Education and intellectual disability

It's interesting to see how divergent approaches are to teaching students with intellectual disability.

Here in Toronto, we've found the emphasis is on life skills -- even if the child is perfectly capable of doing academic work at their own level.

I'm told that most high school students with intellectual disabilities don't get high-school diplomas. I'm not sure if that's because they're directed into non-credit life-skills programs in Grade 9, before they're given a chance.

One of the students who did beat the odds is Ashif Jaffer. But the Toronto student with Down syndrome is now in danger of losing his first semester at York University. The university won't allow a teaching assistant to attend exams with him -- an accommodation he had at high school. See School denies access: student.

Meanwhile, U.S. dollars are being invested in college programs specifically for students with intellectual disabilities: College uses federal grant to encourage students with intellectual disabilities to attend college.