From Examiner.com:

This week’s episode of  the Fox series Glee, which chronicled a high school team’s effort to raise money for an accessible bus, ranked as the third most popular video on Hulu.com. The ‘Wheels’ episode explored questions about human diversity, and featured Kevin McHale’s character Artie Abrams, who uses a wheelchair on the show, and Lauren Potter (left) and Robin Trocki, two actresses with Down syndrome.

The full episode is available on Hulu.com here.

Writing on the New York Times Arts Beat blog, Mike Hale said he felt the show’s take on diversity delivered “a mixed message at best.” An excerpt:

Also problematic was the way Lauren Potter, a 19-year-old actress with Down syndrome, was used as a prop in the continuing humanization of [character] Sue Sylvester [played by Jane Lynch]. Forced by the principal to hold open auditions for the cheerleading squad, Sue chose Ms. Potter’s character, the cheerfully determined but not very skilled Becky Johnson… When the big reveal came, we discovered that Sue’s motives were pure: her own older sister has Down syndrome. This development is being praised throughout the Gleeverse, but the view from here is that it felt smarmy and artificial (and not artificial in a good way).

Entertainment Weekly’s Dan Snierson (on MSNBC.com) has a different view of Lynch’s tender scene with Trocki, in which Lynch’s character read “Little Red Riding Hood” to her older sister.

A little manipulative? Probably. But I didn’t care in that glorious moment.

Earlier posts here. and here.

(Photo from the Riverside [CA] Press-Enterprise).

From ABC News (with Person of the Week video by Charles Gibson):

Varsity cheerleaders at Pleasant Valley High School in Bettendorf, Iowa, expanded their team by inviting athletes with disabilities to join them.

The Sparkles Squad now practices and performs at games with the varsity girls. The squad is comprised of ten girls aged 8 to 15 with conditions ranging from autism to Down syndrome.

“The big thing is that when we started we thought we’d be teaching them cheers,” said [Sarah] Herr. “But we didn’t think they’d be teaching us. They’ve taught us so many things about life and it’s really amazing.”

… “I think that it’s really given them a feeling of belonging and acceptance. Usually when someone has a disability, society can only see what they can’t do, but through the sparkle effect, we’ve really exposed what they can do,” said [Sarah] Cronk.

(ABC News photo)

Related posts here.

Foes of a planned group home for people with developmental disabilities in Virginia are acting out of ignorance, prejudice and fear, Colleen Miller writes in the [Harrisonburg, VA], News-Record , adding that their actions are illegal under the federal Fair Housing Act. She says people with developmental disabilities deserve to be treated with dignity and respect. An excerpt:

The arguments made by the opponents of this home are old and patently false. Homes for people with disabilities have existed in communities just like Pleasant View, for many decades, with no negative effect on property values, no increase in crime, and no increase in traffic. These false fears arise from the fact that people with intellectual disabilities have been segregated from society for too long. Simply put, it is a fear borne of the unfamiliar.

The law is unambiguous that individuals with disabilities have the right to live in the community, but awareness of the law alone will not resolve the protests of those who have preconceived notions of individuals with disabilities. Only time, experience and knowledge will overcome those notions. Individuals with intellectual disabilities have been denied their rights for too long. We must continue to break down the barriers between them and their right to freedom and inclusion.

Colleen Miller is director of the Virginia Office for Protection and Advocacy in Richmond.

See also:

A chance to live the good life, By Jeremy Hunt — Harrisonburg [VA] News-Record

Deed restrictions vs. fair housing, By Jeremy Hunt — Harrisonburg [VA] News-Record

Adam Crisp writes in the Chattanooga Times Free Press (with video) that Anna Frierson, 12, who has Down syndrome, has been embraced as a member of the cheerleading squad at Red Bank Middle School in Lookout Mountain, Tennessee.

“When we first heard that she wanted to be a cheerleader, we were so excited,” said head team captain Hanna Holmes, 13. “She came to our first practice, and she was so sweet. We loved her. She was doing all the cheers, and then she said ‘I’m a cheerleader!’”

Later, the girls voted unanimously to have Anna as a permanent part of the team.

… “This group of girls has the biggest hearts of any girls I’ve seen,” [coach Kimberly Elbakidze] said. “They embrace everyone. They are gentle and kind. They try to coach her to her maximum ability, but they don’t push or and they don’t get frustrated. It works beautifully because they are very understanding and embracing of differences.”

From the Cleveland Plain Dealer:

A ruling by an arbitrator in response to a teacher complaint could force the Cleveland school district to hire hundreds more special education teachers.

Cleveland’s union contract requires that each inclusion classroom be team taught full-time by a general education teacher and a special education teacher. Presently, the district more often pulls students with disabilities out of their classrooms and sends them to a central location for extra help. The arbitrator’s decision could force the district to hire up to six new teachers per school.

A compromise agreement is expected.

In Business Week’s Working Parents blog, Anne Newman poses this provocative question in a discussion of Including Samuel, which is being aired nationally on PBS. The award-winning documentary by Dan Habib chronicles his family’s efforts to include son Samuel (left), who has cerebral palsy, in all aspects of daily life, including education.

Newman says her earlier blog post on the film drew support from many who saw inclusion as the next civil rights movement, but a vocal minority questioned whether scarce resources should be spent on it. Wrote one: ‘Why do we even bother paying for education for these kids?”

She passed the questions on to Habib, who responded with a list of myths and realities about inclusion. “People are not limited by their disability,” he replied. “They are limited by a lack of opportunity.”

Newman asks: “What about it, readers? … Do students with disabilities in your schools learn along with their peers? Are your schools strained or strengthened by including them?”

See also:

Film teaches inclusion of students with disabilities — [Madison] Wisconsin State Journal

An excerpt:

… the film’s sponsors are leading efforts to have young people around the world hold viewing parties and take action for inclusion.

“We will get there when families without disabilities are advocating for this,” Habib said of inclusion.

From the Contra Costa [CA] Times:

Mary Crosby, the director of an elementary education program at a California’s Dominican University, has been honored for creating a curriculum to train teachers to teach children with disabilities in inclusive classrooms.

The Marin Community Foundation recognized Crosby’s 36 years at Dominican with an achievement award and $10,000.

Crosby said that when she came to Dominican in 1972, few elementary students with physical or mental disabilities were permitted to attend classes with their peers; some school districts would not accept students with disabilities at all.

(Contra Costa Times photo)