The Myth Of The Normal Curve By Dudley-Marling And The Short Bus

In “The Myth of the Normal Curve” Dudley-Marling & Gurn discuss standards students are expected to meet based on statistics, which creates social hierarchies for students. People are expected to reach a certain standards to be deemed as “normal,” but this leads to obstacles for students with disabilities because they may fall under the standards. The ideas discussed in these chapters correlate with Jonathan Mooney’s “The Short Bus” he shares his personal experiences as well as the stories he has heard through his journey. In these two works, it is evident that the idea of normalcy, which if formed by statistics, isolates students from their communities when their performance in school is considered below average. In the chapters by Dudley-Marling

In the book, Mooney discusses that the idea of normalcy is created from statistics, which can be seen in the hierarchies created in school settings. Mooney writes, “Normalcy, though, is first and foremost an idea that arises from statistics. The normal, norm, or normalcies do not exist in the real world of people, despite the fact that we are told we can modify our behavior and train our bodies and minds to reach it.” (33). In this passage Mooney highlights similar ideas presented by Dudley-Marling & Gurn about normalcy. The idea of normalcy is just a creation from the standards created in school. For example, in school students are expected to meet a certain reading level at a certain grade. If students don’t meet this reading standard they are automatically labeled to have reading problems. Rather than researching different methods to teach students how to read, the student is automatically blamed for being below this standard and not at the “normal” level of reading. Mooney also discusses the examination he went through when it was being decided if he has a learning disability. Mooney describes his experience writing, “My experience is a textbook case of a medical model being used to understand the experience of disability. My parents and I were told I was broken, and that my deficits should be diagnosed, treated, and cured.