Dissonant Notions Concerning Disordered Children and Their Educability

Abstract

The authors present several more or less unorthodox viewpoints concerning disordered children and their educability. They believe it might add clarity and perspective to extraordinarily complex problems if children who presented themselves with serious learning or behavior disorders are viewed as sick. Included in this category would be all of the mentally retarded and a great many children who are termed “culturally disadvantaged.” Procedures in curriculum development should be operationally openminded and more or less unstructured and emergent in nature. In view of their position that disordered children do not comprise a homogeneous group and are not educated in homogeneous settings, the authors take a strong stand against the notion that there is a single methodology or group of methodologies to deal with all problems attendant to the education of disordered children.