In its infinite wisdom, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts has decreed that individuals with “severe intellectual disability” can now attend all state colleges and universities, including UMass Amherst:
Under the new law, young people aged 22 and older with intellectual disabilities can participate in higher education opportunities without being matriculated or degree-seeking students and without having to receive a high school diploma, meet minimum GPA requirements, or pass any standardized college entrance or statewide assessment tests.
For purposes of clarity, I need first to define the meaning of the term “severe intellectual disability.” The term currently used by the DSM-V is “intellectual developmental disorder” and most people know it as “mental retardation,” a term now considered insensitive but which was invented in the 1960s to replace the three categories then in use (“idiot,” “imbecile,” or “moron,” depending on severity).[1]
At it’s most basic, it has to do with IQ—two thirds of people have an IQ between 85 and 115, with 100 being “average.” For those familiar with statistics, it’s the classic “bell curve” distribution, which means that about two percent score 130 or above, the admissions criteria for MENSA. About two percent also score 70 or below, and regardless of what term we use, this is what we are talking about, and clarity should never be confused with insensitivity.
I also need to make it clear that “intellectual disability” is completely different from “learning disabilities,” which involves one or more specific deficits in a specific skill(s) and the expected ability consistent with the person’s IQ. Dyslexia is a common example, and could involve confusing the lower-case letters “b”, “d”, “p”, and “q.” While it’s technically a difference in how information is processed, ADHD is another—and kids with ADHD often have IQs in the top two percent.
I also need to add that 610 CMR 15.02, one of the program regulations, specifies that the program is for persons with “<B>severe</b> interlectual disability,” which the Cleveland Clinic defines as one who has “an average mental age of between 3 and 6 years, [who] use[s] single words, phrases and/or gestures to communicate.”
[RELATED: College for the Intellectually Disabled]
The other thing to remember is that while K-12 is required to accept any child who wishes to attend until the child either graduates from high school or turns 22, higher education is, by definition, selective. One has to apply, and the institution either accepts or rejects the application.
While it shouldn’t be this way, an institution’s reputation largely depends on how selective it is. UMass Amherst rejected 40 percent of applicants, Westfield State rejected 19 percent, and Salem State rejected six percent.[2] And while it is one thing for UM-Amherst to have well over half the freshman class taking remedial math—and it does—it is something else entirely to water down the curriculum to the point where it is understandable to a kindergarten student.
At its most basic, it is a question of academic rigor. If the state universities are teaching courses at so low a level that a person with “severe intellectual disability” can keep up— if they are being taught at a second-grade level—then there is a real problem of the lack of academic rigor! What’s next, Dick & Jane as literature?[3]
Or are the state universities already teaching at the kindergarten level?
If they are, if the purported “university” curriculum is so watered down that a kindergarten student can keep up with the class, then we need to recognize that the whole system is a fraud and shut it down. Either way, there is the myth that a generic degree from a Massachusetts state university will get you a job. It won’t; not in the 21st century. And a person with severe intellectual disability and a piece of paper from UMass is still going to be a person with severe intellectual disabilities, and no job skills.
My grandmother used to say that the road to hell was paved with good intentions, and the intentions here are noble if one ignores the issue of aptitude and ability. I am never going to understand quantum mechanics or string theory as much as I wish I could. Likewise, persons with severe intellectual disability lack the ability to keep up with a college-level class taught with even a scintilla of academic rigor.
So, cui bono?
[1] Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition & I am torn between sensitivity and clarity: I use “severe intellectual disability” because the Commonwealth (a) uses the term “intellectual disability” and (b) the cited reg states that “intellectual disability” is defined as “severe intellectual disability.”
[2] Westfield and Salem are former normal schools (teacher’s colleges), which were state colleges and were renamed state universities by former Governor Deval Patrick for reasons that I don’t quite understand.
[3] Dick and Jane were a series of basal readers that fell out of favor in the 1970s, partially because they represented 1950’s family life where fathers worked and mothers were home with the children.
Image: “Umassentrysign” by AdamLechowicz on Wikimedia Commons
