Mother: Special needs teen told he couldn’t wear varsity letters on jacket

I don't see what harm this doing, it means a lot the kid and I can't believe some parent complained about this.
 
This is an area where high school sports are HUGE right?
This case really does illustrate what a JOKE inclusion for intellectucally disabled kids is.
I know how the special needs teen was thinking....He was all excited and wanted to be a "big boy" and "real athlete" like the boys on the varsity team. I interact with ID kids and teens and young adults like this ALL THE TIME! They love the IDEA of being a part of a team or a community, and they are quite the fans of things.
Again I see nothing wrong with letting an ID student wear varsity letters on a jacket.....but at the same time it's making a mockery of inclusion, pretending that a child is actually a REAL varsity athlete. It's pretty much the same reason why I think that the Trophies for Parcipatating thing is silly.
But yeah, letting an ID kid wear varsity letters on their jacket really harms no one. Just let him wear them.
 
Why are other parents complained about his varsity letters on his jacket? I can not believe that they discriminated any disable kids who want and are involved in sports like Basketball or Baseball, even Volleyball. They deserve to get the letters for their jackets and they are proud of their achievement in sports along with normal teammates.

I am also disappointed with the principal about this. It does not matter if he was involved in the competitive or non-competitive sports. He or she earn the letters to the jackets. They have rights. We, Deaf or HOH, have problems like that, I guess, back then. I had never been involved in sports only I tried the swimming team but told me that I was not good enough to swim fast in the swimming pool. :(
 
They are complaining because he didn't earn it.

Some people are particularly proud of items that they earned. Ask any PhD professor if they are proud of those three little letters behind their names.
 
From what I read it dose not sound like the students are complaining that some parent complained about. I wonder if the shoe was on the other foot and that this was their special needs son that how they would feel if people were making a fuss about the kid wearing a letter. I bet the SN kid get picked on a lot and his mom wanted to do something to made her son feel good about himself .
 
i see the point..to.earn something matters. Though i think it coukd of been handled better, im sure there is a way for him to show his support for the team, in someway where it all fits for everyone...
That said the parent who complained is a cold bastard.
 
I had big problems with education authority I feel same way as you do DD,for some inclusion works for many it don't I also seen results wrong environment for special needs kids.When my daughter finally got to right place things changed.
This case do seem cruel and I no see the harm.
 
I saw the interview with the student who started the petition. She said that it wasn't to just give out varsity letters to SN students. It was to establish sports programs for them so that they could truly earn their own letters.

To me, that would be a preferred goal. SN students have their own sense of accomplishment, do they not? Wouldn't a SN student be prouder to get a letter that he or she earned rather than one that was just handed to him or her?

I would think it's better for self-esteem for a student to know that he earned that letter ("Look what I did!") rather than have someone give it as a sympathy gesture ("Oh, poor thing, let me give you this because you can't get a letter by yourself").

IMO
 
Honest, i dont care if it is about the earned related with sports. people whoever said that are inconsiderated heartless people. nothing else
 
My daughter got her judo organe belt no lee way given she did the national judo thing and got the belt..if she had been in inclusion setting she would not have done
 
Reba said:
I saw the interview with the student who started the petition. She said that it wasn't to just give out varsity letters to SN students. It was to establish sports programs for them so that they could truly earn their own letters.

To me, that would be a preferred goal. SN students have their own sense of accomplishment, do they not? Wouldn't a SN student be prouder to get a letter that he or she earned rather than one that was just handed to him or her?

I would think it's better for self-esteem for a student to know that he earned that letter ("Look what I did!") rather than have someone give it as a sympathy gesture ("Oh, poor thing, let me give you this because you can't get a letter by yourself").

IMO
Click to expand...

Problem is how many SN kids are at any given school, how many would participate in the sports and the biggie how much would or will it cost? Let the kid wear the jacket or get him involved doing something to help some team in some capacity so he can wear the jacket without some kids or parent complaining.
 
Reba said:
I saw the interview with the student who started the petition. She said that it wasn't to just give out varsity letters to SN students. It was to establish sports programs for them so that they could truly earn their own letters.

To me, that would be a preferred goal. SN students have their own sense of accomplishment, do they not? Wouldn't a SN student be prouder to get a letter that he or she earned rather than one that was just handed to him or her?

I would think it's better for self-esteem for a student to know that he earned that letter ("Look what I did!") rather than have someone give it as a sympathy gesture ("Oh, poor thing, let me give you this because you can't get a letter by yourself").

IMO
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that the point Reb and inclusion is not the way to go with many kids.
 
