Labeling : Scientifically Proven and Powerful

Labeling is a scientifically proven and powerful dynamic. Children live down to the labels that adults around given them. Teachers may even know this. However, schools, along with psychological professionals are the worst offenders. Who ever said that your child could not learn? But they did say the child was learning disabled. And studies in the 1990s showed that most teachers thought LD meant mentally retarded. We are not permitted to say MR today. But we say worse things. And that matters.

One might get called down for saying "Indian" in some historical context when actually meaning "Native American." Last night, the youngster offering a presentation on The Constitution couldn't read it verbatim because it said "Indian" meaning "Native American." Good grief. But we say people are LD, developmentally delayed, and addicted, and schizophrenic, and convicts. You get the picture. No behavior is wrong, but everyone is stuck in a category. Let's stop this. Let's speak truthfully!

So, a child might be having trouble with learning, but they are not disabled. We might request accommodations. Or better, we might remediate. Or better, we might devise some innovative strategy to teach a child who needs a different approach.

Well, you know I would like to re-found education. For now, let's understand labeling.