tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/special-needs-9953/articlesSpecial needs – The Conversation2022-05-30T15:12:49Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1806442022-05-30T15:12:49Z2022-05-30T15:12:49ZAddressing childhood anxiety as early as kindergarten could reduce its harmful impacts<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/465804/original/file-20220527-15-c30ne0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=909%2C209%2C4274%2C2152&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Signs of anxiety in kindergarten should not be ignored.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Pavel Danilyuk/Pexels)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Anxiety disorders are <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20855043/">some of the most common mental disorders</a> in children and youth. They emerge and can be diagnosed as early as <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chc.2005.06.003">preschool age</a>, with half being diagnosed by the age of six. </p>
<p>Anxiety in early childhood has consistently been associated with symptoms of anxiety throughout <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-010-9365-8">childhood</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7610.2007.01812.x">adolescence</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7610.2004.00279.x">adulthood</a>, and with a <a href="https://journals.lww.com/jrnldbp/Abstract/2016/05000/Association_of_Childhood_Anxiety_Disorders_and.2.aspx">lower quality of life</a>.</p>
<p>We are researchers with the <a href="https://offordcentre.com/">Offord Centre for Child Studies</a> in the department of psychiatry and behavioural neurosciences at McMaster University. With colleagues, we undertook a population-wide <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10578-022-01332-9">study of kindergarten-age children attending public schools across Canada between 2004 and 2015</a>. To our knowledge, this study provided the first Canada-wide snapshot of anxiety symptoms among children as they enter school. </p>
<p>Our results demonstrate that a child showing signs of anxiety in kindergarten should not be ignored. Children with elevated symptoms of anxiety are three to six times more likely to be vulnerable in other areas of their development than those with very few of these symptoms.</p>
<p>This study also provides an estimate of the prevalence of anxiety symptoms among kindergarten-aged children in Canada. These could, in future, serve as a baseline for comparing groups of children after the COVID-19 pandemic.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A boy and girl seen playing with play tools in a classroom." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/465807/original/file-20220527-15-5p25fc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/465807/original/file-20220527-15-5p25fc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465807/original/file-20220527-15-5p25fc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465807/original/file-20220527-15-5p25fc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465807/original/file-20220527-15-5p25fc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465807/original/file-20220527-15-5p25fc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465807/original/file-20220527-15-5p25fc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Limited evidence exists about how anxiety symptoms in young children may be related to their development.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://images.all4ed.org/license/">(Allison Shelley/The Verbatim Agency for EDUimages)</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
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<h2>Adverse effects on development</h2>
<p>Anxiety can have adverse effects on child development, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1097/00004583-199009000-00014">even if a child’s anxiety levels fall below what clinicians would consider an anxiety disorder</a>. Experiencing anxiety symptoms <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3018839">can also interfere with children’s functioning</a>, for example, if children avoid situations that make them feel anxious.</p>
<p>With <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34369987/">rates of anxiety increasing in children and youth since 2020</a>, early identification and intervention are important to decrease <a href="https://pathways-psychology.com/long-term-effects-of-stress-and-anxiety">long-term impacts</a>. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/child-and-youth-mental-health-problems-have-doubled-during-covid-19-162750">Child and youth mental health problems have doubled during COVID-19</a>
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<p>Information about the prevalence of anxiety disorders in young children is quite limited compared to what’s known about <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7610.2006.01618.x">older children</a>. There is also limited evidence about how symptoms of anxiety in young children may be related to aspects of their development that are important for <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/10409280701610796">succeeding in school</a>.</p>
<h2>Academic outcomes</h2>
<p>In a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-007-9224-0">2008 study</a>, psychology researchers from Université Laval and Université de Montréal found kindergarteners with high levels of anxiety were at greater risk of not finishing high school, compared to their non-anxious peers. </p>
<p>This was the case even when accounting for other risk factors like aggression, hyperactivity, academic achievement and family problems. These results indicated that how children act, behave and feel in kindergarten can predict academic outcomes years later.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/boys-attention-and-prosocial-behaviour-linked-to-earnings-30-years-later-112388">Boys' attention and prosocial behaviour linked to earnings 30 years later</a>
