Fabulous with 47!
  • Down Syndrome Education Conference 2014
  • About
    • What is Down syndrome?
    • Photos
  • Resources for Families
    • For New and Expectant Parents
    • Education
  • Get Involved
  • Contact
  • Blog

Southern Oregon University student with Down syndrome forced out of ceramics class

11/22/2010

1 Comment

 
There is a young woman, Eliza Schaaf, who enrolled in a ceramics class at Southern Oregon University and received a letter after attending two-thirds of the sessions saying that she was not longer able to participate. The letter stated that she was a distraction and did not meet the academic qualifications of the University.  However, Eliza was auditing the class and every student in the class signed a petition asking for her reinstatement citing that she brought a lot to the class and was not a distraction/disruption.

Over the weekend, Eliza received another letter from the Dean of Students at SOU upholding the decision.

This situation has created quite a stir and rightfully so......it will be interesting to see how this might affect policies at other universities and the growth of programs for individuals with disabilities.

Here are some links to the news stories as well as Eliza's website that documents her reasons for joining the class and the support that she has received from the student body and community:

http://www.dailytidings.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20101119/NEWS02/11190305
http://www.mailtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20101122/NEWS07/11220340/-1/NEWSMAP
http://www.elizaschaaf.com/

Let me know what you think and if you know of any programs at the local universities for individuals with intellectual disabilities.


1 Comment
 


Maggie O'Brien
11/26/2010 09:57

This is a very interesting case study and worth watching. Faculty who make decisions need to be prepared to support them. In the American academy, faculty are almost universally granted autonomy to make decisions within a classroom --- grading, syllabus, attendance rules, and sometimes who participates. With this autonomy comes responsibility to support their decisions --- directly. Hiding behind the administration who, in turn, hide behind confidentiality laws, is not convincing to the students nor to the press nor to the general public.

Eliza knows this, her mother knows this, the SGA knows this. We all know this.

This action deserves a direct and honest response.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    Written by a mother of four, one with 47!

    Archives

    October 2013
    August 2013
    September 2012
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010

    Categories

    All
    Adulthood
    Early Intervention
    Education
    Gross Motor
    Inclusion
    Independent Living
    Local Resources
    Media
    Research
    Sibling Relationships
    Special Olympics
    Speech
    Sports
    Support

    RSS Feed

    o set custom HTML

Fabulous with 47

Picture