People First.

Due to our class discussion surrounding the history of special education, and our person first language assignment, I have been thinking a lot about the evolution of special education. As a future educator, it is important to know and understand what special education looked like, what it looks like right now, and how it might continue to evolve in the future. Here are a few things that I have found to be especially profound this week:

1. Changes in language

Within our exploration of the history of special education and the treatment of individuals with disabilities, I have noticed and continued to think about the shift in language. I was first struck by the use of the word "retarded" while watching the WillowBrook video, as that was the only way they referred to the residents. I understand that retarded was the word used to describe disability, but maybe because I have grown up on the notion that retarded was a derogatory term to use, I was a bit taken aback. Retarded is a huge label that was slapped on all people with disabilities, not just intellectual. The word retarded was eventually replaced by handicap, a word still used a lot today. My main problem with the word handicap is that it implies that the person with a disability is at a disadvantage when being compared to a person who does not have a disability. Both retarded and handicap are examples of disability first language. This acknowledges the person's disability first, rather than acknowledging the person first. This limits a person to only a disability, rather than acknowledging all that they are as a person, who then happens to have a disability of some kind. 

Person first language is the opposite, and is practiced in special education today. As seen in the BigFoot cartoon below, person first language is less harsh, more accepting, and does not automatically place the person with a disability into a confining box of stereotypes, and societal expectations. Advocating for person first language is important as it teaches others the implications of not using person first language. The shift in language mirrors the larger shift in the techniques and beliefs of special education, as well. 

This person with large feet feels demeaned, and insulted, by the person who chose not to use person first language. https://www.slideshare.net/joeychips/disability-awareness-for-employers

2. The impact of IDEA

The next thing we discussed in class that felt really profound to me was the overall impact and positive implications of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). To me, this law is revolutionary when looking at the history of special education and how the law has covered it. The explicit involvement of parents is a key detail for me. Especially after watching WillowBrook, where parents were kept in the dark about the everyday life of their child. Parent's now have the right to advocate for their children and fight for the best education they can possibly receive. Along with the advocacy of parents, the student's IEP team is another great feature found under IDEA. The IEP team, made up of parents, teachers, therapists, administration, and other adults involved in the student's education, can decide every detail of how a student's education will unfold. This makes every student's educational experience different, while ensuring that every student has the most access to the appropriate standards and learning outcomes. IDEA feels like the most systematic and procedurally sound law regarding special education. IDEA influenced all of the supports surrounding the student to work together and be on the same page in order for the most success occur. 

3. Changes in the way we view students with disabilities 

This section wraps up my thoughts of the language shift, as well as the impact of IDEA. Both reflect the change in the way the education system views students with disabilities. We first look at them as students, children, learners, and people. We then evaluate their disability, not to see how limited they are, but to see how we can serve them in a way that ensures the same access to the content and learning opportunities as the students who do not have disabilities. We individualize their education, but hold them to the same high expectations and accountabilities as we do with others. We no longer label them and make excuses for them, or act on our preconceived notions of what these students with disabilities should be like. We actively search for the least restrictive environment where they will thrive, and be challenged just enough. We treat them as people first, and invest in their education just as we would with another student who does not have a disability. 

They are people first.