Mary Meeker s Role For The Development Of Diverse...

Born in the early 1920’s, Mary Meeker’s father saw great potential in his creative little girl. He vowed to make sure she got to college, something which he had been unable to do. He fancied himself a business man, so the family moved from place to place as he looked for the elusive perfect opportunity. Every new school brought another Intelligence Test and eventually Mary skipped a grade. Mary’s sister who was learning disabled was often mistreated by the Nuns at one of the schools, causing Mary to turn away from her religion. Her mother did not see her talent or creativity and was often mean and abusive toward her children. As a result of these events, and recognizing that she and her sister were at different ends of a spectrum, Mary vowed to advocate for the development of diverse intellectual abilities. Educationally, Mary more than fulfilled her father’s hopes as she gained a Bachelor of Science, a Master of Science, a Doctorate in Educational Psy chology and continued with post graduate studies. In a desperate need for teachers, California offered provisional teaching certificates to those with a related degree, and Mary accepted. She was immediately assigned to students with severe developmental delays. She didn’t know how to teach them and there were no resources to draw upon. Eventually she motivated the children’s creativity by dancing and singing for much of the school year. When Mary was re-assigned, she got a Special Education Class and found that it had a