Labels

Today I wanted to talk a little bit about labeling and diagnosis, both of which can have some very serious consequences, especially when they're well, wrong.  Our society likes to have things in neat little packages, because then, people don't feel so guilty about generalizing and stereotyping.  What they don't realize, is that not everyone fits into a neat, little package, and it's important to look at each child as an individual, rather than something that can be found in a specific manual (I'm referring to the idiocy that is the DSM, or Diagnostic Statistical Manual, that is used to give diagnosis for things like Autism, depression, and many other 'conditions').  


I was at a conference about a month and a half ago, and the only reason I went was because the keynote speaker was going to talk about the diagnostic criteria for Autism.  I thought that it would be a great way to learn more about this particular exceptionality and then hopefully shed some light on it for my grandmother, who is very interested since my cousin (her youngest grandchild) may come out diagnosed with it.  Well, what I learned was that the criteria was so horrid, that almost anyone could be diagnosed with this particular condition.  The gist was, that a person that is having difficulty socializing, has some eccentric interests and has high intelligence may be labeled as someone with Aspberger's Syndrome (a form of high functioning Autism).  This made me laugh, because, well, I and quite a few of my close friends would fit into that category.  I remember telling my friend Anna (the creative genius behind this blog) that if this criteria was to be believed, than almost everyone at her parish would have this condition, because they're all highly intelligent, and love things like Liturgical music, cannon law, iconography, and the list could go on.  Oh, and there are a few who are introverted and don't care for a huge crowd of people.  


Now, let's take this into the context of special education.  Say a child starts kindergarten.  The child is reserved, likes to play by herself, has a preference for a specific spot on the Reading Carpet and loves everything that has to do with dinosaurs.  The classroom teacher observes this child, and after a month starts raising concerns that she's not making any friends, and doesn't like to participate in group activities.  Out of curiosity, she looks up 'Autism' on Google and sees that a lot of the characteristics of this condition are exhibited by this student.  She starts demanding that the child be evaluated immediately and put into a special classroom because she's not equipped to deal with 'those children'.  What this teacher failed to do, and what so many others fail to do when they're in a rush to label a child and just stick him/her in a box, is take into account the severity of the 'symptoms' for lack of a better word and how they compare to other children in that age group who may exhibit similar behaviors.  Now, if when this child is placed with her same-age peers that are shy, and a little eccentric, and she acts in a manner that is significantly different, then it may be time to raise alarms and talk about evaluations and what else have you, but if the child acts in a similar fashion as the children similar to her, then the teacher needs to relax and stop trying to classify something that is clearly not there.  Also, context is very important, because a child that is shy at school, may be extremely outgoing in her weekend dance class, weekly Brownie meetings, etc, and that needs to be taken into account.  Maybe school is just not as engaging socially, and the child feels uncomfortable coming out of her shell.  This of course means asking the parents to observe their child in the recreational setting and then talk about how the behavior differs from or is similar to what happens in the classroom.  There are so many factors that play into this, that it's almost comical to shout for a diagnosis before even taking the situation out of the context of the classroom, however, so many educators forget to do that, and end up literally ruining a child's educational career by one wrong assumption.  So, the moral of this scenario is; always look at every angle before jumping to a conclusion.


Now, with labels come things such as stereotyping and generalizations.  For instance, when a teacher hears that a child with a visual impairment is about to come into the classroom, the teacher is quick to assume that the child is not able to do anything independently.  This creates a barrier right away, and this barrier leads to a very close-minded teacher.  Now, the best thing a teacher can do is basically hold off any assumptions and misconceptions at bay, and base his/her opinion on actually seeing the child in action.  This helps create a classroom free of judgement and teaches all students about acceptance and compassion.  


I cannot count how many times people asked me if I counted steps while walking, and I explained that no, I used my cane and vision to find certain landmarks that would help me figure out where I am.  So many were surprised by the answer, because they read that people with visual impairment counted steps to get from one place to another.  It seems that any other way of orienting oneself is almost foreign to someone who has never had limited vision, or was completely blind.  


What I think is important to remember, is the fact that everyone is different and that labels should be used with caution, because not everyone fits into a box or a package.  There are some people who may have a certain exceptionality, but not exhibit all the characteristics, and that's all right.  It means that teachers have to start looking at each child individually as a human being who needs to be nurtured, rather than a statistic that needs to be instructed in a certain manner, because of what some manual is dictating.  Human beings don't come with instructions, so we need to come up with ways to handle that and get a little bit creative.  Labels, in my eyes, take away from the creative aspect of teaching and it's our job to bring it back, one student at a time.