Ex.7. Read the comic story. Translate it paying attention to the Subjunctive Mood.

We live in a society that labels everything. We have labels on our clothes, our cheeseburgers, our meat and produce, and the list goes on. We like the convenience of neatly packaged words so we can sum up the person, place or thing and know what to expect. However, especially with children, even harmless labels can play a lasting role in self-esteem, behavior and long-term personality.

Children develop and define their sense of self by processing what others tell them about who they are, what they are good at, how they behave and so on. The communication principle of the “Looking-Glass Self” from Charles Cooley can be applied. Cooley believes that by reflecting back to us who we are and how we come across, other people function as mirrors for us.

Imagine the implication then, for children, when we ‘reflect’ on who they are. Every time a teacher says he or she is a “good student” or a coach says “average player”, that helps define they way the child views him or herself.

It would be easy to assume that this mainly applies to official labels, such as ADHD, Asperger’s Syndrome, or Oppositional Defiant Disorder. Any of you with children who have been officially diagnosed with an emotional, behavioral or mental disorder certainly have learned about the power of labeling. Typically, once a child has been evaluated and diagnosed, that label will define and follow them for years to come.

However, parents often refer to children with less severe labels that are just as significant. If you notice one child pursues musical interests, he becomes “the musician”. Another loves sports, and she becomes “the athlete”. Another excels in school and is the “brainiac”. None of those labels has negative connotations, but can pigeon-hole children into pre-defined boxes.

What if the “brainiac” really wants to try soccer? Unfortunately, there is already an “athlete” in the family, which creates a fight or flight response. She can either fight to redefine her place as a smart child who also plays soccer, or can revert back to the place where she has already been.

Labels have much more of an impact that we realize, and we need to be mindful of how we talk about our children. If you must define certain things about them to yourself or others, try to choose positive versions of the same trait, i.e. “spirited” rather than “hyper”, “cautious” instead of “timid”.

Being mindful of the descriptions we give off to children can make a difference in the self-esteem and self-concept that they develop. The self-fulfilling prophecy can go both ways- a child told he is lazy will likely be so, but the opposite is also true that a child told they are helpful will help. Keeping the focus on the child’s positive attributes, while avoiding labels, can encourage children to become healthy and happy.

The categorizing and labeling process has its share of critics. Opponents characterize the practice as demeaning and stigmatizing to people with disabilities, with the effects often carried through adulthood. Earlier classifications and labels, such as moron, imbecile, and idiot, have become so derogatory that they are no longer used in a professional context. Some individuals, including many with learning disabilities and mild mental retardation (MMR), were never considered to have disabilities prior to entering school. The school setting however, intensifies their academic and cognitive deficits. Many, when they return to their homes and communities, do not seem to function as individuals with disabilities. Instead, they participate in activities with their neighborhood peers until they return to school the following day, where they may attend special classes (sometimes segregated) and resume their role in the academic and social structure of the school as children with disabilities. The problem is so pervasive that it has led to the designation of " the six-hour retarded child." These are children who spend six hours a day as children with mental retardation in our nation's schools. During the remaining eighteen hours a day away from the school setting, they are not considered retarded by the people they interact with (President's Committee on Mental Retardation, 1969). Heward (1996) suggests that the demands of the school seem to " cause" the mental retardation.

The labels carry with them connotations and stigmas of varying degrees. Some disabilities are socially more acceptable than others. Visual impairment carries with it public empathy and sometimes sympathy. The public has for years given generously to causes for the blind, as evidenced by the financially well-endowed Seeing Eye Institute, which produces the well-known guide dogs. The blind are the only group with a disability permitted to claim an additional personal income tax deduction by reason of their disability. Yet, the general public looks on blindness as one of the worse afflictions imposed on humankind.

An effort is underway to recognize individuals with disabilities primarily as persons and to view the disabilities as only secondary to their personhood. Con­sequently, the reader will note that individuals with disabilities are not referred to as " handicapped individuals", " handicapped children", " mentally retarded persons, " or " physically handicapped students" in this text. Instead, they are referred to as " individuals with disabilities" or as " students with physical disabilities." They are first individuals or students who happen to have a disability. They are more like nondisabled individuals than unlike them. They have a disability that may or may not be a handicap to them. A university student who chooses to pursue a career as an English teacher may have a disability if she is born without her left hand. But it may not be much of a handicap to her as a teacher. To refer to her as a handicapped student emphasizes her disability when it is unnecessary and perhaps detrimental to do so.

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