Christopher Kliewer: Schooling Children with Down Syndrome

1. "As mentioned earlier, people with Down syndrome are joined in their struggle for citizenship by other oppressed groups."

This quote is important because people who do have Down syndrome/other disabilities do struggle in society. They struggle in society because they cannot do some of the things that people without disabilities can do. What makes it worse is that people who do not have these problems do not even give these people the time or day, which is bad because they really have done nothing wrong in society except for being born differently. I feel that this can relate to other readings because people who usually struggle in society are people who do not fit under the category of S.C.W.A.M.P.


2. “How absurd to be judged by other at all, especially by those who have never experienced a disability or who are unwillingly providing us with support or who don’t listen to the voices we have.”

This quote stood out to me because I feel that no one should be judged whether someone is different from you. I think that people have their own personalities where people should not have the right to judge no matter how superior they are. I feel that people who have never experienced something/someone with a disability should not be judging because you do not know what they have to go through. I feel that sometimes people do not care about them because even I would walk past them, but as I got older and met someone who has a disabled brother, I have been open minded about things and do not judge how they are different compared to me.


3.“Now we know that people with disabilities can learn and have a full’, rich life. The challenge is to erase negative attitudes about people with developmental disabilities, get rid of the stereotypes and break the barriers for people with disabilities.”

This quote stood out to me because I feel that people do need break the barriers for the people who have a disability. I feel that someone who does have a disability can learn the same things as people who do not have a disability, but they learn in different ways. For example, people with disabilities can stay in school longer/or until they are 21. Sometimes I think that people have not moved past judging people because it still takes place today and not a lot of people have been open minded about things that are not “normal” to them.


Questions/Comments/Points to Share

Overall this article was one that I really enjoyed reading. I liked reading this because I could relate to it. I have a friend who has an older brother who has Down syndrome. I remember her telling me that growing up he would get mad fun of her younger brother’s friends and she would be the one who have to say something about it. I feel that people do judge others if they are not like this and I feel that it relates to the cultural of power because disabled people are being oppressed which I feel is wrong.

After reading I have a clear understanding that it is wrong to judge people who have disabilities because they have a voice and they are like everybody else. If I could have one question it would be, why discriminate against people with disabilities. It is not their faults they are like this I feel that they were born like that for a reason and they should never be put down for something they cannot help.