Contesting the Assessing

 

Children are assessed even before birth. Prenatal testing assess a fetus' gender, risk for complications, and their genetic makeup that predetermines if the baby will be born with a variety of "disabilities" such as Down Syndrome or Autism. Once the baby is born, they are further assessed to determine any post-birth complications or challenges that could not be assessed in the womb. As the child grows, they continue to be measured academically, biologically, socially, cognitively, and even psycho-socially. This measuring and assessing of children can be both beneficial and destructive. Things like fetus testing can help a parent grab a head-start on things such Fetal Alcohol, Down Syndrome, etc. However, it can be argued that it can be detrimental as many parents may opt for an aborted pregnancy if their child faces a certain challenge.

"Down Syndrome is the most common genetic cause of learning disability with a frequency of about 1 in 700 births. It is caused by an extra copy of Chromosome 21." (Tapon, 2009, p.112) Genetic counselors do more prenatal tests for Down Syndrome than any other test which is meant to aid in planning the pregnancy and delivery as well as prepare the parents psychologically for the birth of baby who has a "disability". This usually results in a discussion for putting the baby up for adoption or aborting the pregnancy. As wrong as it sounds, parents carrying a fetus that will be born with Down Syndrome, almost always receive this conversation from the genetic counselor and the birthing doctor. (Tapon, 2009) Around 67% of pregnancies that are diagnosed with Down Syndrome in the United States are aborted. Europe's rate is at about 92% (Mansfield, Hopfer, & Marteau, 1999, p.3) which is the highest rate of aborted pregnancies diagnosed with Down Syndrome. 

In fact, in the United Kingdom, fetuses who are determined to have Down Syndrome can be aborted at 40 weeks while a "normal" fetus can be aborted up until week 24. (Tapon, 2009) There is a lot of debate on whether this should be limited or not as more and more states are prohibiting termination after a prenatal diagnosis.


As is evidenced, children diagnosed with Down Syndrome face many challenges, even before they are born into this world. Once they have reached school-age, they can face even more challenges. Luckily, there are national laws and policies put into place that aid these children and provide resources to the families. Public schools that are federally funded provide Special Education classrooms, teachers, and instructional times to help these children through whatever they need help with. In the United States, they receive Individualized Education Programs (IEP) which pinpoints what areas to focus on and what steps should be taken to ensure a beneficial education. This is a result of measuring and assessing these children. In this case, it is beneficial to assess to determine the right path for these children so that they can receive a proper education and benefit from their surroundings.

The United Kingdom also provides assessments for school-aged children with Down Syndrome to determine what educational path they should be on. This can begin as young as 2 years old and determines what types of program and/or educational setting they should be a part of (Down's Syndrome Association, n.d.) so that they can achieve maximum results.

Assessing children with diagnosed disabilities can be extremely beneficial so that individualized approaches can be applied so that their challenges are minimal. I believe that measuring and assessing educational abilities for the sake of educational programs is acceptable and needed. Approach and reasoning prove to be the best reasons for measuring and assessing. When the approach is invasive or the reasoning is not for the benefit for the child, then measurement and assessment are unwarranted.

Reference

Down's Syndrome Association. (n.d.). Retrieved August 03, 2016, from http://www.downs-syndrome.org.uk/for-new-parents/education/early-years/

Mansfield, C., Hopfer, S., & Marteau, T. M. (1999). Termination rates after prenatal diagnosis of Down syndrome, spina bifida, anencephaly, and Turner and Klinefelter syndromes: A systematic literature review. Prenatal Diagnosis Prenat. Diagn., 19(9), 808-812. doi:10.1002/(sici)1097-0223(199909)19:93.0.co;2-b

Schooling from Preschool to Age 21. (n.d.). Retrieved August 03, 2016, from http://www.ndss.org/Resources/Education/Schooling-from-Preschool-to-Age-21/ 

Tapon, D. (2009). Prenatal Testing for Down Syndrome: Comparison of Screening Practices in the UK and USA. Journal of Genetic Counseling J Genet Counsel, 19(2), 112-130. doi:10.1007/s10897-009-9269-1