[HPforGrownups] Re: Eyesight, Hogwarts' special ed, etc.

[Rina Stewart]

No: HPFGUIDX 12107

ender wrote:

<<I have to disagree here.  I think this is oversimplifying.  The sonorous charm works on the voice itself. Most children who are nonverbal due to neurological disabilities have absolutely no problem with their voices, but instead with the parts of their brain that control their ability to use language.  Besides, I'd like to think that if a child has a disability that can be fixed or changed by magic, it would be done in the early years by  trained medical wizards.>>

I agree on all counts, ender. Why would kids have to wait until they were 11 to learn these charms? I'd see it more like a school for the deaf - children often start school as early as two so they can learn sign and stuff like that. Maybe there's a equivilant school where young wizard kids would learn appropriate spells/charms that would help them overcome speech, or hearing, or walking disorders. But doesn't this kind of head into the wizards staying separate from Muggles because Muggles would want magic solutions to everything? It also kinda dangerously veers into "fixing" kids with special needs. Sure, my brother has a hearing impairment, and RTS, and mild mental retardation, and apraxia, but that's Josh. It's not all he is, but it's part of him and it's part of how his personality was shaped. He wouldn't be the same kid if there was a spell or charm to take away all of his special needs. Now whether that's good or bad is a pretty big topic, and also fairly off-topic. <g>

I'd like to think that Hogwarts would have MEPs (I just love that idea, Ender <g>) and appropriate accomodations, rather than a fix-all. After all, it has been brought up that they don't advocate cosmetic (teeth) fixing unless it's been directly impacted by a spell, and they don't seem to fix eyesight just on a whim. Maybe things could be done so that a nonverbal child could direct thoughts for spells?  

Rina
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