How Effective Are U.S. Testing Practices on Children with Intellectual Disabilities?

Learners with differences framed as intellectual disabilities or developmental delays are often the last to realize the right to education in their own community’s schools with their peers. These students are often defined by the results of intelligence tests, and they too often face barriers of discrimination in education that can be insurmountable. 

Dan Habib’s documentary Intelligent Lives recounts the lives of three pioneering young adults with intellectual disabilities who challenge perceptions of intelligences as they navigate high school, college, and the workforce. The film, screened recently at the Open Society Foundations–New York, focuses on ongoing intelligence testing practices in the United States and questions their ability to assess children’s capabilities. 

Listen to the post-screening Q&A with Habib above.