Going to School Documentary (Assignment A)

 Going to School - Ir a la Escuela

Richard Cohen Films

Three Talking Points

1.  "Before the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA 1975) was passed millions of children received inadequate special education services and at least one million children were prevented from attending altogether."

This statement was shocking at first. I had not realized that IDEA was not passed by congress until 1975, ensuring families that students with disabilities would receive a high quality and adequate education within the United States. As I began to think about this timeline I realized that my mom was in school before 1975 and how this legislation is really only one to two generations removed from the current students in our schools. This documentary was insightful and helped bring insight into the services we need to provide to help all children be honored, respected, and provided for.

2. "Yes they are accepting our kids, but they are putting them in a bungalow within the schools. What are we doing?"

This is something that I feel still occurs within our schools. Although we are mandated to have our children in the "least restrictive environment" we still separate our students with disabilities. To have a classroom or hallways dedicated just for students with disabilities is not how we should be immersing our students into the student body. We have gotten better about creating inclusive classrooms in many districts, but some districts still hold the old school model of having students with disabilities separated from their peers all day long. This does not allow for our students with disabilities to be able to grow their social skills, have peer models in academics, or feel as part of the school.

3. I found that an overarching theme among the parents conversations within this documentary was that there was always a push to seclude the children with disabilities. At the time of this documentary the teachers, administrators, and other faculty felt that it would just be 'easier' to send the students to an isolated school for students with disabilities. This to me seems as though they were just looking at the disability and not as though these are still children. It does not serve our students to segregate them based off of any factors, and especially in the case of students with disabilities. It is important for all kids to have peer models academically and peers to socialize with. We do not prepare our children for life after school if we hold them in a separate building or classroom away from everyone else.