COMMON PERCEPTIONS

When I started learning about how the mind of persons with Down Syndrome functions, I came across studies that painted a very sorry picture. These studies were replete with stories of teenagers who could not count properly, do simple addition, subtraction and/or multiplication. Research upon research has worked to understand the cognitive difference of persons with Down Syndrome, how they have poor working memory [2] — the ability to hold information for a short while and manipulate it. You can well imagine how important working memory is for mental calculations.

Such findings are enough for many public officials to conclude that it is not worthwhile to invest in teaching math, or anything at all barring vocational skills, to persons with intellectual disabilities who are often not considered fully thinking beings with aspirations and a full range of emotions.

It’s not just the researchers and officials, the public at large also holds many negative views about the abilities of persons with Down Syndrome. In a 2011 British survey [3], researchers found that up to 27 per cent of the youth respondents were unwilling to work on group projects alongside students with Down Syndrome. A staggering 40 per cent said they would not be willing to spend time with a student with Down syndrome outside of school. 40 per cent! Let that sink in.

Though shocking at first glance, I believe there’s a good explanation for it. Our societies and cultures are obsessed with efficiency and return on investment. We have designed systems that define progress in terms of productivity.

Even though we are slowly acknowledging cognitive diversity in the typically functioning population and trying to accommodate it, such understanding is not extended yet to persons with IDs outside their immediate community. The larger assumption is that all persons with ID have the same intellectual capacity which cannot be changed.

Thankfully, ideas have been shifting in the past two decades.

LEARNINGS FROM INCLUSIVE EDUCATION IN ITALY

Countries such as Italy have ensured that children with special needs can’t be denied admission in mainstream schools. This led to many interesting cases of kids with Down Syndrome who far surpassed the expectation of their teachers and parents. Such anecdotal evidence allowed many researchers to turn the spotlight on understanding the intellectual strengths of persons with Down Syndrome. Their work is shifting the narrative around what persons with Down Syndrome are capable of and its extent.

Let’s take a look at this worksheet as an example.

MATH MYTHS & HUMAN RIGHTS

Mathematician Dr Monari Martinez argues that these results pose a strong challenge to the age-old idea that persons with intellectual disability, including Down Syndrome, can never develop abstract thinking [3]. They can!

Martina learned to use the calculator all by herself, and went on to learn use of a scientific calculator. She is able to compute complex algebraic equations using it. As Martina improved at maths, her confidence and self-esteem grew as well. Her teachers observed that her performance in literature improved as well.

Inspired by stories like Martina’s, the researchers conducted more such experiments with small groups of students with Down Syndrome, and found similar results [6]. These kids were able to pick up the concepts of fractions, percentages, etc once they learnt how to use a calculator. While learning these concepts they faced difficulties in areas similar to those faced by typically developing children, i.e, they had academically “caught up” with their chronological peers.

Some people believe that bypassing mental calculations is a bad idea, and that children who never learn to calculate can never learn advanced topics. To them, Dr Rhonda Faragher asks, “Would you ask someone to learn to see before you let them wear spectacles?”.

She drives home the point that kids with intellectual disability are not the same but they can attain their highest potential with some tools, they can function with the world, not just in it, and that they are not “damned”.

Ruth, the 10-year-old who couldn’t add 5 and 5, is now an adult, and is living independently. She works in child care, and looks after herself [7].

All this was made possible because her mother wasn’t perturbed by her inability to do simple additions. The system helped her to continue studying in a mainstream school that allowed her to progress in her own way and time, and because of researchers like Dr Rhonda, Dr Martinez and others. They have dedicated their lives to exploring the uniquely beautiful mind of a person with Down Syndrome, and potentially other intellectual disabilities.

RESEARCH, NURTURE & THE ROLE OF EDUCATION

Despite this body of work with far-reaching effects, we are only beginning to unravel the myths surrounding Down Syndrome and other cognitive disabilities. Intellectual Disability remains an under researched field within which Down Syndrome has received more attention than other causes of ID. A lot more work is needed to understand how their brain differs from that of a typical person.

Till then, we must remember that the environment plays an extremely important role in developing one’s intellect and creativity.

Education changes our brain [8], deeply influences our thinking [9] and helps us push the boundaries of our intellect. By denying students with IDs access to intellectual challenges, like in an inclusive educational environment, we are denying them the opportunity to grow their intellect and reach their full potential, which is a basic human right.

In its quest to produce efficient workers, our industry-driven society has been side-lining people with Intellectual Disability like faulty products on the assembly line. Many of these so-called “defective” individuals have gone on to become great artists, activists and entrepreneurs [10]. Can such accomplishments be achieved without higher order thinking? Without an ability to reason and unravel the abstract? This begs us to review our viewpoint of those among us who are cognitively different.

Disclaimer: The Sarvodya Collective believes in diversity and the value of all humans for who they are and what they have to offer. Our thought-starter articles traverse the wide landscape of societal views and do — specifically for the purpose of highlighting beliefs, mindsets and common parlance that needs change — use terms known to be derogatory for the community. It is our earnest hope that the reader will perceive such usage accordingly.