To be Labeled or Not be Labeled - Essay Example

To be labeled or not be labeled Anita Ho has discussed in her article, the loopholes of our society, which categories children in the context of 'disabled' without investigating the haphazard and after effects. No doubt, Anita Ho is right in blaming the society with respect to legislation, biological and mainstream education, but the point of concern lies with the notion that if society instead of treating such children 'disabled' consider them as normal, then what would be the course of action Would then such children be able to grasp the key concepts as that of normal children Anita Ho mentions in her article that such children when fitted in the box of 'disabled' are considered as 'outsider' regarding mainstream education so, such children should not be treated differently. No doubt, she is true but what if they are really treated as normal children and are unable to succumb to the required results. Let us look at the five points with a critical aspect, Anita Ho has discussed in her article: 1) A child whether disabled or not upholds a set of certain expectations in his circle of friends, family, teachers and relatives. This social circle also possesses some expectations regarding the child's attitude. Disability, in itself reflects a social attitude of a child in terms of those ways in which he reacts towards his social circle. So, it is not just 'being labeled a child' as Anita Ho describes but it is all about 'labeling a child according to his attitude or mental capabilities and it is necessary so that a child bears no more trouble in getting up to the expectations of his family, friends and teachers, because it is also seen in umpteen cases that teachers unconsciously builds too much of expectations from a child, to which a child is also aware of and when he assumes that he fail to fulfill their expectations, he emotionally gets disturbed. So, it is better to label children than to outrage their personalities due to too many expectations. 2) Children self esteem means a lot to them, particularly to those people who are in a social contact with them including family and friends. Being excluded from mainstream educational programs and resources no doubt hits children self esteem, but what if a real disabled child after getting access to mainstream education fails to get up to the tutor's expectation. His family of course has built up many high hopes with his educational carrier. What if despite knowing his mental capability he fails to get up to his family and teacher's expectation Well, I think this would bring him feelings of guilt and embarrassment, which is too much of considering him as 'labeled'. Mother is the closest personality to a child, and as mentioned by Niedecken (2003) she is bound to fulfill the nameless anxieties. In the attempt to bind these anxieties, the mother develops some phantasies around her child, which later take the form of unintentional expectations. These expectations do not allow her to get her child exposed to the outer world of hate and sympathy. So, it is already difficult for mothers to find a way of giving expression to negative feelings towards their child, feelings that are generated by a situation that demands so many sacrifices from them for the child's sake. So it is especially difficult when the mother sees herself confronted with a situation in which she has to protect her child from the animosity of an environment, which is hostile towards people with learning disabilities. (Niedecken, 2003, p. 72) In these circumstances it is better to be labeled among other 'labeled' children than to be a victim of hate of the outer 'unlabeled' world. 3) Anita Ho is right about the perception usually adopted by the gatherings of a 'labeled' child as the label simply covers all his capabilities due to which he is not considered as a 'normal' or 'winning' personality. Niedecken (2003) while highlighting one of the main causes of learning disability suggests that it is in fact created in a child by adopting all those ways and measures due to which a child reacts in response to what is incongruent, incommensurable and difficult to integrate in the behaviour of those in care. (Niedecken, 2003, p. 12) Truly speaking the institution of 'being labeled or not' can be justified by clearly judgement of 'being disabled or not', because no child borns with learning disabilites. It is the mental differentiation that distinguishes the features and matters. Anita Ho while making an issue of parents' worries talks about the stress parents are confronted to when their child is 'labeled' as disabled. Here, the parents should wisely think about those guilt and embarrassments, which they face in case if their child fails to resist in the mainstream educational programs. In this case the parents would be answerable to the teachers as well as they would confront to the challenging and critical behaviour of their social circle and relatives, which would of course hurt their feelings and self esteem. 