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Deshler responds to New Republic article

In the cover story of the August 25, 1997, issue of The New Republic magazine, author Ruth Shalit presents an unflattering picture of individuals with learning disabilities. Responding to Shalit's allegations, Don Deshler, director of the Center for Research on Learning, wrote the following letter to the editor.

August 28, 1997

To the editors:

Ruth Shalit's article on Defining Disability Down (August 25, 1997) presents numerous examples of how laws intended to provide protections for those with vulnerabilities in our society can be abused--by parents who seek unfair advantages for their children under false pretenses, by "professionals" who seek to use system loopholes for selfish gains, or even by students who seek ways to capitalize on disability law as a means of beating the system. Unfortunately, Shalit clearly implies that the cases she cites are the rule and not the exception for individuals with learning disabilities and their parents. Every field--law, medicine, journalism, business, education--has examples of those who engage in and promote questionable practices. Regrettably, Shalit chose to cite only those examples of extreme practice and potential abuse; she made no attempt to discuss the thousands of instances where students with learning disabilities have become productive, tax-paying citizens as a result of receiving specialized services under the same legislation that she criticizes so harshly.

Her article is degrading to the thousands of parents and students with learning disabilities who suffer greatly from their disabilities--disabilities that have not been fabricated in order to gain an advantage or an "easy way out." Those for whom these legislative initiatives were rightfully targeted have been dealt yet another setback through innuendo and over generalization. It is unfortunate that Shalit chose not to tell the entire story of what is happening in schools throughout America relative to meeting the needs of students with learning disabilities. There are numerous success stories where lives are being changed because students with learning disabilities are acquiring skills and strategies through specialized teaching and hard work. As a result, they are becoming independent learners and performers who value earning their successes through hard work and honesty. While the legislation cited by Shalit is not perfect and much remains to be learned about individuals with learning disabilities and how to best teach them through further research, the story told by Shalit is not only a partial one, but, in most instances, it is blatantly wrong.

Donald D. Deshler
President
Division for Learning Disabilities
Council for Exceptional Children