Do We Need a Label?

Two articles we read this week discussed the issue of labeling children with special needs. One article talked about how beneficial these labels were to the student. They provide the students with IEPs so they can get an education that meets their learning styles, they get money from the government, and it helps teachers best know how to prepare to help these students (Siders, Kaye). But it can appear to be oppressive by saying “Johnny has autism” or by putting these children in special classrooms. But whether or not these students have these labels the students from other classrooms notice that these students are different.
A student I work with has a label of autism and emotional disturbance. No one had to tell the class he was mainstreamed into that this kid was different. The student has absolutely no social skills. He gets too close to the other students, he yells at the teacher, and has even attacked other students in the bathroom. Most kids don’t act like that. He sticks out like a sore thumb in that classroom. And the other kids don’t want to hang out with him because his disability affects his relationship towards them.
I guess I am just one of those people that likes nice, little boxes sometimes. I like having labels as bad as that sounds. It gives me, as an educator, a starting point when thinking of methods I can use to help a student. For example, if I know a child has autism then there are some characteristics of that disability that most children have and there are some great methods that can be implemented and then modified to meet that child’s specific needs.
I don’t think we need to worry as much about the labels as we do the stereotypes that accompany them. One of the issues the article on “Disability as an Issue of Marginilization” addressed was that when we discuss equity issues we leave out disability. I feel that diversity too often refers solely to race and ethnicity. So schools address the issue in the curriculum by bringing in references to minorities. That is awesome and needs to be done. However, as special educators we are trying to integrate our students as best we can into a community that does not understand disability. No wonder kids like the one I discussed above don’t fit in. Their peers have no idea how to deal with them.
Recently HBO put out a movie on Temple Grandin, a woman who has autism and has done amazing things for the ranching community. I wish there were more movies out there like this one. It shows how she struggled with daily life, but because she "thinks in pictures", as she would say, it helped her design shoots for the cattle to go through so they would not be scared. Even though her autism makes it hard for her to live out some aspects of her life she has been able to verbalize this and help other people with autism. She is a very intelligent and talented woman. I wish that message was being given to the world more often. Her "label" does not hinder her. In fact, I think it shows the world that just because someone has a "disability" does not mean that they are broken or unable to function. They just have a different way of looking and interacting with the world.