4) If we analyse in context with legislation, according to UK SENDA (Special Educational Needs and Disability Act) extension 'Every Child Matters' (2004), there is a new policy, which enables disabled students to unbridge the gaps created by mental disabilities. This act enables 'labeled' students to think, act and play like ordinary children, provided they are been observed. The Act is an effective measure against 'labeled' students to alleviate physical, social and organizational barriers. (Jan 2006) Under such circumstances the comment does not seem reasonable if a school as analysed by Anita Ho, just for making some money identifies a child as disabled. However, it is possible that a school after making several observations consider a child and after making several meeting attempts decides to keep him in a separate class. Disabled children possess excessive anxiety of failing, of being overwhelmed, of being devoured by the extreme helplessness, neediness and distress of others. (Niedecken, 2003, p. 14) These are some states against which any institutional caring roles no longer provide protection, but institutions provide measures and remedies for protection. They provide an optimistic approach to each and every disabled child, thereby providing a cornerstone for the future progress. Therefore the critics that an institution charges for keeping disabled children in a separate classroom is of no use, but a true pessimistic approach. Besides the institutional aspect, this in one-way or the other is beneficial for the child as well. He is not treated as a child possessing a sympathetic attitude from his other classmates, his teachers are aware of his mental and physical capabilities, so there is no way of too many expectations. 5) Anita Ho identifies her fifth point as an important concern in 'labeling' as she indulges the contribution of medical model in it. Well, it is true that medical model perceives disability as a natural occurrence caused by the person's mental or physical impairment (Ho, 2007a) but this is also true that disability is used in medical model for the purpose of referring to people being unable to do things in society. (Greenparty, 2007a) In this context it is true that a child if not been able to fully participate either physically or mentally is termed as 'disabled'. Initial model studies applied the behavioral approach and its principles of motivation, context, and personal history as causes of disabled and normal students' performance. These principles assert that behavior is a function of its immediate consequences (motivation), in specific situations (contexts), and one's cumulative history of these situation-behavior-consequence interactions. What differ between behaviour interactions is the academic performance of diverse learners and the characteristically lower performance of children with learning disability (Keogh & Speece, 1996, p. 40), but those who take 'learning disability' lightly or for granted suffer the consequences in the long term in the form of jerky attitude of their office colleagues or they may be confronted to the social attitude of the outer world depicting abusive behaviour. So, it is best to cope up with the school environment and the parents should take into account the advices recommended by the teachers in opting the 'labeling' or not. Learning disability in students is not limited to the social or environmental factor alone, but it also takes into account those biological factors that are often ignored on the basis of fake self esteem like genetic causes, down's syndrome etc. This approach is carried out by many parents who despite knowing their child's true mental capabilities want to see them among normal individuals. Such selfish attitude of parents, no doubt is successful in bringing them self esteem among high societies but at the same time they are responsible for developing in their children a kind of 'barrier' or 'gap' which is difficult to bridge, particularly in the long run. According to Beveridge (2004), "Children are not only the focus, but can also exert a strong influence on the nature of the relationships that are established. Where children get on well with their teachers and feel valued and included by them as important members of their learning community, their parents are likely to be well disposed towards collaboration with school. In contrast, where teacher-child relationships are negative, this can create a major barrier to successful home-school communication". (Beveridge, 2004, p. 79) This is true if taken in the context of disabled children because if such 'labeled' children in acquiring the term 'no labeled' are sent to the mainstream classrooms with a surrounding which demands every effort from normal student, they would most likely be subjected to inferiority complex. References & Bibliography Beveridge Sally, (2004) Children, Families and Schools: Developing Partnerships for Inclusive Education: RoutledgeFalmer: New York Greenparty, 2007a Accessed from < http://policy.greenparty.org.uk/mfss/Disability.html> Ho, 2007a. 'To be labeled or not to be labelled' Jan2006, Accessed from Keogh K. Barbara & Speece L. Deborah, (1996) Research on Classroom Ecologies: Implications for Inclusion of Children with Learning Disabilities: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates: Mahwah, NJ. Niedecken Dietmut, (2003) Nameless: Understanding Learning Disability: Brunner-Routledge: New York. Read More