newjerseynewsroom.com

I would certainly love to have children being called children rather than labeled; however, in order for children with deficits to get the help they need in school and to gain the skills they need to survive beyond their elementary school years in whatever capacity their abilities lead, we have to give them labels because that’s how public education is organized. Without a diagnosis and, in some cases, parents who advocate on their behalf, children with disabilities do not get help in the classroom. Whether these labels come from schools' professionals who evaluate them or from outside professionals who the parents retain to help their child, it is certain that a child will be labeled.

I would rather my son be recognized for his abilities, not his deficits. However, it is a Catch-22 situation; without a diagnosis (or label), you don’t get help, but when you have a diagnosis, you get labeled and get help. Thus, my son is noted for his disabilities in school rather than his abilities. The school only focuses on his lack of attention and social skills, but does little to foster his talent (fantastic memory and science are amongst many). His distractions in class and his lack of social skills are the things reflected in his report card (not staying on task, incomplete classwork, not able to work well in groups). If they could address his abilities, my son's self-esteem would be better, but they don't. He can't enter into the talented & gifted program due to this either. So his abilities go unaddressed, and he feels terrible about his grades and that he's a "bad" kid.

Children should not be labeled, but they are as far as public education is concerned. But the labels proposed by this bill are too broad and need to be more concise. Even with more concise labels, every kid with a disability is different and so the child’s IEP is tailored to each child’s needs. The worst problem here is not the labeling, but that public education only addresses the disabilities, not the talents of the disabled child.