sparks the attempt is made, with the help of specialist, to bring the new pupil as close as he can come to the level of normal children of his age. I particularly find plenty of disagreements among parents and teachers about which children are being better served. The parents who demand it motivated mainly by their own need or in the words of Sean’s mother, Dee Begg, are they moved by a child’s need "to be out in the world, to experience it"? The parents who stay with schools like Ridge maybe limiting their children’s potential or as Bobby’s mother maintains, would sending him to a regular school be like “putting a 5-foot-2 kid on the varsity basketball team and expect to succeed". The teachers who complain about the burden of teaching disabled children maybe merely shirking or are they responsibly concerned that the rest of the class is being deprived of its due attention? And perhaps Sean has added something to his classmates' education. They tell that they are pleased to have him with them. One girl reports, "Now, when he hits