The truth is, most non-SN students don't get varsity letters either.
 
http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2015/02...dent-has-incredible-basketball-story-to-tell/


We need more coaches in school like this guy to let SN students to get a chance to play in a game. It's too bad all the people complaining about this SN student isn't doing something to help the SP students feel like they're a part of the school like the coach in this story. It's easier to shoot off your mouth than get involve I guess. I feel this is the biggest problem in the schools there are not enough people brave enough to speak up to allow SN students to join a sport . If there was then a SN student may just win a letter . I hope this mother get people to think about allowing SN students to be part of the sport team than just being a water or boy or girl.
 
i passing comment on this but not a clue what varsity letter is..as you say most SN don't get them but in the right environment they stand better chance.Plus i think it can be grossly patronizing to put some SN in main stream..It can take about two years to astertain what sort of school they need my daughter spent two years at assessment school before it decided what sort of school and social setting she needed.Unfotunatly come 18 they don't give a toss and all the good work given as child just frizzles away as adult.
saying this i do know of Downs kids at mainstream and doing better than mainstream kids but mostly this is not the case..You get one or two that do well parents teachers take those examples use same logic on other SN and it don't work
 
Steinhauer said:
They are complaining because he didn't earn it.

Some people are particularly proud of items that they earned. Ask any PhD professor if they are proud of those three little letters behind their names.
Click to expand...

For literally millions of kids earning the letter....

All they had to do was show up when no one else did in their small town.

In other point....How many of us know the benchwarmers?

And you want to tell me that those PhD folks did the same thing Benchwarmed their classes doing nothing?

Its a joke in many areas to "earn" it....just show up to games and practices. I was a top athlete in my sport yes I was Varsity and by my 3rd year I threw it all away it was no fun watching other people shoot daggers at you when theyre warming that bench because the coach wanted to win. I was in a high populated high school. I did not give a damn about my Varsity letter. Its still in its plastic bag it came with in a landfill somewhere. If I have known a kid would have loved it I would have saved it and gave it in a heartbeat.

Youre not giving good comparison when a PhD is given by performance given while a Varsity letter is given by many different circumstances. Theres even golf, swimming, cheerleading, bowling, and so on that not just the normal sport we know like football and baseball etc.
 
whatdidyousay! said:
http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2015/02...dent-has-incredible-basketball-story-to-tell/


We need more coaches in school like this guy to let SN students to get a chance to play in a game. It's too bad all the people complaining about this SN student isn't doing something to help the SP students feel like they're a part of the school like the coach in this story. It's easier to shoot off your mouth than get involve I guess. I feel this is the biggest problem in the schools there are not enough people brave enough to speak up to allow SN students to join a sport . If there was then a SN student may just win a letter . I hope this mother get people to think about allowing SN students to be part of the sport team than just being a water or boy or girl.
Click to expand...

Trouble is, there's not much you can do to make the special needs kids feel like they're a part of the school. Picture your typical high school.....It's not High School Musical or Grease....I kinda wish we DID live in a world like that.....but it's a sad fact that SN kids are on a completely different level then typical people. They might not even understand how a game is scored....and so much "inclusion" is so tokenist. It's like "Awww, isn't that sweet that the special needs kids and the normal kids are playing together?" But the thing is....that type of inclusion is VERY superficial.
 
caz12 said:
i passing comment on this but not a clue what varsity letter is..as you say most SN don't get them but in the right environment they stand better chance.Plus i think it can be grossly patronizing to put some SN in main stream..It can take about two years to astertain what sort of school they need my daughter spent two years at assessment school before it decided what sort of school and social setting she needed.Unfotunatly come 18 they don't give a toss and all the good work given as child just frizzles away as adult.
saying this i do know of Downs kids at mainstream and doing better than mainstream kids but mostly this is not the case..You get one or two that do well parents teachers take those examples use same logic on other SN and it don't work
Click to expand...

When we're talking about intellectucal SN, I think you'd have to say that ALL intellectucal SN kids really don't benifit all that much from inclusion.....I know I'll probaly get a lot of hate posts....Oh lord I remember a certain member flipping out b/c we thought that ID kids did not belong in regular education.
NEWSFLASH, the OVERWHELMING majority of ID kids are at completely different levels then typical kids. ID kids being in regular ed, would be like a normal IQ person taking a seminar on Advanced Physics taught by Stephen Hawking. Yes, most kids with all sorts of general disabilities can and do belong in a typical classroom, but what is so wrong with curriculum and programming designed specificly for THEM?
 
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