Re: Hearing problem

[George Spagna <gspagna@rmc.edu>]

At 01:34 PM 10/21/98 -0700, Rick Tarara wrote:
> Does anyone else view many of the remedies that have been discussed as
> ultimately a strong 'intrusion' on one's teaching style and almost certainly
> a detriment to one's presentation to the rest of the class?  This seems to
> me to be the dilemma of these equal access requirements--they can easily
> turn out to have negative effects on the non-handicapped students.

Can be, perhaps.  But, I'm not sure they have to be.  I once taught an
intoductory astronomy course which had a blind - excuse me, visually
impaired - student.  I had to adapt, but I sincerely believe that the other
students did not notice the adaptations.

>  Such
> seems to be the case in the so called 'Inclusion' techniques now so popular
> in public schools (popular--I believe--because they reduce the Special
> Education budget).

Here, we agree.  Students who have certain disabilities, whether physical
or emotional impairment, or those who have real (rather than diagnosed out
of convenience) learning disabilities, might well be better served by
separate classes tailored to their individual needs.  However, if nobody is
willing to spend what it really costs to do this, are we to exclude them
from the mainstream courses? 

>  The distractions and restrictions on the 'regular'
> students seems to outweigh the good intentions of full inclusion of the
> handicapped.  It is also the case (crystal clear to me and many others) that
> often the handicapped are not as well served by such inclusion as they would
> be in special classes.  This, of course, is more true for the mentally and
> emotionally handicapped than for the physically handicapped, but certainly
> few schools and instructors are really skilled at providing for the blind or
> deaf and as this thread shows, the needed adjustments can really intrude on
> one's teaching style.

Of course, we really have no choice.  Legally, we are bound to reasonably
accommodate those with disabilities.

George Spagna           **********************************************
Department of Physics   *                                            *
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