@Freya @mystery-ak @CatherineofAragonTwo stories about Down's syndrome/mentally regarded kids:
I was an assoc. psychologist/psychological examiner for a jr. high school and senior high school that was next door. In the jr. high, I was in charge of the learning disabled and a class of mentally retarded students, some with Down's syndrome. They were jr. high age and older.
One day I had to help the teacher of the mentally retarded class as she was in trouble with the principal for a short time. A child with Down's syndrome wants three things, love, a bed and food. One of the Down's syndrome, a teen age boy, did something so wrong, the teacher held him back when the others went to the cafeteria for food. He threw a major fit and the teacher did what she had been trained to do. To keep him from hurting himself, she got him on the floor and laid on top of him to stop his movement. She was a larger type woman and her weight on top of him stopped his movement. Someone saw her on the floor on top of this kid and reported it to the principal that she was hurting a kid.
When she was summoned to principal's office, and this kid could now be left with the teacher's aid, I went with her to his office. Once the principal was told the truth of the matter, that she acted to prevent kid from hurting himself, that was over. Later, the teacher told me she would never again keep a Down's syndrome kid from food.
Another story:
The regular kids in this jr. high knew about this class, would see them in cafeteria as they were finishing their food (this class went to cafeteria before all other classes went), and walking with their teacher within the school. At the end of the year, when the 9th graders were going to be in the high school the next year, some of them went to principal and told him they wanted the mentally retarded class to go with them to high school. What a fine group of students they were to want that class to stay with them.