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<p>Our study sought to understand kindergarten-age children’s anxiety on a larger scale. Our results could similarly be used to study subsets of the population. For example, in Ontario, we have linked some early child development data to standardized test scores in grades 3, 6, 9 and 10, but haven’t yet completed our study.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A boy is seen playing with dinosaurs." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/465806/original/file-20220527-13-r6siu6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/465806/original/file-20220527-13-r6siu6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465806/original/file-20220527-13-r6siu6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465806/original/file-20220527-13-r6siu6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465806/original/file-20220527-13-r6siu6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465806/original/file-20220527-13-r6siu6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465806/original/file-20220527-13-r6siu6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">How children act, behave and feel in kindergarten can predict outcomes years later.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
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<h2>Symptoms of anxiety</h2>
<p>We aimed to determine the percentage of children in kindergarten in publicly funded schools across Canada showing symptoms of anxiety. We <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10578-022-01332-9/tables/1">gathered data from children in 12 of the 13 Canadian provinces and territories (with the exception of Nunavut)</a>.</p>
<p>We used data collected through the <a href="https://edi.offordcentre.com/">Early Development Instrument</a> (EDI), a teacher-completed checklist that measures five main domains of development: physical health and well-being; social competence; emotional maturity; language and cognitive development; and communication skills and general knowledge. </p>
<p>Under these five domains are 16 subdomains, including an anxious and fearful subdomain that falls under the emotional maturity domain, and includes symptoms of anxiety. We used this in our study to classify children as highly anxious.</p>
<p>The study population included 1,038,354 children attending publicly funded schools whose teachers completed the EDI between 2004 and 2015. Most of the EDI data in this study come from <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2018-023688">government-funded, full provincial or territorial data collections</a>. </p>
<p>How provinces and territories collect EDI data varies: For example, in Ontario, all schools participated once every three years in three different data collection windows (2004-06; 2007-09; 2010-12). In 2015, however, the province switched to a one-year model and collected all provincial EDI data in one year. </p>
<h2>Relationship between anxiety, vulnerability</h2>
<p>We found that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10578-022-01332-9">almost three per cent</a> of kindergarteners were rated as being highly anxious by their teachers.</p>
<p>Rates varied somewhat across the country, ranging from 1.1 per cent in Prince Edward Island to five per cent in Northwest Territories. </p>
<p>We also looked at the association between symptoms of anxiety and vulnerabilities in other areas of development. </p>
<p>A child is considered to be vulnerable in a given domain if their score on the EDI falls below the 10th percentile value based on national EDI scores.</p>
<p>A child classified as vulnerable is struggling in a certain area. Overall, anxious children were 3.5 to 6.1 times more likely than their non-anxious peers to be vulnerable in four domains of development: physical, social, language/cognitive and communication.</p>
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<img alt="A father seen hugging a child." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/465796/original/file-20220527-11-aobu4u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/465796/original/file-20220527-11-aobu4u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465796/original/file-20220527-11-aobu4u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465796/original/file-20220527-11-aobu4u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465796/original/file-20220527-11-aobu4u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465796/original/file-20220527-11-aobu4u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465796/original/file-20220527-11-aobu4u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">A greater percentage of children considered highly anxious spoke English or French as a second language than non-anxious children.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
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<h2>Subgroups of children</h2>
<p>Children rated as highly anxious tended to be younger and were more likely to be male than their non-anxious peers, but the differences between these groups were quite small. </p>
<p>A greater percentage of children considered highly anxious had special needs and English or French as a second language than non-anxious children. Other research has also documented associations <a href="https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/cjnse/article/view/30393">between anxiety and second language learning</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1108/20441281211227193">between anxiety and special needs</a>. We found:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>14.2 per cent of children considered highly anxious had either English or French as a second language. This rate is significantly higher than 12.9 per cent of non-anxious kids who spoke English or French as a second language;</p></li>
<li><p>11.1 per cent of children considered highly anxious were classified as having special needs (compared to 3.4 per cent of non-anxious kids). The EDI captures “special needs” when a child has a medical diagnosis or the teacher has observed the child needs assistance in class above and beyond what the average child requires. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>To put these figures in perspective, most children considered highly anxious speak the language of school instruction as their home language (85.8 per cent) and don’t have special needs (89 per cent). </p>
