Talking Points #9 Kliewer Article

1. "Such acceptance is the aim when children with Down Syndrome join their non disabled peers in classrooms, and many schools and individual teachers have entered into this effort, which seeks and finds community value in all children."

I picked this quote because this 'aim' is exactly what we as a community need to strive for. If we gained acceptance of these kids, then we would have a lot less problems.

2. "Assessments of how well a student conforms to expectations tend to focus teacher attention on the child's adeptness at responding to classroom-based math and language tasks."

I picked this because I think it shows that sometimes assessments and take time away from the students learning. I think especially in the case of a special education classroom it's important to utilize as much classroom time as possible.

3. "If a misunderstanding emerges, its cause is not located in any individual but in the communicative web that connects all of us to one another."

This is soo important because it doesn't place the blame on any one student. So not only do the students not have to feel excluded or singled out, but they also get to work through it together as a community which is really important.


This week I had a lot of trouble reading the article, there was a birthday party going on downstairs so I was having a lot of trouble focusing. I think a lot of the problems mentioned in this article would have been what Johnson called unspoken. I think that talking about students with Down syndrome is another one of those tough subjects and I sometimes felt a little uncomfortable reading this article.