Joanne M. Friedman, MEd
In this status-conscious age, parents sometimes cringe when they receive a letter or telephone call from their child's school suggesting that special intervention might be necessary in order for their child to succeed. Parents whose children are already classified under one of the several categories that qualify for special consideration sometimes opt to allow their children to be declassified based solely on prompting by members of the committee whose job it is to do the testing and determine eligibility. They opt to forego testing because their sense of what special education classification does to their status and that of their children is slightly skewed or because they have been fed inaccurate information by individuals whose goals may not be in the child's best interests.
In most cases, when the decision to avoid testing is based strictly on a perceived stigma, the decision is not in the best interests of the student. It may be in the best interests of the parents, and they may believe they are sparing their child some horrible degradation by making that choice; often they are well-intentioned but misguided.
Do students feel there is a stigma attached to special education intervention? Yes. In variety it is almost identical to the stigma attached to being the dummy in the classroom or to having outdated sneakers. Children are frighteningly astute in their ability to identify and attack an enemy's weak spot. They can see the soft underbelly from across the room and are merciless.
Children want to all be alike. Even when they are striving to stand out from the crowd, their striving falls within limited ranges. The student who spikes his hair with egg whites and glue and pierces everything he can think of may look drastically different from the group wearing the varsity jackets and close-cropped hair, but he looks exactly like all of the other rebels whose hair is spiked and whose skin is decorated. So the need to be like everyone elseÑand perceived failure to succeed in that effortÑis what creates stigma among the children.
There is also prejudice among parents. The source is the same. Parents want to be seen as the best at what they do: parenting. They score points for raising children who are seen to be above-average in all the areas considered valuable to society. The push for excellence in science and math is about to raise the status of parents of "geeks" to the highest level in history. Points are earned for children's achievements such as class rank, awards, commendations, affiliations with especially high-value groups, success in athletics, and acceptance into private schools or colleges. In some families the bar is lower or higher, but no less important. Parents want children to be different in a good wayÑstronger, faster, more intelligent, more successful than their peersÑnot in a way which throws their parenting skills or genetics into question.
Is there something wrong with special education? Not really. Odds are that if your child legitimately strives for excellence, is motivated and sincere, has support at home, and is still failing, there is a larger problem to be identified and addressed. To avoid doing so can not only be detrimental to the child's progress, but according to federal law can also be the source of legal action by the school.
Changes in the IDEA (Individuals With Disabilities Education Act) are prompting reductions in special education support and an increase in declassification. New rules make it more difficult to get the child the help he needs. When parents decline testing, there are fewer due process cases brought by the schools to force their hands. In many instances, the sheer expense of testing is the issue for the school. In others it's the fact that the percentage of classified students on the roll can be used as a negative score in reporting a school's progress or level of effectiveness.
When should a child be tested?
1. If the child's teachers see a steady decline in performance with no other basis.
2. If parents note an increase in frustration with school work.
3. If the student is falling farther behind grade level each year.
4. If certain aspects of learning are obviously a problem for the child.
5. If there are other circumstancesÑidentified birth defects, neurological problems, physical impairmentsÑthat might be associated with learning disabilities.
6. If behavior at home and at school deteriorates, including drug use, alcohol use and destructive activities.
At the other end of the scale are the parents who will push for testing regardless of whether there are any indicators of special needs in the child's behavior or progress. Parents have been known to insist on testing of children who are only stubborn, lazy, under-motivated, or disaffected. They are rightly less concerned about the stigma of special education than they are about the stigma of failure and the destruction of their child's future.
It is difficult to judge the eligibility of a child for special programs and services without appropriate testing. The testing itself may be time-consuming for the child and expensive for the school, but the risk of allowing a child to flounder, fail, and follow a self-destructive pattern that could have been avoided is much more costly in time and money for everyone involved.
Be realistic about your child's abilities and work towards increasing his opportunities for unimpeded education. The stigma will fade as quickly as any other. If he can live with wearing last year's sneakers, he can live with getting extra help in math. If he can't live with either, there are larger questions to be asked.
Joanne M. Friedman received her undergraduate degree in psychology from Clark University and her MEd in special education from the University of Hartford. A past member of the Council for Exceptional Children, she has spent twenty-five years teaching special education at all levels, elementary through high school to learning disabled, emotionally disturbed, physically handicapped and developmentally disabled children and served on the Learning Disabilities Advisory Board at Sussex County College for six years. Joanne Friedman is a freelance writer living in Sussex County, New Jersey.
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