Educating a Child With Down Syndrome

3251 Words7 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Challenges of raising a disabled child

It’s Wednesday and a mother just kissed her son goodbye as he walked into the classroom. The mother walks back to her car and proceeds to work. Her son has Down Syndrome, but attends a private school where special needs children have their own classroom. Her son Alex loves going to school to see his friends, like any child would. With having Down Syndrome, Alex has some rough days in the classroom.

It’s 10:30am and Janice, Alex’s mother, receives a phone call. “Hi Janice, this is Mrs. Smith calling with regards to Alex. Yes, he isn’t having a good day. He has been very disruptive this morning. We tried calling down Alex’s older sister to calm him down, and to talk to him, but he wouldn’t calm down. Would you please come and get him?”

Janice receives multiple phone calls from staff at Alex’s school to come pick him up and take him home. He isn’t purposely being disruptive, he’s excited and eager to learn and sometimes the teachers don’t understand that, says Janice to herself. For Janice to always be “on-call” to collect her son definitely makes it difficult for her to hold down a steady job.

The final straw was when Janice walked into the school and found her son sitting in the school reception area with his older sister, while the rest of the students enjoyed a nice Christmas party. Janice said her son was clearly not wanted at that school, so she took the kids’ stuff and enrolled them into a public school where Alex was would be much more comfortable. The teachers were more comfortable dealing with children with complex needs.

We need to work on accepting and including children with Down Syndrome in local schools so that they are given an equal opportunity to advance their education and become successf...

... middle of paper ...

....dse. Web. November 13, 2013.

“Increasing Options and Improving Provision for Children with Special Educational Needs

(SEN).” Gov.UK. Crown Copyright. Web. November 22, 2013.

“Individualized Education Programs (IEP’s).” Kids Health from Nemours. The Nemours

Foundation. 1995-2013. Web. November 22, 2013.

Janet Murray. “Children with Disabilities Illegally Excluded from School.” The Guardian.

Guardian News and Media Limited or its Affiliated Companies. February 2013. Web.

November 8, 2013.

National Down Syndrome Society. “Myths and Truths.” The National Advocate for People with

Down Syndrome Since 1979.” 2012. Web. NDSS. November 21, 2013.

National Down Syndrome Society. “Universal Design for learning (UDL).” The National

Advocate for People with Down Syndrome 1979. 2012. Web. December 1, 2013.

Show More
Related

  • Another Place at the Table: Synopsis

    1299 Words  | 3 Pages

    Working as a teacher serving at-risk four-year-old children, approximately six of her eighteen students lived in foster care. The environment introduced Kathy to the impact of domestic violence, drugs, and family instability on a developing child. Her family lineage had a history of social service and she found herself concerned with the wellbeing of one little girl. Angelica, a foster child in Kathy’s class soon to be displaced again was born the daughter of a drug addict. She had been labeled a troublemaker, yet the Harrisons took the thirty-hour training for foster and adoptive care and brought her home to adopt. Within six months, the family would also adopted Angie’s sister Neddy. This is when the Harrison family dynamic drastically changes and Kathy begins a journey with over a hundred foster children passing through her home seeking refuge.

    Read More

  • Review: How Difficult Can This Be By Richard D. Lavoie

    2075 Words  | 5 Pages

    Lavoie’s workshop provokes an emotional response. After viewing life through the eyes of a child with special needs, I cannot help but have a more significant understanding of what people, especially children with disabilities, must deal with every day, everywhere. During the many years that I have worked with children with various disabilities, I have encountered each of the topics discussed in Lavoie’s workshop and agree with the points he makes regarding children with disabilities. Particularly impacting the way I interact with my students are the topics concerning: anxiety, reading comprehension, and fairness.

    Read More

  • My Education In Laura Cichoracki's The Elephant In The Playroom

    801 Words  | 2 Pages

    Unfortunately, a lot of parents may have a difficult time accepting their child, and coping with their needs and the responsibilities. From the book “The Elephant in the Playroom,” some families dealt with depression and physical and mental deterioration of their health. These struggles were shown in the story by Laura Cichoracki. Laura’s son’s name was Patrick. Patrick was a 6-years-old boy with autism. “I wasn’t eating right, I wasn’t showering regularly, I wasn’t sleeping well” (Brodey, p. 64). I also read the story told by Susan Marrash-Minnerly, which highlighted emotions that parents face. Susan also shed light on how wonderful children with special needs can be to a family, such as her ten-year-old third grader who had autism. Susan talked about how it was normal to feel angry at times, especially with the ups and downs a child’s disability may come with. “When I look back, I want to tell other parents that a child’s future is worth grieving over – but it’s not the end of the world” (Brodey, p. 75). After reading these stories, it became apparent to me that families who are raising kids with special needs, need support, kindness, and available resources. “I was fortunate to be surrounded by other moms who understood my pain…who could be supportive and emphatic.” (Brodey, p. 67). Overall, educators can use this kind of information that was shared in “The Elephant in the Playroom” about family systems and risk/resiliency by creating lines of open communication between families. This is to connect parents together that share similar struggles. By creating open communication is can allows for the teacher and parents to be on the same page when it comes to the issues affecting special needs students and

