Title: Carly’s Story and the Least Dangerous
Assumption
Theme: Ability Awareness
Date and Tip Number: February 17th, 2015, #18
Over the past several years, our district has been motivating educators on the importance of
inclusion, presuming competence, and least dangerous assumption. In case you don’t remember what
I’m referring to when I say “least dangerous assumption,” I will give you a very brief refresher from the
article by Cheryl Jorgensen, Ph. D. entitled, “The Least Dangerous Assumption: A Challenge to Create a
New Paradigm”.
In 1984, Anne Donnellan, a respected researcher in special education, wrote
that, “The criterion of least dangerous assumption holds that in the absence of
conclusive data, educational decisions ought to be based on assumptions which, if
incorrect, will have the least dangerous effect on the likelihood that students will be
able to function independently as adults.” Furthermore, she concluded “we should
assume that poor performance is due to instructional inadequacy rather than to
student deficits.” In other words, if a student does not do well, the quality of the
instruction should be questioned before the student’s ability to learn. Thus, for
Donnellan, the least dangerous assumption when working with students with
significant disabilities is to assume that they are competent and able to learn,
because to do otherwise would result in harm such as fewer educational
opportunities, inferior literacy instruction, a segregated education, and fewer choices
as an adult.”
In preparation for this week’s tip, I began scouring the internet for a powerful way to drive home the
power of the least dangerous assumption. After a short time, I came across a 20/20 Medical Mysteries episode
about a young girl named Carly Fleischermann, who at the age of 2, was diagnosed with severe autism and an oral
motor condition that left her unable to speak. Doctors told her parents that she would likely never intellectually
develop beyond the abilities of a small child. However, at the age of 11 years old, she had an incredible
breakthrough, while working with her therapists, Carly grabbed their laptop and typed “HELP TEETH HURT”,
the rest is history.
She has now published a book with her father and although she still struggles with all the symptoms of
autism, she now has profound conversations using the computer as her voice. She has also created an incredible
perspective of what it is like to be “locked inside a body [she] cannot control”, in her video Carly’s Café (it’s only
2 minutes and it WILL open your eyes) that can be found by going to:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmDGvquzn2k
If you would like to see the full 20/20 segment featuring Carly and her family, please visit
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMBzJleeOno , which I encourage all of you to do. Carly’s story is truly
inspirational and will give you an accurate perspective of what some of our students with autism must experience
on a daily basis. The segment runs less than 10 minutes long.
Sources:
20/20 ABC News. Non-Verbal Girl with Autism Speaks through Her Computer: 20/20 ABC News. YouTube, 2012. Film.
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMBzJleeOno>
Fleischmann, Carly. Carly's Cafe: Experiencing Autism Through Carly's Eyes. YouTube, 2012. Film.
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmDGvquzn2k>
Jorgensen, Cheryl. "The Least Dangerous Assumption: A Challenge to Create a New Paradigm." Disability Solutions Fall
2005. < http://ok.gov/sde/sites/ok.gov.sde/files/PD%20Materials.pdf>