“It is important, however, that educators not dwell exclusively on these negative factors but focus as well on the ‘whole’ student. Having a disability is, after all, only one aspect of the life experience of a student with a disability. Too often, educators behave as if this one factor were the only factor to consider. Students with disabilities are more like all other adolescents than they are different from them, if one can see past the disability.” (Wehmeyer 176)

This chapter focuses on the potential challenges faced by adolescent students with disabilities when it comes to identity building. For the non-disabled teenager, creating an image for him or herself is a laborious task. Hormones, self-esteem, and the desire to be understood all play into the creation of one’s self-definition. The disabled teenager must face the same challenges and more; they are particularly tasked with overcoming the disability stereotype that follows them. Though the stigma attached to them has faded over the decades, it still very much exists in today’s society and can be exhibited through negative words such as “retard”. As such, we as teachers must work to counter these thoughts by actively normalizing encounters with disabilities. By doing do, we encourage students to embrace their disabilities to in turn build their self-esteem.

Before beginning this semester at NYU, I had no formal education in special education and did not know that disabilities can be on a spectrum and high and low incidences (I was more familiar, however, with autism). When I heard the term “special education” or “disability” I thought of what the book refers to as “holy innocents” or “eternal children”. Thanks to the special education course we are currently taking, I am learning that disabilities are very much a part of the general education classroom (students with IEPs and 504s) and we as teachers should and must do all we can to incorporate our disabled students in an effort to have them in the least restrictive environment. The end of the chapter discusses multiple intelligences, a concept by Howard Gardner. I learned about this theory last year, which states that there are 8 different intelligences and every individual exhibits all of these intelligences to a different degree. As such, teachers should differentiate their style of teaching and activities to touch upon all the different methods of learning. Each Intelligence can be seen as a different opening to the student’s brain. The more differentiated the task, the greater the chance that the concept will be absorbed through one of the brain’s openings (by song, images, movement, interaction with peers, etc.). This differentiation doesn’t only apply to students with disabilities; all students can benefit.