My name is Paige, and I’m a senior Psychology major at Siena College. I’m originally from Rome, New York, which is a smaller suburban town in Central New York that holds rich history. Being from a smaller town is everything you would expect: generations of families, traditions, and always the same things to do. Growing up, I was fortunate enough to have family and friends close by; so close that my grandparents lived just a few blocks away. That meant dysfunctional family dinners almost every weekend. Family taught me my love of sports, sense of adventure, importance of relationships, and so much more. So you can say, for me, family always comes first.
Ever since I could remember, I excelled in school. I was a straight “A” student and had little difficulty completing tasks. In fact, I was a model student and often helped others that struggled. This all changed once I got to high school. Unfortunately, I suffered multiple concussions while playing softball. Little did I know the affects that these concussions would have on my brain. After awhile, I noticed that I had difficulty concentrating and remembering material in my classes. I started to struggle with completing simple tasks, like reading and writing, as well as keeping up with the course load. A few days later, oddly enough, my doctor called me and told me that there had been an abnormality on my most previous CT scan. After numerous doctors appointments, this abnormality revealed that I had acquired a brain disorder from the history of concussions. These concussions impacted my cognitive functioning, ultimately leading to a learning disability. It is found that an estimated 5.3 million Americans live with a traumatic brain injury-related disability [CDC] (Sports Concussions Statistics). Although millions of people live with a disability resulting from a traumatic brain injury, learning disabilities remain an act of deviance.
At first, adjusting to a learning disability was hard for me. I had to transition from one side of the spectrum to the other. With the stigma surrounding learning disabilities, I was reluctant to disclose my condition and ask for help, especially when I had been known as model student in the past. It is found that just 17% of learning-disabled college students get some kind of help (Krupnick, 2014). In Outsiders, Becker explains that, one can describe anything that differs from what is most common as a deviant (Becker, 1963, 4). I differ from most students in college in that I need more time on tests and a place that has limited distractions. I also take more time on assignments. In other words, an assignment that should take twenty minutes might take me an hour. This becomes a challenge when working on group assignments as students see it as an inconvenience. In addition, they often express their frustrations and preferences to work with other students like themselves. In the study of deviance, Becker states that people’s reaction to deviant behavior is what designates it as “deviant” (Becker, 1963, 11), and so, in voicing these concerns, people with learning disabilities often have a hard time fitting in because they’re continually viewed as the “other”. Low self-esteem and stigma help explain why only 1 in 4 students with LD tell their college they have a disability (The State of LD: Understanding the 1 in 5, 2017). The word disability in itself has a large negative stereotype around it. A lot of people assume when they hear the words “learning disability”, that the individual has low intelligence or is incapable of accomplishment and success. However, this is far from the truth. It just means that I have to work a little harder and take more time to understand concepts as I learn in a different way, just as each individual does. In sum, learning disabilities are labeled as a form of deviance because they differ from the norm, in that they need more assistance with cognitive functioning.
It is important to consider the institutions and social norms that enforce these ideas. In a moral crusade, a moral entrepreneur is someone who: one, recognizes a set of rules to be questionable and, two, defines the act to be deviant (Becker, 1963, 147-148). Thus, in this instance, the education system holds significant power over the students, specifically in regards to the resources they are able to obtain and their integration among the overall population of students. The Department of Education has made learning disabilities a stigmatized deviance by creating the assumption that learning-disabled students are incapable of completing the same standards as the average non-disabled student. However, it is found that some research shows as many as 85 percent of students with disabilities can master general-education content if they receive educational supports (Mader, 2017). Supports can include extended time, distraction reduced locations, and assistance in reading (e-text, audio, etc.). However, not all schools, like those in low-income communities, can afford and maintain the resources needed to aid in accomplishment and success. There are educational laws set in place but The Department of Education fails to uphold and ensure that all students obtain a quality education, especially those with learning disabilities.
The education system also exercises it’s power by separating learning-disabled and non-disabled students. Although there are some students who need full assistance, dividing students can potentially hinder their success. Placing learning-disabled students together fails to expose them to the realities of daily life. This, in turn, can make it harder to manage their learning disability in other areas of life including the workplace. Research has found that students with disabilities who are placed in general-education classrooms get more instructional time, have fewer absences, and have better post-secondary outcomes (Mader, 2017). In relation to this, it is shown that there is no negative impact on academic achievement of non-disabled students when integrated with learning-disabled in a classroom (Mader, 2017). The Department of Education continues to perpetuate the mindset of separation which filters down to the students themselves. Non-disabled students learn and continue to express the stereotypes and the preconceived images of those that face learning disabilities. This is reflected in many classrooms as learning-disabled students are often made to feel like outcasts.
Overall, learning disabilities are a form of stigmatized deviance. Even though it is found that the college completion rate for young adults with learning disabilities is 41 percent (Cortiella, 2014), The Department of Education creates this deviance by limiting the number of resources available as well as excluding learning-disabled students from general-education classrooms. Furthermore, individuals and other social groups help perpetuate this deviance by conveying the view that individuals with learning disabilities are inferior and less capable of achievement.
References
Becker, H. S. (1963). Outsiders: Studies in the sociology of deviance. New York: Free Press, an imprint of Simon & Schuster.
Cortiella, C. (2014). 2014 State of LD. Retrieved from https://www.ncld.org/archives/reports-and-studies/2014-state-of-ld
Krupnick, M. (2014). Colleges respond to growing ranks of learning disabled. Retrieved from https://hechingerreport.org/colleges-respond-to-growing-ranks-of-learning-disabled/
Mader, J. (2017). How Teacher Training Hinders Special-Needs Students. Retrieved from https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2017/03/how-teacher-training-hinders-special-needs-students/518286/
Sports Concussion Statistics. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.headcasecompany.com/concussion_info/stats_on_concussions_sports
The State of LD: Understanding the 1 in 5. (2017). Retrieved from https://www.ncld.org/archives/blog/the-state-of-ld-understanding-the-1-in-5
Sociology of Deviant Behavior 