crown-of-weeds:

So, hey, this kid is a friend of mine, and he’s being barred from attending his local public school due to his disabilities. The school is requiring that he prove that he can independently climb the stairs to the entrance before they’ll grant him admission—which, yes, is flagrantly illegal. 

Henry’s been homeschooled for the past several years, because his district is only willing to place him in a segregated program at a different school, where he will receive an inferior and inappropriate education.

Henry is really amazing, and incredibly smart, and he wants to go to his local school. Not being able to move his body rapidly isn’t an acceptable, or legal, reason to deny him his legal right to a free and appropriate education in the least restrictive environment.

So, if you have a second, could you sign his petition?

tal9000:

[Image text: “my math teacher staples burger king applications to failed tests”]

babstheartist:

lost-in-the-moment:

teaching: you’re doing it right.

Because children with learning disabilities don’t exist.

Fuck that teacher yo.

Not to mention the assumption that working at Burger King is an unworthy job being just a little classist.

And also, some of those disabled people could have a condition that prevents them from working in burger king (I think it’s a job that would really be to difficult for me to do for exemple, with my sensory troubles, constant interractions with clients… having to be good at organization… not to mention how clumsy I am (I don’t know if it counts as dispraxia)

… And in general, this attitude is so shitty I mean, the clear idea here is humiliation (with like said before, a very strong classist, elitist bia) and that’s not the way you teach, shame is not the way you get people to learn something.

TRANSCRIPT:

(Quote by Albert Einstein:

THE IMPORTANT THING IS NOT TO STOP QUESTIONING, CURIOSITY HAS ITS OWN REASONS FOR EXISTING.

The word curiosity is in yellow and very big, there is a picture with a purple background, the picture is showing some students one in the middle who has pigtails (seems to at least present as a girl) is raising hir hand apparently painfully, trying to get attention that doesn’t seems to be received)

nekobakaz:

the-star-stuff:

ALBERT EINSTEIN: The important thing

Credit: Gavin Aung Than

I look at this and cry a little. 

As a young student with disabilities (unknown to me, but you always know when you’re different), I have always had trouble initiating social contact, especially in school.  I remember quite clearly being taught not to ask questions by a teacher.  As a young student who rarely raised her hand to either volunteer information, answer questions, or ask questions, this had a profound effect on me, even to this day.  The few times I was curious, or tried to answer questions, I was practically humiliated in front of the class and even sent to stand in the hall.  I didn’t know what I had done wrong, other than raise my hand and speak. 

Since Grade 4, I refused to answer teacher’s questions, raise my hand or participate in class.  If I did, it was a huge feat for me, and only happened when I was absolutely sure of the answer, mainly in Grade 12.  It probably affected my ability to ask for help and my willingness to request and use accommodation, meaning my grades probably suffered.

I’m turning 27 in a little over a week; I’m still dealing with this.  It’s a bit easier, now that my classes are online.  But how I wish that never happened to me, that throughout my academic career I could have been the girl in the picture, eager to openly ask questions and learn.  I don’t think that teacher meant to hurt me like she did, but the fact remains that she did, and I’m living with the result.

I’m so sorry this happened to you.

private-revolution:

inothernews:

Fellow Tumblrers — please feel free to help Ray and his students out, if you can!

detroitsomething:

Dear followers, teachers, and the Tumblr #education community,

My name is Ray Stoeser and I am a second year English teacher at Crockett Technical High School in Detroit, MI.  This year I had the amazing opportunity to be the AP Language and Composition instructor for our school.  I work with some of the most amazing students you could meet.  Their hunger, passion, and dedication to their education is truly special.  

At the beginning of the year, the school told me they would be covering the cost of the AP exams.  We are a high poverty school and even the reduced $57 fee per exam is hefty for some of our students’ families.  When the time came to order the exams, I was informed that the school was out of funds and would be unable to pay for the exams.  I was heartbroken.  How was I going to tell my 22 students that they were not going to take the exam for which they had worked so hard to prepare?  

I couldn’t.  

With less than 24 hours before we had to order the exams, I told the administration to order all 22 exams.  College Board wasn’t going to send the bill until mid-June so that gave me some time to find some donations.  

On May 16th the students took their exams and returned to my class excited and confident about their results!

That being said, we still need to pay the bill.  My class and I are accepting donations and/or sponsors for the exams.  I have 22 students and the exams are $57 each.  We would graciously accept any denomination.  Also, if you would like to pick one of the 22 students and sponsor their individual exam with a $57 donation that student would be happy to send you a personalized “thank you.”

Here are some of the students you would be helping!

