Post-reading questions for week eight

Some reasons that students maybe diagnosed with a learning disability is for one their language. Like we talked about in class, language plays a huge role and can determine how someone does well on standard tests. If they do poorly on it, especially those who do not speak English very well, then they will end up in special education class. Take for example me. When I migrated here from the Philippines as a young child, I had a hard time learning how to speak English. I don’t remember if I was put into a different class or not, but it made me realize that maybe that’s why I always had a hard time with the standard tests. Another reason why some would be diagnosed with a learning disability is because it doesn’t fit into the “norm”. Since the white are usually the one with all the power, the others “look up to them” and follow whatever they think is right. For example, the disabilities that we talked about in class- drapetomania and hysteria- were made by whites and since they are the highest on the hierarchy, people just go allow with it because its part of the “norm”. Lastly, teachers can play a huge role in diagnosing whether a student has LD or not. If a student is just lazy doing their work, then a teacher might interpret that as having an illness and will put them into a special ed class. Race, class, and gender play into this process by having this intersectionality with the ideologies made by society. For instance, in the Michael story, since he was an African American male, he was stopped by the police 3 times: one for thinking he looked like the guy who stole something, the other for thinking he was picking up prostitutes, and the other for thinking he was smoking. Back then and probably still today, blacks had or still have a reputation for being known as criminals and thieves, violent, loud, and etc which all contribute to how teacher might think that there’s something wrong with the student. Also, in his story, since Michael had dyslexia, he couldn’t get a promotion because they probably knew that about him. Lastly, just like Michael, if teachers think you have a LD, they will probably put you into a different building where all the LD students are. So basically, segregation is involved. I think the similarities between race as a social construct and disability as a social construct is they both intersect with determining whether a student has a LD or not. For example, drapetomania in the 17^th and 18^th century was known as a disease where African American slaves run away.  Because it was “considered” an illness, many believed the cure was locking them up, cutting off their feet, or making them work harder. For me, I don’t necessarily think they are different because they both intersect. I think medicine upholds our racial, gender, and class hierarchies because like I said before, since the whites were the majority in society, most doctors and nurses were probably white and making up these crazy diseases like drapetomania, hysteria, and homosexuality. Because of their high power in society, people go allow with it because they assume it’s the “norm”. I think race, class, language background or any other factors work together to set-up how we define learning disability is for example if we see someone who is not fluent in English, we automatically assume that they have a disability. If someone is black, then we automatically assume the worst of them-the ideology we have about them-and think that they should be put in a different class. If someone is living in poverty, it can definitely affect how they do well in school which often leads us to conclude that they have a LD.  I actually liked this weeks reading, especially Michael’s, and it really surprised me that there were actually crazy disabilities made by these doctors concerning African American slaves and women.

 

Words: 667