<h2>Valuable source of information</h2>
<p>Our study demonstrates that teacher reports of children’s behaviours at school, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsp.2018.07.003">an environment that might cause some children to be anxious</a>, can be a valuable source of information on anxiety in kindergarteners. Our study supports the idea that anxiety and other aspects of development are closely intertwined.</p>
<p>Results of this study can provide important information for policy. For example, schools with high rates of anxious children may be encouraged to put into practice class-level activities to reduce the long-term effects of anxiety in kindergarten. </p>
<p>Or, board-wide curriculum, educational services or programming could be developed and monitored to determine how these are meeting particular groups of children’s needs: experts in language learning and early childhood education may be able to suggest interventions to reduce anxiety of students whose home language differs from the language of instruction.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/culturally-responsive-teaching-in-a-globalized-world-109881">Culturally responsive teaching in a globalized world</a>
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</em>
</p>
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<p>Finally, this study also provides baseline estimates of anxiety symptoms among kindergarten-aged children in Canada. These could, in future, be compared to data collected with the same method in kindergarten-aged students across Canada post-COVID-19.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/180644/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Magdalena Janus received funding from CIHR and is a member of the Offord Centre for Child Studies at McMaster University.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Caroline Reid-Westoby does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A study of students across Canada between 2004 and 2015 provides an estimate of anxiety symptoms in kindergarteners, and can serve as a baseline for comparing children’s anxiety after COVID-19.Caroline Reid-Westoby, Research Associate, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences, McMaster UniversityMagdalena Janus, Professor, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences, McMaster UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1781112022-04-20T12:16:39Z2022-04-20T12:16:39ZStudents of color in special education are less likely to get the help they need – here are 3 ways teachers can do better<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/451661/original/file-20220311-16-tvdrr3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C7769%2C5163&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Conversations around race and disability often get left out of schools. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/teacher-helping-special-needs-student-at-school-royalty-free-image/1364983986?adppopup=true">FG Trade/E+ via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>When I was a special education teacher at <a href="https://publicschoolsk12.com/elementary-schools/fl/miami-dade-county/120039000470.html">Myrtle Grove Elementary School</a> in Miami in 2010, my colleagues and I recommended that a Black girl receive special education services because she had difficulty reading. However, her mother disagreed. When I asked her why, she explained that she, too, was identified as having a learning disability when she was a student. </p>
<p>She was put in a small classroom away from her other classmates. She remembered reading books below her grade level and frequent conflicts between her classmates and teachers. Because of this, she believed she received a lower-quality education. She didn’t want her daughter to go through the same experience. </p>
<p>Ultimately, the mother and I co-designed an individualized education plan – known in the world of special education as an IEP – for her daughter where she would be pulled out of class for only an hour a day for intensive reading instruction.</p>
<p>When compared to white students with disabilities, students of color with disabilities are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00131946.2019.1630130">more likely to be placed in separate classrooms</a>. This may lead to lower educational outcomes for students of color in special education, as students with disabilities <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0022466920925033">perform better in math and reading</a> when in general education classrooms. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/458711/original/file-20220419-22-zlae4a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A student of color with down syndrome uses a tablet in the classroom." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/458711/original/file-20220419-22-zlae4a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/458711/original/file-20220419-22-zlae4a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458711/original/file-20220419-22-zlae4a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458711/original/file-20220419-22-zlae4a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458711/original/file-20220419-22-zlae4a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458711/original/file-20220419-22-zlae4a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458711/original/file-20220419-22-zlae4a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Students with disabilities perform better academically when placed in general education classes.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/mixed-race-down-syndrome-student-using-tablet-royalty-free-image/508481885?adppopup=true">Robin Bartholick via Tetra images/GettyImages</a></span>