To donate please click here.

Class Roster

• Demetria
• Charles
• Davina
• Tyquan
• Derek
• Andrea
• Curtia
• Paula
• Dakharia
• Khalid
• Khalil
• Leon
• Desmond
• Taja
• Equan
• Ariel
• Shayla
• Capri
• Deshont’A
• Tara
• D’Nika
• Mack

Thank you for helping these students take one step closer to college!!!

If you have any questions and/or concerns, please do not hesitate to reach out to me.

raymond.stoeser@detroitk12.org

raystoeser@gmail.com

To donate please click here.

Putting this on my to do list, signal boosting too

disabledtalk:

Open Post

As a part of education week here at DisabledTalk, we want to hear and share your stories and experiences of being disabled and being a student, and how those overlapped. Whether your experiences were positive or negative, whether you’re still in school or well out of it, we want to hear from you. It doesn’t matter if you submit anonymously or under a name; we’ll publish all of the submissions we get.

Submit to us here! Please title your submissions with ‘education week,’ so we can tag them appropriately.

If you have any questions, feel free to hit up our ask box.

theoncomingsagan:

a haiku about going to school tomorrow: 

no no no no no

no no no no no no no

no no no no no

latinosexuality:

i’m tired. 

while i was writing my class notes for this class which is on immigration, reading about what reports and national survey’s asking USians about their ideas of immigrants and immigration, watching Nezua’s vids “take our jobs!” and on “terror babies,” hearing the stories of how Alabamians are impacted by HB56, and the film The Harvest and having to get ready to talk about it in an unbiased way.

i can’t today. it’s too much. i need a mental health day. a self-care day. 

these topics and stories are not just to “discuss” in a classroom. they are people’s lives. they are my community. they are my students (two of whom are recent immigrants to the US), they are my parent’s experiences. they are our lives. sometimes teaching about our lives in a sterile way can help limit these overwhelming feelings of hatred, isolation, and death. sometimes that approach can work for many esp. if it becomes a ritual to act as a coping mechanism. but today, on this day, i cant teach in a sterile way (i dont’ ever really). 

today i have to remember i need to survive and that resting, and meditating, and enjoying my chosen family are ways that help me survive in a world that doesn’t want me to exist. 

educators, professors, instructors: we are people too. i know that this class came to me to teach now because i need it for my spirit. right now i need to rest and remember and thank those who have migrated and lost their lives, those who have worked to bring food to my home and have died, those who have cared for the children and youth in my life while no one cared about theirs, those people who i may never meet but whose lives impact mine so directly. 

i cancelled class today. 

allies-person:

TW: Mentions abuse of autistic children in schools, death

I am doing research for local advocacy and am interested in hearing from autistic people (and non-autistic parents, too, actually), especially those who have experiences (either personal or with their kids) of working with public schools to develop accommodations of the sort that I’m about to describe.

School can be incredibly overwhelming for autistic people.  Many of us are naturally calmed by deep pressure and dark, quiet places.  We may seek these places ourselves if we’re being overwhelmed and overstimulated—as an undiagnosed and unaccommodated autistic person, I spent time hiding in the bathroom in middle and high school.  Many autistic people also use weighted blankets and vests to regulate and calm ourselves.  From what I understand, some kids use these assistive devices during the schoolday

The problem comes when these tendencies of ours are used to facilitate and justify abuse.  The media has been replete with stories of autistic students (and other disabled students) being enclosed in closets, duffel bags, and cardboard boxes.  And sometimes the authorities involved will justify this because autistic people are comforted by these things, and maybe in some instances the child first sought an enclosed space of their own volition (and because they had nowhere else to go to escape the situation).  I even know of a case where a weighted blanket (which was too heavy for the child) was used to forcefully “calm” a child to the extent that he suffocated to death.

So.  I am interested in educating school districts in how they can appropriately accommodate autistic kids who get overwhelmed in a non-coercive and non-abusive manner.  What I see as the best-case scenario is the provision of a quiet room where kids can voluntarily retreat when they need to.  Perhaps that room could also contain items that may be calming, such as a weighted vest.  It is critical that they have full autonomy over when they go into the room and when they leave.

That is the ideal accommodation, to my mind.  I recognize the numerous difficulties in actually implementing this, alas.  I am interested in hearing about people who were successfully able to use an accommodation similar to what I described, or who found another accommodation which worked. 

I want to show school districts that there are non-abusive alternatives to what they are too often doing.  

I don’t know if the experience of a Swiss-autistic could be of some use to you.

allies-person:

TW: Abuse of children with disabilities in school, ableism

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