Jeff Jacoby talks about political correctness trumping the truth. To be certain, he raises some good points. The silliness of the whole endeavor is evident. I understand, and even sympathize with the plight of the publishers. They are beholden to their customers who demand depictions of the students using the books. I don't have a problem with ethnic or racial diversity in stock photos but when you're omitting the Wright brothers in favor of the first black female pilot, we're into different territory. The one manipulation I don't have a problem with is the depiction of non-handicapped children as handicapped. I'm old enough to remember when handicapped people were invisible. No depictions of them on TV or in movies as it made people uncomfortable. As a kid I was told repeatedly not to stare at people who were disabled. I was reminded so frequently that I overcompensated and would actively ignore disabled people. I became uncomfortable when I was in a social situation with them. That changed quite a bit when I was a sophmore and I became friends with a kid with MD. I realized very quickly that he was just like me but he needed crutches. After about a month of hanging out with him, the differences were ignored but rather, understood. I knew what he could do and not do. I knew when to help and when to let him do things for himself. To their credit, Sesame Street regularly includes kids in wheelchairs which has prompted some questions from my kids. It was helpful to explain to them now, when they're very young, that some people are disabled and what that means (and what it does not mean).
That the publishers of textbooks cannot find disabled children to use as models in their textbooks is not surprising. I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt and say they look for such models but aren't able to find them all the time. It's possible (and more likely) that they don't bother looking and just take kids that look the right way and stick them in a chair to get the shot they want. Again, if given the choice between showing disabled kids and not, I'll take the latter even if the scene is staged. Disability is different from racial/ethnic issues in that it crosses every segment of race and ethnicity and is part of a discreet, measurable disadvantage whereas race and ethnicity are less so.
That the publishers of textbooks cannot find disabled children to use as models in their textbooks is not surprising. I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt and say they look for such models but aren't able to find them all the time. It's possible (and more likely) that they don't bother looking and just take kids that look the right way and stick them in a chair to get the shot they want. Again, if given the choice between showing disabled kids and not, I'll take the latter even if the scene is staged. Disability is different from racial/ethnic issues in that it crosses every segment of race and ethnicity and is part of a discreet, measurable disadvantage whereas race and ethnicity are less so.
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