"normal"

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"normal"
By Cathy-Dee

I agree that special needs kids do not necessarily have to be those who are of lower IQ but are in fact often students of average or even higher IQ's who have difficulty functioning in a regular classroom setting for a variety
of reasons.
However the teacher who used the word "normal" in her post I do not feel was trying to be derogatory in any way. I'm not sure how long you have taught, but after being in a classroom for a number of years you do tend to use words like "normal" or regular as they do get the point across. There are many people who are not educators who use these terms and sometimes we

end up using them too just to make a statement. It does not mean that we feel special needs children are in any way abnormal - they do not however fit into the context of a "regular" educational setting that is determined by the norms of our society.

In fact the teacher I noticed who used the word Normal in her post is a special education teacher who has chosen to work with students who for varying reasons need more help and assistance with their learning.

And I do agree with your last statement that substitute teachers can make a difference too in the classroom. This was why the responses to the original post were so defensive. The original poster seems to have a very negative attitude towards special needs students and does lump them together as one type of learner. If anything be defensive towards that post and not towards those who did respond to the message from the orginal poster.

And personally if someone feels so strongly against special needs students such as the orginal poster then I agree with the others in that they should simply refuse those assignments as they are not going to make a difference for any child in a special ed setting.