Post Read Week 8

Students may be misdiagnosed with a learning disability because their teachers believe their behavior or academic success can only be explained by having a learning disability; behavior like not participating, disrupting the class by being loud or not being able to stay still.  Their academic success might be judged on whether how much homework they turn in, how much they participate, and how well they do on tests, but their lack of success might have deeper roots than just a learning disability. Their home environment might not allow the student the time or quietness they need to study. Their parents may not be around to help them with their homework or there might be a language barrier either between the student and teacher or the parent. All of these factors might add to the difficulty the student has in completing work, or the teacher is right and they have a learning disability, but their needs to be an extensive look into the other possibilities, instead of just jumping to conclusions.

People are always being compared to what is normal, whether its appearance, intelligence, or wealth, and on top of that we’re also told that we’re all unique in our own way. Well, what is it? It has to be one or the other. What is considered to be normal in terms of economic status and intelligence is that students will be middle class or higher and average or above average in academics. If students fail to meet these “normal” standards it’s assumed there is something wrong with them.

A student’s race might be influencing a teacher’s decision to place the student in special education because the teacher starts with a preconceived notion about a certain race. Like we talked about in class, a teacher who has an African American male student might be judge him to be loud, rude, illiterate, or even criminal-like. Students who are lower class may have a more difficult time completing their homework for reasons I listed in the first paragraph, which may make them appear to not be learning at the same level as other students. Just by general observation boys tend to be more on the rambunctious side, it’s more difficult for them to sit still, so when they exhibit these behaviors in class teachers can attribute of to them having a learning disability.

 Race as a social construct in relation to disability as a social construct share commonalties along the lines of them using what white men see as normal as the base line. If it’s not white or upper/middle class it’s abnormal. They differentiate in how they affect people. People are even more segregated for the population once they’re labeled with a disability.

If a disability is viewed as “in-child” it’s like saying that it’s a problem within the child that has not outside factors contributing to it. It’s a problem unique to this child that may or may not be “fixable”.  This kind of diagnosis hides that outside factors that might influence the behavior or success of the student.

The prime example of how all of these hierarchies of race, class, gender, and ability are upheld can be seen in the history of the disease HIV Aids. When the disease was first diagnosed as a “black” disease and then it was a “gay disease;” showing how race, gender, sexuality, and class intertwine. The doctors that were diagnosing it refused to look at the facts and data they we’re given because it would taint the stereotypes of the straight white community. Because the medical community has the power to understand medical terminology and medical issues it can manipulate it to favor certain people or outcomes, not to diminish all the great things that comes out of the medical community.

From the definition I used in my earlier blog post it defined learning disability as a person presenting systems of the imperfect ability to listen, speak, think, read, write, spell, or to do math calculations, all of which can be connected with a language barrier. Language barriers can directly correlate with economic status and race because lower economic status may be influenced by a person’s lack of ability to obtain a higher paying job. It’s really a cycle, if a parent doesn’t speak English well or isn’t well educated they rely on their children and then the pressure is on the child to succeed, but if they are diagnosed with a learning disability they are faced with something else holding them back from succeeding, when in fact they may just need extra attention or help with the language or understanding the material. People learn in different ways and some people just need more time.

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Pre Reading Week 8

Learning Disability: The general definition for a learning disability mean a person falls into on or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or using language (spoken or written) that may cause the imperfect ability to listen, speak, think, read, write, spell, or to do math calculations. Some conditions include, perceptual disabilities, brain injuries, dyslexia, developmental aphasia, and minima brain injury. 

Mental Retardation: A less than average intellectual ability equal to or less than an IQ of 70 usually sub average intellectual ability equivalent to or less than an IQ of 70 that is followed with lack of abilities necessary for independent daily functioning. It’s present from birth or infancy and is manifested by delayed or abnormal development, learning difficulties, and by problems in social adjustment.

Emotionally Disturbed: a person exhibiting one or more of the following characteristics over a long period of time and to a marked degree that adversely affects a person’s educational performance:

     1. An inability to learn that cannot be explained by intellectual, sensory, or health factors.

     2. An inability to build or maintain satisfactory interpersonal relationships with peers and teachers.

     3. Inappropriate types of behavior or feelings under normal circumstances.

     4. A general pervasive mood of unhappiness or depression.

     5. A tendency to develop physical symptoms or fears associated with personal or school

I believe these categories define certain disabilities that exist in the world. People or more specifically children diagnosed with disabilities require special education classes because of their learning ability. They sometimes need the extra attention and more guidance from teachers.

