Experiences in the High School

MOST of the experiences described in the preceding

chapters are appropriate for use in the high school as well as in the elementary school. To some this statement may seem strange. Yet, if the philosophy of secondary education for all American youth is accepted, we should adjust the high-school curriculum to the needs of the adolescent, regardless of his intellectual status. In teaching the adolescent, we must begin where he is, whether it be at second, fourth, sixth, or ninth-grade level. Education for life adjustment for all except those who need institutional care has been the theme of many conferences on secondary education. It is therefore fitting to include in this bulletin on the mentally retarded a chapter on high-school experiences.,

Who Are the "Mentally Retarded”

The "mentally retarded" of high-school age, as here defined, are not the slow-learning of dull-normal intelligence, with I.Q.'s approximately between 75 or 80 and 90. These have long been a part of the high-school population, and many secondary schools have earnestly tried to meet their needs through ability grouping or some other means.

The "mentally retarded," as discussed throughout this bulletin, are the more seriously deficient in intellect. They comprise those who, in terms of intelligence quotient, rate below 75 or 80. They are academically quite unable to meet the requirements of even a diluted elementary or high-school academic curriculum. They need something different. As children, they have been enrolled in special classes in the elementary schools, or, if in the regular grades, they have required special attention on the part of the teacher.

Many mentally retarded young people, however, while intellectually inadequate, have a good deal of common sense and can learn to manage

their own affairs fairly well. Their social maturity is beyond their mental maturity, though in most cases still somewhat below normal. Physically they may hold their own with others in their age group. They are not by any means institutional cases, but can with understanding guidance learn to take their places in community life.1

It is with this latter group that this chapter is concerned those adolescents who are seriously retarded mentally, but who are socially competent to a sufficient degree to continue to live in the community. To them the schools owe an opportunity to work and play with other adolescents and to learn those skills and attitudes that will help them to attain a measure of occupational success and civic competence in years

to come.

What Can the High School Offer?

High schools are usually classified as junior high schools, 4-year high schools, and senior high schools. All of these offer potential opportunities for the personal growth of mentally retarded adolescents, though in fact the programs now in existence for them are almost entirely limited to the junior high school and the 4-year high school.

Most mentally retarded young people are ready to leave school at the age of 16 or 17, and they have usually not progressed beyond the sixth or seventh grade, if indeed they have reached that level. A few, however, remain in school and "graduate,” because the school authorities understand the problem and adjust requirements to meet the needs and capacities of the pupil.

In any high school the occupational or vocational experiences offered are planned for a definite purpose to explore the pupil's abilities and interests, to capitalize upon them, and thus to help him prepare for remunerative occupational service. This is true of normal and mentally retarded pupils alike. Along with these occupational experiences, however, there should come all those other experiences that make up the totality of life. The preceding chapters of this bulletin have discussed these in detail. They are just as applicable to the education of the adolescent as to the child of earlier years.

Many a retarded adolescent may get along fairly well in a particular

1 For further discussion of this point, see: Doll, Edgar A. Feeble-Mindedness Vs. Intellectual Retarda tion. Journal of Educational Research, 40: 569-73, April 1947.

skill or occupational activity, but he will need the simplest kind of instruction in the 3 R's. Again, he may show a special ability in music or art or sports, but not yet know how to read beyond the fourth grade. High-school experiences should be planned so as to take into consideration all the unevenness of a pupil's abilities, his strong points and his weak points, his likes and dislikes. The high-school teacher who is in charge of a group of retarded pupils, or who has a seriously retarded pupil in one of his classes, finds that there can be no adherence to ordinary high-school standards. It is the pupil his capacity, his physical and social development, his interests, his achievement, his specific abilities and disabilities that determines the curriculum.

If this holds true, then every opportunity the high school offers should be open to the retarded pupil, provided his interest and ability point in that direction. The orchestra, the school teams, the cafeteria, the school drives, the service squads, the school patrols all hold possibilities. Art, drama, making slides and motion picture films may attract him. Visual aids of all kinds are helpful throughout. Reading, arithmetic, and community civics must offer specific and practical content, interest, and challenge, not abstract material beyond his comprehension.

In one high school, a boy was at first permitted to spend a half day in the art room because he liked to draw. The rest of the day he spent in talking over with his homeroom teacher, his counselor, and his specially assigned teacher for fundamental skills and social studies the things he was trying to express in his drawings. Skillfully and gradually he was led into more concentrated study of language and civics and arithmetic while continuing his work in drawing. He later became a successful sign painter.

In another high school a boy chose the auto shop as his center of interest. At first he could do little but take the cars apart. With time, he learned also to put them together. Community civics and applied mathematics were added to his program. He joined in some of the school activities, and later left school to take a job on the assembly line of an automobile factory.

Some Examples of High-School Programs

The presence of mentally retarded adolescents in regular high schools is perhaps more common than anyone knows. Well-organized educational

These girls are learning to handle real jobs at the luncheon counter.

provisions for them in the high school are not so common, but they are increasing. Several projects under way in city school systems are briefly described as examples of what can be done. But they are not by any means the only ones in existence. Wherever there is even one mentally retarded adolescent in a school, interested teachers and principal can make a program for him as an individual along the lines that have been suggested in previous chapters. Where there are enough such pupils even 15 or 20 further steps can be taken on a group basis.

A Program for Adolescent Girls'

Since 1939 retarded girls from special classes in the elementary schools of Rochester, N. Y., selected on the basis of social maturity, have been transferred to a junior high school and assigned to a home room with a specially prepared teacher in charge. The group in general ranges in chronological age from 14 to 17 years; in learning ability from approximately 65 to 75 I.Q.; and from fourth to sixth grade on achievement test. Most of them have spent 3 or more years in special

a standard

2 Description program furnished by Catherine Lovell and Christine P. Ingram, Public Schools, Roches ter, N. Y. More detailed information is given in Journal of Education Research, April 1947, "A High School Program for Mentally Retarded Adolescent Girls."

classes for retarded children in the elementary schools, and some even as many as 6 to 8 years.

Upon entering the junior high school, these girls participate in all school activities that other pupils enjoy, including the school government council, school. clubs, and school service projects. Such experiences give the girl an opportunity to develop social attitudes and habits that make her a contributor in the social group. They give her status and recognition, even though the program she is following does not lead to regular graduation.

The classroom activities are organized in subject areas related to cores or units of experience. The special-education teacher carries the academic subjects, and home economics and shop teachers carry their respective activities. Foods, personal grooming, clothing, and powermachine operating comprise the major occupational experiences. The content of English, arithmetic, and social studies is related to these and other practical experiences. Music, physical education, and sports are also integral parts of the program.

Among the specific activities in social studies and English which have an occupational bearing are the following:

Discussing kinds of industries in which parents are engaged.

Making reports on local industries of world renown.

Exploring the variety of local industries.

Charting jobs for beginners as to knowledge and skill required.

Finding out about service jobs.

Discussing personal assets of the successful worker.

Planning visits to industries and reporting on them.

Making out sample application forms, letters, and time cards.

The program, it is reported, has demonstrated that special education designed for occupational guidance and social adjustment through highschool curriculum modifications has holding power. Girls and parents recognize its value, and the majority of the pupils desire to continue school attendance at least to the age of 17 years. The improved social and occupational status of the girls who have left school has led to an extension of the program. Additional service has become available from Vocational teachers selected because of their experience with and interest in retarded pupils. The ninth year provides part-time on-the-job training under supervision of the ninth-year special-education teacher, who is particularly qualified in the guidance of retarded pupils.