Mentalism (discrimination) - in Education

In Education

Similar issues have been identified by Perlin in how children are dealt with in regard to learning disabilities, including in special education. In any area of law, he points out, two of the most common sanist myths are presuming that persons with mental disabilities are 'faking', or that such persons would not be disabled if they only 'tried harder'. In this particular area, he concludes that labeled children are stereotyped in a process rife with racial, class and gender bias. Although intended to help some children, he contends that in reality it can be not merely a double-edged sword but a triple, quadruple or quintuple edged sword. The end result of sanist prejudices and misconceptions, in the context of academic competition, is that 'we are left with a system that is, in many important ways, stunningly incoherent'.

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