Imagine that two devoted, traditional, highly schooled parents ask if you can assist them to prepare their daughters to attend college. They’re the kind of parents teachers cite as examples of traditional ideal supporters of public schools.
These parents enrolled their daughters in the best public school available in their area, but don’t think teachers prepare them for admission beyond a tier four or possibly tier three college or state university. They believe that such schooling, even with their daughters at the top of their classes, will not likely prepare them for employment comparable to their parents.
One daughter will probably earn top academic and artistic positions in highly competitive schools. Educators labeled the second daughter as having an intellectual deficit. She likely has a Stanford-Benet IQ score two deviations below the mean. Educators assigned her to conventional special education “inclusive” instruction that’s mostly IEP pull-out programs.
Someone else offered reading lists and skill development suggestions for the first daughter. I’ll give priority to suggesting activities for the second daughter’s college preparation.
For some of us, these are familiar requests. Examples exist of how such suggestions result in education doctorate holders, authors, artists, entertainment celebrities, and etc., including for people with various intellectual disabilities.
For some observers, it seems cruel, unnecessary, elitist, or inappropriate to prepare individuals with intellectual disabilities for anything other than living limited, at least partly sheltered lives.
Other objectors argue to parents, give your attention instead to improving public schools, so others as well as your children may also attend colleges of their choices.
I first remember hearing these objections during school desegregation in Chapel Hill, North Carolina in 1967.
Today, mobile PCs can mitigate risks against someone attending a college of choice, including a person with intellectual disabilities. That premise appears reasonable, given uses of mobile PCs to implement results from experimental laboratory and field research studies about teaching and learning.
I think I’ll explore this request further in the next few days, review options, and post some thoughts, just in case they might assist someone.
What do you suggest I do to assist these parents?