New Teachers Can Learn From Parents

by Janice Fialka, MSW, ACSW, Parent

“You have to be realistic about his future.” “You must accept your child’s limitations.” “You are expecting too much.”

When you have a child with a disability, one of the hardest lessons parents learn is that people, even when well-meaning, frequently make dangerous assumptions about our children. For the most part, the public has a narrow experience of people with disabilities being genuinely integrated in local communities, leading productive and meaningful lives, and using unique strategies to make this happen. Most individuals were raised with the belief that disabilities are deficiencies, not just differences.

One of the pioneers in changing how people think about those with disabilities is Anne Donnellan, who in 1984 launched the radical concept of "least dangerous assumption" relating to people with disabilities. The least dangerous assumption, as summed up by authors Zach Rossetti and Carol Tashie, states that "in the absence of absolute evidence, it is essential to make the assumption that, if proven to be false, would be least dangerous to the individual.” In other words, we can never be certain of what people are capable of, so to avoid any grave consequences, we must assume that they have potential and assume that they are competent.

Rossetti and Tashie use the metaphor of fishing to help explain the concept of "least dangerous assumption," asking what assumption is made if nothing is caught after several days of fishing. While one person might assume that there are no fish in the lake since none were caught after hours of trying, another might conclude that there are fish in the lake but patience, innovation, and persistence are needed to achieve success. With the first assumption, an individual is likely to stop fishing and leave or limit their time on the lake. In the second assumption—"the least dangerous assumption"—the individual is likely to continue fishing, trying new places on the lake, different bait, and asking for the assistance of the local fishing community.

When this analogy is applied to children with disabilities, and working from the "least dangerous assumption" is practiced, then children who initially may appear “limited” in their ability to learn, communicate, or grow are not unintentionally restricted by those who teach and care for them. The assumption is then that these students can do all of those things, just in different ways waiting to be discovered. The assumption is that more time and creative strategies are needed to help draw out their abilities. Standard assessments or deeply embedded images of who learns is, likewise, never assumed. Students with disabilities are taught as if they can and will learn, often more than originally thought possible.

By assuming that we simply need more time and creativity on this lake filled with fish of unusual colors, shapes, and sizes, we conclude that the best bait is the assumption of competence in children with disabilities. That’s the hook. That is how the potential in each child is unlocked. That’s how we will reel in the fish.

Janice Fialka is an author, national speaker, and mother of a child with disabilities. For more information, contact: Janice Fialka, (248) 546-4870, ruaw@aol.com or visit www.danceofpartnership.com.

For more information on the work of Zach Rossetti and Carol Tashie, visit www.inclusive-solutions.com/leastdangerousassumption.asp.