    Read More

  • Behavior in the Home in Invisible Inequality: Social Class and Childrearing in Black Families and White Families by Annette Lareau

    713 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...parents were much more successful in the working world encouraged him to complete many daily activities such as choir and piano lessons. His parents engaged him in conversations that promoted reasoning and negotiation and they showed interest in his daily life. Harold’s mother joked around with the children, simply asking them questions about television, but never engaged them in conversations that drew them out. She wasn’t aware of Harold’s education habits and was oblivious to his dropping grades because of his missing assignments. Instead of telling one of the children to seek help for a bullying problem she told them to simply beat up the child that was bothering them until they stopped. Alex’s parents on the other hand were very involved in his schooling and in turn he scored very well in his classes. Like Lareau suspected, growing up

    Read More

  • Bible: The Book of Daniel

    2250 Words  | 5 Pages

    Web. The Web. The Web. 19 Nov. 2013. Jones, Barry A.

    Read More

  • Down Syndrome Essay

    822 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...ility, they are weak and are not as vigorous/ active as kids that don’t have down syndrome. Many kids with translocation down syndrome function differently than others because they have to deal with mental and physical problems unlike others and often need physical therapy. Not only that, kids with this disorder take intervention classes to try to improve the disorder as well as try to improve their physical, mental and intellectual abilities. Also, kids with down syndrome are slow in motor development(the ability to control one’s body movement’s). They also have verbal short-term memory loss.At school, kids with down syndrome should interact with others to build a foundation of social abilities allowing the child to be more sociable and participate in discussions in class. This will improve the level of functioning of a child with translocation down syndrome.

    Read More

  • National Organization for Women

    2250 Words  | 5 Pages

    The Web. The Web. 8 Mar. 2011.

    Read More

  • The Effects of Down Syndrome

    1043 Words  | 3 Pages

    Down Syndrome: Critically analyze the effects of Down syndrome on people and the support that is available

    Read More

  • Down Syndrome

    1087 Words  | 3 Pages

    Children with Down Syndrome have distinct physical characteristics. They are short in stature and have a small, round face with a high flattened ...

    Read More

  • Language Development in Individuals with Down Syndrome

    2336 Words  | 5 Pages

    Having Down syndrome is like being born normal. I am just like you, and you are just like me. We are all born in different ways, that is the way I can describe it. I have a normal life"(Burke, C., n.d.). Where special education is concerned, one must always remember that exceptional learners are different, not less.

    Read More

  • The Importance Of Down Syndrome

    2213 Words  | 5 Pages

    crease, slightly flattened facial profile, an upward slant to the eyes, small mouth, and protruding

    Read More

  • Law Enforcement Cameras an Invasion of Privacy

    1067 Words  | 3 Pages

    Web. The Web. The Web. 14 May 2014. Stanley, Jay.

    Read More

  • Down Syndrome

    1764 Words  | 4 Pages

    What most people don’t know about Down syndrome is that they can live normal lives and with much therapy and the right education people with the condition can live on their own, have a career, and get married. (Linda Crnic Institute for Down syndrome.) However, helping them is crucial to be able to do everyday things, such as cooking, cleaning, and taking care of personal hygiene. With learning these life skills that most adults learn over time, they need more help and people to work with them. (KidsHealth) To truly help and understand someone with Down syndrome one has to have patience, compassion, and knowledge about the condition. Having this disorder does not hold them back from anything, they can do anything they put their mind too. Yet there are some things and programs to help them along the way, like physical therapy, speech therapy, and a more in depth education.

    Read More

  • Mainstreaming Special Needs Children

    891 Words  | 2 Pages

    Mainstreaming children with special needs has been a huge controversy in education. Many students with a disability require special attention and need to be in an environment where teachers can meet these needs. According to opposition, placing disabled and non-disabled kids in the same classroom will increase academic engagement and reduce problem behaviors. However, educators prove that special needs children are being bullied, still lag behind their non-disabled peers in educational achievements and are more likely to drop out of school. (Need to cite) Mainstreaming children will promote child bullying and ongoing stereotypes that undermine their ability to compete in the classroom.

    Read More

  • Counseling Disabled Children

    931 Words  | 2 Pages

    The problem not only affects the family’s life but it also affects the child’s ability to learn and be productive at school. Children requires a lot of attention and love on a daily basis, however, having a child that has a disability requires extra attention and love because they are trying to understand the world through a different set of lens. This could become a problem especially if there are multiple children in the household. In often cases, the amount of attention that the parents give to the child in need obstruct the family dynamic because of the pa...

    Read More

More about Educating a Child With Down Syndrome

Open Document