Category: News and Views
Got this on an lj community. Most people disagreed with the girl wanting to get out of drivers ed written exam stating that blind people should know road skills, however I agree with this girl. I don't think blind people have to take the written part of drivers ed just to have road skills, as I stated in the comment to the post on the lj community, I think O and M is enough for me. What is your oppinion? Are you for or against blind people taking the written part of drivers ed, I'm against it and like this girl I think it's a waiste of time and like I just said O and M is enough. Article below:
Blind Students Forced To Pass Driver's Ed Written Exam
POSTED: 1:16 pm EST March 10, 2006
UPDATED: 1:27 pm EST March 10, 2006
CHICAGO -- Mayra Ramirez thinks driver's ed is a waste of time.
And in her case, it is. She's blind.
But the 16-year-old and dozens of other visually-impaired sophomores
are required to pass a written rules-of-the-road exam to graduate from
Chicago schools.
Ramirez said she does the same work that the sighted students do in
other classes. But driver's ed -- in her words -- "brought me down,
because it reminds
me of something I can't do."
Hundreds of Illinois school districts require students to pass the
class, although the state only requires districts to offer it.
A spokeswoman for the state Board of Education tells the Chicago
Tribune, "It defies logic to require blind students to take this
course."
A Chicago Public Schools spokesman said he "can't explain why up to
this point no one has raised the issue." He said parents of disabled
children can legally
ask to change the student's curriculum.
Copyright 2006 by
The Associated Press.
All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast,
rewritten or redistributed.
i'm definitely against it, it's just plain stupid! everything myra said is right on point.
It's not an issue over here, since driver's ed isn't a compulsory part of highschool cariculum, though some offer it as extra caricular, but I think it's perfectly reasonable to expect blind kids to do it too. There's no reason why they can't take the written test like everyone else, basic road rules are a good and useful thing to know, and will probably come in handy even for non-drivers. And to be honest, I think the, "Thinking about driving just gets me down", excuse is rubbish. People don't need another reason to think they have to tiptoe around blind peoples' sensitive feelings, and if you're really likely to get depressed by hearing about driving at that age, you're in for a shock, because driving tests, driving lisences, driving lessons and first cars are going to be the centre of all your friends' conversation for a while.