Letter to the Editor

Dear Editor,

 

                In My English class this year we were given an assignment based on our community needs. Many of my fellow classmates chose topics that were egregious yet relevant. However I have decided to go down a path many overlook. This journey I have decided to take is the road of Special Needs Education, and how we can enhance its outcome.

                We never hear much about the education of those who are special needs. In my project I post the question of whether or not special needs education is effective enough for them to function in a society so complex and judgmental, also whether or not they are treated fairly as individuals, and not as “outsiders.” The main focus of my project is to shed light on the issue of special needs students not having the proper tools to be out in the world on their own, fending for themselves as human beings. This is also to bring the issue of people only seeing a persons’ physical appearance, and paying mind to only their negative defects.

                My thesis may be uncommon, but it strikes a chord many seem to ignore. My reason for choosing this topic is; in my high school, we have special needs students and they seem happy, but are they getting what they really need to be independent as adults when they get older?

                Special needs students are very sheltered and that’s not bad thing, however it’s not fully a good either. What’s going to happen after high school? Will they still have all the assistance they were given in their educational career? These are questions that no one wants to ask, that’s why I wanted to focus my community project on this situation.

                A Solution to this deficiency would be giving them independent lead way. This means letting them do things on their own, giving them a fair chance. Community leader such as the Board of Education should extend the curriculum to a basis where special education students can be taught more than just the “textbook protocol,” but they should connect the real world into their education. Also this new outlook would give them a slight view of how the real world would be like, when they get out there on their own.

 

Sincerely,

Yvonne Mickens-McDougald

Orange, New jersey 07050