WHAT WE HAVE HERE IS FAILURE TO COMMUNICATE - A REJOINDER TO FERGUSONAND FERGUSON

Citation
Fm. Gresham et Dl. Macmillan, WHAT WE HAVE HERE IS FAILURE TO COMMUNICATE - A REJOINDER TO FERGUSONAND FERGUSON, Review of educational research, 67(4), 1997, pp. 421-423
Citations number
5
Categorie Soggetti
Education & Educational Research
ISSN journal
00346543
Volume
67
Issue
4
Year of publication
1997
Pages
421 - 423
Database
ISI
SICI code
0034-6543(1997)67:4<421:WWHHIF>2.0.ZU;2-P
Abstract
The Fergusons' response to our review of the social and affective char acteristics of children with mild disabilities was nonresponsive to th e purpose and scope of our review of the empirical literature, as well as to the conclusions we drew from it. Their rebuttal on ways of know ing is typical of a constructivist perspective on the field of disabil ities, in which personal anecdotes and opinions are on equal footing w ith empirical evidence drawn from systematically controlled studies. I t is unfortunate that the Fergusons chose to interpret our review from the well-worn and tired perspective of The Association for Persons wi th Severe Handicaps (TASH) on full inclusion, an ideologically driven movement for the severely, not the mildly, disabled. We are concerned that our review provided a pulpit from which constructivists such as t he Fergusons could preach their ideological gospel.