by Kimberly Chitwood

Created on: March 04, 2008

I prefer the term "diagnosis". This term is defined as "the act or process of identifying or determining the nature and cause of a disease or injury through evaluation of patient history, examination, and review of laboratory data", according to the The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. The term "label" is defined as "a short word or phrase descriptive of a person, group, intellectual movement, etc," as cited from Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). First, a person is diagnosed, and then that diagnosis serves as the label under which the child is put. There is usually a negative connotation associated with "labeling" a child. However, there are positive advantages to a child being labeled, especially in the school system.

Of course, a child's self-esteem starts at home, and then it carries over into the school environment. What's important to remember is that a child must have a specific diagnosis before he/she enters into the school system because that child has to have an IEP (Individualized Educational Program) set in place. This ensures that a particular child is getting the specific help that he/she needs. There are children who are placed into a special education classroom. This usually happens if the child isn't able to be functional in a regular classroom. For example, a child who is blind has just transferred in from another school. Regular classrooms are generally not equipped with brailling machines because everyone in those classrooms can see (functional eyesight). She would be placed in a special education classroom because her needs are best accommodated in that classroom. She would've been included into the regular classroom if she had had functional eyesight. It simply wouldn't be fair to place her in a regular classroom just for inclusion's sake because she wouldn't have a fair chance to learn, therefore impeding her education. That's not good for statistics. In this case, the label "blind" isn't just a flippant insult; it's a fact. She is blind. She receives the services she needs because the school system knows what her condition is.

Another advantage to labeling a child is this: his/her diagnosis is necessary to determine the best possible services to offer that child. Call it a label if you want, but knowing his/her condition is critical; otherwise, he/she is "left behind" in the school system and clinical therapy. Mr. George Bush has already instituted the term "left behind" to mean that special needs children

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