Article Response

Hi everybody, I'm back!

Well, I found a very interesting educational article as I browsed through the internet, and I decided to write a response to it. The title is "Learning to Live with a Learning Disability" by Christine Harrell.

Here is the link:

http://www.goarticles.com/cgi-bin/showa.cgi?C=2633726

The main idea of this article is the importance of finding an appropriate learning method for those with learning disabilities. In the first half of this article, Ms. Christine explained about perpetual learning in one's life, and how a person still learns something once he/she leaves the school. In the second half of the article, Ms. Christine emphasized the importance of learning adaptation for a person with a learning disability.

I definitely agree with Ms. Christine's argument that what we learned back in school is simply to imbue us with the skill to thrive in life. We may not need to "calculate a hypotenuse, know what the inside of a frog looks like, or know what year the War of 1812 was fought" after we left school, as Ms. Christine argued. But all those "unusable" informations we learned in school, in my opinion, were indeed taught to us to enhance our skills in processing informations and applying knowledges into our lives.

For those with learning disabilities, the challenges in life seem formidable, as they have to try harder to overcome the obstacles caused by their body condition. But actually, what they really have to do is to adapt with their own weakness and to find different learning strategies that can benefit themselves despite their body condition. This holds true for their whole lives, as one keeps learning new things throughout even when he/she is old. Thus, appropriate learning systems are required for those with learning disabilities in order for them to survive their own lives.

Ms. Christine believed that someone with learning disability should find the perfect school, as "many public school systems are not up to the task, teaching coping strategies instead of real learning skills". She also argued that "students (with learning disabilities) don't need to learn to cope; they need to learn to thrive". I don't really agree with this, because adaptation skills are crucial in one's life. In my opinion, teaching coping strategies is fine as long as it enhances one's learning ability. It is true that those with learning disabilities should have their own learning systems, but that doesn't mean that they have to move to another school. In third world countries where the economical condition is not as good, moving school will be a painful task. It is a teacher's job to cope with such students, not to discriminate them from the others.

By and large, I really agree with the main idea of this article, as we know that learning is also one of human rights. All people, including those with learning disabilities should have a proper education throughout their lives. Besides, what is more amazing that to see one with a learning disorder succeed in their own lives?