Javier Gomez Brings Light to Misdiagnosed Minorities in Schools
Oxnard, CA (PRWEB) July 13, 2013 -- Teacher and author Javier Gomez felt as if he were in the Twilight Zone. One of his students, a young Spanish-speaking boy, had just been branded retarded by the school district psychologist. There had not been grounds to test the child, and the test was not performed in Spanish. Gomez had experienced the same injustice as a child and was disgusted that such a practice continued. The experience inspired Gomez to record what had happened to him as a child in, "I Was Diagnoosis Retarded" (published by AuthorHouse).
The book tells Gomez’s story of being a minority misdiagnosed as mentally retarded by a flawed test and how he overcame many challenges to eventually graduate college. Gomez writes, "This event sparked the idea to further examine how I escaped their institutionalized racial discriminatory grip that profiled me as a retard."
The test that nearly doomed Gomez sets up the failure for minorities. Many parents are uneducated or misinformed about their child’s abilities; sometimes they are afraid to ask questions. "I felt it vitally important that I share my personal experiences with society to illustrate the dangers and pitfalls within the educational school systems and how they sometimes are part of the failure of their students," says Gomez.
Gomez hopes young readers will gain a sense of pride in themselves and their culture and remember to never give up. He urges, "The potential danger of someone falling between the cracks still exists, if we are not vigilant about it and questioning the professional results."
"I Was Diagnoosis Retarded"
By Javier Gomez
Softcover | 6 x 9 in | 84 pages | ISBN 9781481744096
E-Book | 84 pages | ISBN 9781481744089
Available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble
About the Author
Javier Gomez is the founder and artistic director of Teatro Inlakech, the Inlakech Cultural Arts Center, a cultural visual and performing arts educational academy, the Ventura County Multicultural Arts Council, El Instituto Inlakech. For 13 years, he served as the artistic director of the Ballet Folklorico Regional. He has been a California Arts Council’s Artist-in-Community recipient, starting from 1989 until 2001. His residencies focused on theatre, dance and music workshops held at the Inlakech Cultural Arts Center for nearly 40 years.
AuthorHouse, an Author Solutions, Inc. self-publishing imprint, is a leading provider of book publishing, marketing, and bookselling services for authors around the globe and offers the industry’s only suite of Hollywood book-to-film services. Committed to providing the highest level of customer service, AuthorHouse assigns each author personal publishing and marketing consultants who provide guidance throughout the process. Headquartered in Bloomington, Indiana, AuthorHouse celebrated 15 years of service to authors in Sept. 2011. For more information or to publish a book, visit authorhouse.com or call 1-888-519-5121. For the latest, follow @authorhouse on Twitter.
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