I can’t give a clear opinion as to why students of color are over over-represented in special education classes, because to be honest, in my experience throughout schooling I noticed a larger ration of Caucasian students compared to students of color. Now, the type of community grew up in might explain this or some other factors may have had an impact. However, if I did have to give a reason for why students of color are over-represented in statistics it would be along the lines of the people running the statistics to create a certain outcome, like these disabilities being race related or gender related. It’s hard for me to discuss statistics without knowing, who created the statistics, how were they taken and analyzed, who were the people that make-up the statistics, and what factor were taken into consideration; because all of these questions and their answers can be easily manipulated to present a certain outcome.

I think more people are will find their race and class intersect more with how it’s difficult to have a disability, but I presume that men see them as weaknesses and I think women do to, however the pressure put on the male species in certain cultures pushes them to be and behave a certain way, where women might be more nurturing or nurtured. Where race and class start to intersect an play a role is how being part of a certain class limits what is available to you. It may be more difficult to provide that extra time needed for the person with a disability, or the money that’s needed to provide extra care or medicine for the person with a disability. These things require money and if someone is part of the lower class they’re likely to face a hard time trying to get what they need compared to someone who can readily afford it. Race place a role in a few aspects because race can contribute to class status, in the fact that there’s a large proportion of people of color who are not part of the wealthy class who can easily afford things they need and want. It also has a hand in stigmas that are sometimes attached to people with disabilities that it’s something racial that made them that way, which is absolutely untrue.

Someone who doesn’t speak the language of the test being given or doesn’t have a proper interpreter is likely to face trouble answering the questions to the best of their knowledge. They may misinterpret a question or not understand it and answer the question wrong. Race and class play in to this because people who are lower class are probably less educated which continues to connect with race because people of color are probably part of those in the middle or lower class more often than they are the wealthy class.

Post Reading Week 5

-   -    Eduardo Bonilla-Silva refers to CBR as ‘racism-lite’ because CBR isn’t a blunt form of racism. It’s more people walking around the subject of racism or being outright racist. People have evolved into more tolerable people but they still believe in some stereotypes and when they exhibit those beliefs or make certain statements they’re alluding to racism. It’s a way for people to hide behind their racist beliefs and disguise what they actually mean when they say certain things.

-    -   Well, technically the video can’t be racist because the woman behind the video is African American, and racism is a combination of power and prejudice and African Americans don’t have structural power behind them. However this video is pretty prejudice. It groups a lot of things some but not all white girls say to their African American girl friends. In this film she’s trying to prove, and does a pretty good job, at exemplifying the fact that things white girls say can be racist but aren’t so blunt or are sugar coated that they either don’t notice or disregard the fact what their saying is based off of stereotypes.

-     -  White people gain to stand by using CBR because for so long they were able to be frank about their racist opinions and after the civil rights they had to suppress some of their beliefs. CBR allows them to still express their racism without necessarily having to deal with the consequences of saying something so blatantly racist.  They get to manipulate there words so that they are still racist but some people don’t catch the racism in what their saying.

-    -   Some common rebuttal to CBR might be that people can’t help the fact that certain stereotypes of races are true. That it’s just the way the world is and they can’t change it, whether they’re talking about one person or a whole group changing it. However, it’s not true that it’s just the way the world is. There are certain laws and people that reinforce stereotypes and don’t look any further than what they see. People are often grouped in to a large majority or statistic when there’s the obvious fact that not all people should be. There are so many important figures in America and so many people who don’t follow stereotypes and it’s those people that don’t get considered and are often grouped in with these stereotypes because it fits their race. Certain stereotypes might be true for some but not all and for those who it may be true for think of how it is they got there in the first place. They were never given the chance for true equality and fairness.

-      - Numbers 4, 5, and 18-21 were the most expressive of racism. They sounded condescending and just were obviously supported by beliefs that stemmed from racism or stereotypes. The one question that really y struck me as ambiguous was number 17, the one about Gingrich referring to Obama as “the food stamp president.” I need more context for what Gingrich was saying and trying to prove when he said that because referring to Obama as “the food stamp president” could be talking about his stance on welfare or his race, or something else.

-      - What’s left out when people talk about diversity they don’t talk about all the inequalities that are still present between races and white privilege that feeds these inequalities. It’s a problem because if people continue to not recognize or ignore the fact that there is still unfairness among races then society can never move forward and make a change.

-     -  We study colorblind racism in Ethnic Studies so that we are all aware of it, so that we can no longer continue thinking that there is complete equality. It’s important for people to realize that if they don’t understand how CBR applies to them than they can never fully move past it. Without knowing and understanding CBR it would be incredibly difficult to fully pursue social justice because we wouldn’t understand a huge social injustice that’s present.

-   -    CBR is super important for understanding the U.S.. It allows people to see how some races are still restricted by laws through CBR and how officials use CBR to get certain results. It’s also very pertinent currently with the presidential election going on, it allows people to have a deeper insight to what the candidates represent.

-     -  I think I have always been a little aware of CBR but had never been able to define it and now that I have, I can feel a little reassured that it’s pretty common and that I can move toward not being so color-blind racist.

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