Shed preconceived ideas...look, listen... A response to Sheridan's position on the spontaneous play of handicapped children.
Sheridan's article concerning the importance of spontaneous play for learning in handicapped children reflects both a historical and a contemporary negative valuation of 'handicapment'. Specifically, the authors suggest that contemporary views of handicapment fail to take into consideration the social and cultural concomitants of handicapment and in fact create an atmosphere wherein learned helplessness and self-fulfilling prophesies thrive. This state of affairs can only serve to perpetuate contemporary negative valuations of those individuals culturally labelled as 'handicapped'.
D001290:Attitude; D002648:Child; D002652:Child Behavior; D002654:Child Care; D003469:Culture; D006233:Persons with Disabilities; D004989:Ethics; D006801:Humans; D007360:Intelligence; D007858:Learning; D010988:Play and Playthings; D012961:Sociology