Portrait of Dorothy Gooder

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Scope and Content: Dorothy Gooder was instrumental in changing the ways persons with developmental disabilities were educated in Lethbridge. When her son was born with Down’s Syndrome, Dorothy became interested in education in the field of development disabilities. She was strongly involved in the formation of the Le…

History / Biographical: In 1959 the Dorothy Gooder School was opened. It was named after Dorothy because of her hard-work, determination and vision. The school started with 3 classrooms and approximately 50 students but was enlarged in 1966. Prior to the opening of the school, parents were solely responsible for the education of their own children with developmental disabilities unless the children were institutionalized. The Dorothy Gooder School was instrumental in helping to show that students with disabilities can learn if teachers adapt the strategies they use. The school closed in 1978 as integration of students with disabilities proceeded and the children were integrated into the other schools. This was one of the goals that Dorothy Gooder was fighting for from the first – she saw the segregated school as only the first step until she could prove that learning was possible. And that was certainly proven. [Description by Lethbridge Historical Society] In 1987 the People First Association made a contribution to the University of Lethbridge to start a Scholarship named after Dorothy Gooder. It is still active and it is given to a student in their fourth year who is studying education with a specialization in Special Education

Scope and Content: Dorothy Gooder was instrumental in changing the ways persons with developmental disabilities were educated in Lethbridge. When her son was born with Down’s Syndrome, Dorothy became interested in education in the field of development disabilities. She was strongly involved in the formation of the Lethbridge and District Association for Retarded Children in 1955. Dorothy believed all children should have the same opportunities and that good teachers could make a difference IF they would change the way they teach. A pilot project was started to show that the student could learn. Two years later the Lethbridge Association for Community Living was formed. [Description by Lethbridge Historical Society] This portrait was presented to Dorothy Gooder in 1966 with the opening of the new addition to the school. See Archive photograph 19871142011.