I think the issue of mainstreaming requires a lot more nuance than I've ever seen it given. My perspective comes from witnessing my brother's experiences in SpEd, from being a Gen Ed teacher/educator, and from raising TAG kids--one of whom likely has a learning disability that was masked by his giftedness. I've seen too many students with unmet needs in every kind of setting (sometimes in my classroom, because I didn't have the resources I needed to meet their needs).
Teri, Your story touches me in many places, most of which are not stories I have made public; they are only partly mine, partly other people's. I also work in higher ed, where I feel we faculty know far too little about how to meet the needs of students; the accommodation letter only goes so far. So much of a mysterious individual person remains behind it. I look forward to reading your posts. (Growing up, my school district had a short bus, too.)
This is a link to a post I wrote about one type of academic accommodation — a reduced course load. I will be writing other posts about different types of disability-related academic accommodations.
In my former role, it was my professional and legal obligation not to disclose the nature of a student's disability unless the student asked me to for some reason. If a student’s disability isn't apparent (like mine is), the student often doesn't disclose it to faculty because of a justifiable fear of being stigmatized by preconceptions on the part of the faculty person.
This has gotten marginally better since I started 29 years ago. The most problematic depts are in STEM.
Thanks for the positive feedback and for subscribing.
Such a badass right from the beginning. And the nuanced effects of “mainstreaming”: a practice that I, as a parent, accepted without question. How beneficial was it? My son thrived in college, but didn’t get his high school diploma until he was twenty and well into a program that was top-notch, graduate level. Really makes me wonder. Thanks again, Teri.
I think the issue of mainstreaming requires a lot more nuance than I've ever seen it given. My perspective comes from witnessing my brother's experiences in SpEd, from being a Gen Ed teacher/educator, and from raising TAG kids--one of whom likely has a learning disability that was masked by his giftedness. I've seen too many students with unmet needs in every kind of setting (sometimes in my classroom, because I didn't have the resources I needed to meet their needs).
Teri, Your story touches me in many places, most of which are not stories I have made public; they are only partly mine, partly other people's. I also work in higher ed, where I feel we faculty know far too little about how to meet the needs of students; the accommodation letter only goes so far. So much of a mysterious individual person remains behind it. I look forward to reading your posts. (Growing up, my school district had a short bus, too.)
https://open.substack.com/pub/teriadams/p/disability-related-academic-accommodations?r=1trc68&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
This is a link to a post I wrote about one type of academic accommodation — a reduced course load. I will be writing other posts about different types of disability-related academic accommodations.
In my former role, it was my professional and legal obligation not to disclose the nature of a student's disability unless the student asked me to for some reason. If a student’s disability isn't apparent (like mine is), the student often doesn't disclose it to faculty because of a justifiable fear of being stigmatized by preconceptions on the part of the faculty person.
This has gotten marginally better since I started 29 years ago. The most problematic depts are in STEM.
Thanks for the positive feedback and for subscribing.
Such a badass right from the beginning. And the nuanced effects of “mainstreaming”: a practice that I, as a parent, accepted without question. How beneficial was it? My son thrived in college, but didn’t get his high school diploma until he was twenty and well into a program that was top-notch, graduate level. Really makes me wonder. Thanks again, Teri.