Reconceptuliazing Downs Syndrome

I enjoyed reading this piece since I have spent a large portion of my life around people with disabilities similiar to and including Downs syndrome.

Years ago, in Rhode Island there was an institution called the Ladd School that many people from Rhode Island have heard about either from their parents or from the eery ghost stories that surround the spooky grounds where the now decrepit buildings lay. In the Ladd School, children and adults that in our modern times would be in special education classes were put into the institution, showered in groups with a spray hose and with chemical cleaners, had their teeth yanked with no anesthesia, among other horrible things.

The school, though now generally associated with evil, was not founded on this. Originally, the school was a farm house, where developmentally disabled residents of all ages worked on the farm and in the kitchen. With them being taught simple tasks and accomplishing them with astounding results. Soon however, the school became overcrowded and it went from a school house, to an institution that was truly a terror to many of those living there.

In my VIPs tutoring class, which is a special education class. I hear a lot of stories of the misbehaviors of the students from the teacher and just from the students talking. I can't help but wonder if years ago, these kids would have been sent to Ladd.

Basically, how this relates in my opinion to the article is that I agree that integration is very important. In my job, some of the smartest disabled people I work with are that way because they went to regular schools and were around people that didn't have developmental disbailities. It seems like it helps everything from learning to social behaviors. You really get to see things a different way when you are around other people. You get to see a genuine reaction to what you are doing or saying from a peer instead of an authority figure. So I think integration is important.

http://www.laddfilm.com/ladd/best.htmL