-Some reasons that students are misdiagnosed with LD, ED, and MR could be because of language barriers, if a students first language is not english, and they are being tested on their knowledge in a language they do not know it can falsely determine their intelligence therefore making the teacher assume that they are not prepared to move onto the next level or need extra attention. Another reason kids can be misdiagnosed is because teachers could grow impatient with children at a young age and write them of as having LD, MR, or ED when really it is just because they want to move on with the class. Rather then stepping back and evaluating the different things that could be causing the disturbance with the child they go to the easiest route and diagnose them with whatever they feel is appropriate.
-I think that the fact that almost all LD's are determined by teachers leads for higher rates of LD's in children just because every child learns differently. Girls are often more subdued in class then boys are which could lead to more male students being diagnosed with LD's, also the language barrier for a child that does not have english as a first language could be particularly difficult because the teacher could assume that the child just doesn't pay attention or doesn't want to learn in class which leads to diagnosing students with LD's.
-A lot of things from this week surprised me. Just the readings alone were enough to surprise me, especially Michael's story. The fact that he had dyslexia and that prevented him from doing various things in his life, including excelling in the workplace, but then when I really started to think about it I realized that it is something that I have witnessed in my life. This intersectionality based on race and disability. I personally know two people that have dyslexia, one of them is my aunt and another is a friend. My Aunt is a Mexican woman in her thirties, and my friend is a white male in his teens. My Aunt has suffered from dyslexia from the time she was in grade school and still suffers from it today. It is not severe but it is still brought up from time to time and she says it was difficult but not to difficult, and that she had extra help throughout school for it. Anytime I have been with her I have never noticed the fact that she has dyslexia. My friend on the other hand has severe dyslexia, but all of his teachers tell him that it is fine and he will get over it eventually he is now around my age and still has extreme difficulty with spelling but teachers told him that there is no need for extra assistance and it is something that will pass. After realizing this I was surprised at how much this happens, and how much I never noticed it. The readings definitely opened my eyes.
Word Count: 499
Hi Miyoko! I enjoyed reading your post about learning disability and intersectionality. I agree with your comment that many teachers are diagnosing students because they are not living in the same world, and actually having patience with the student. I think before diagnosing the student with a learning disability, they should take some time outside of class to understand what is really causing the child to "act out" or not not perform in school rather than just ddignosing them with a disability. Like you said teachers seem to go the easy route.
ReplyDeleteNow that I know what intersectionality is, it's really amazing to how much of it we see in our everyday life! From your example you gave, it really shows how intersectionally plays a role, and how people are treated based off their race,gender,and ability combined.