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<p>Researchers, such as University of Arizona education scholar <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s11256-019-00496-4">Adai Tefera</a> and CUNY-Hunter College sociologist of education <a href="https://doi.org/10.3102/0091732X16686947">Catherine Voulgarides</a>, argue that systemic racism – as well as biased interpretations of the behavior of students of color – explains these discrepancies. For example, when compared to students with similar test scores, Black students with disabilities are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsp.2021.10.002">less likely to be included in the general education classroom</a> than their non-Black peers. To curb this, teachers can take steps toward being more inclusive of students of color with disabilities.</p>
<p>As a <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=YjHlSvUAAAAJ">Black feminist researcher</a> who focuses on the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/09518398.2020.1771465">intersection of race and disability</a>, here are three recommendations I believe can help teachers to better support students of color with disabilities. </p>
<h2>1. Inform families of their rights</h2>
<p>Federal law requires that schools provide parents and guardians with <a href="https://sites.ed.gov/idea/regs/b/e/300.504">Procedural Safeguards Notices</a>, a full explanation of all the rights a parent has when their child is referred to or receives special education services. These notices need to be put in writing and explained to families in “language that is easily understandable.” </p>
<p>However, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1044207317751674">research shows</a> that in many states, Procedural Safeguards Notices are written in ways that are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0022466910362774">difficult to read</a>. This can make it harder for families, especially immigrant families, to know their rights. Also, families of color report facing <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/13603116.2021.1937345">greater resistance</a> when making requests for disability services than white families do. </p>
<p>When meeting with families, teachers can take the time to break down any confusing language written in the Procedural Safeguards Notice. This can assure that the families of students of color are fully aware of their options. </p>
<p>For example, families have the right to invite an <a href="https://doi.org/10.1352/1934-9556-58.2.158">external advocate</a> to represent their interests during meetings with school representatives. These advocates can speak on behalf of the family and often help resolve disagreements between the schools and families. </p>
<p>Educators can tell families about organizations that serve children with disabilities and help them navigate school systems. <a href="https://thecolorofautism.org">The Color of Autism</a>, <a href="https://thearcus.surveymonkey.com/r/H7GZYKZ">The Arc</a> and <a href="https://www.easterseals.com/ways-to-give/black-child-fund.html">Easterseals</a> are striving to address racial inequities in who has access to advocacy supports. These organizations create culturally responsive resources and connect families of color with scholarships to receive training on how to advocate for themselves.</p>
<h2>2. Talk about race and disability</h2>
<p>Despite the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0013124518785012">growing diversity</a> within K-12 classrooms, conversations around race are often left out of special education. This leaves a lack of attention toward the issues that students of color face, like <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1053451218782437">higher suspension rates</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.3102/0002831219847966">lower grades and test scores</a> than their white peers in special education. </p>
<p>When teachers talk about race and disability with their colleagues, it can help reduce <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0033294118767435">implicit biases</a> they may have. Also, dialogue about race and disability can help to reduce <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/23328584211041354">negative school interactions</a> with students of color with disabilities. </p>
<p>Arizona State University teacher educator <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=2h8PiNoAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">Andrea Weinberg</a> and I <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/08884064211070571">developed protocols</a> that encourage educators to talk about race, disability, class and other social identities with each other. These include questions for teachers such as: </p>
<blockquote>
<p><em>Do any of your students of color have an IEP?</em></p>
<p><em>Has a student with disabilities or their family shared anything about their cultural background that distinguishes them from their peers?</em></p>
<p><em>Are there patterns of students not responding to instruction?</em></p>
</blockquote>
<p>The protocols also encourage educators to consider their own social identities and how those may shape how they interpret students’ behaviors and academic needs:</p>
<blockquote>
<p><em>Who do you collaborate with to help you better understand and respond to students’ diverse needs?</em> </p>
<p><em>In what ways are students and teachers benefiting from the diversity represented in the classroom?</em></p>
</blockquote>
<p>Educators using these questions in the Southwest, for example, say they help a mostly white teacher workforce understand their role in disrupting inequities. One <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/08884064211062874">study participant</a> said, “These things are not addressed, and they’re not talked about among faculty.” </p>
<h2>3. Highlight people of color with disabilities in the classroom</h2>
<p>Often, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/19388079909558314">classroom content</a> depicts disabled people – especially those of color – as people at the margins of society. For example, in “To Kill a Mockingbird,” <a href="https://doi.org/10.5325/critphilrace.10.1.0048">Tom Robinson</a>, a Black character with a physical disability, is killed after being falsely accused of a crime. Teachers can incorporate thoughtful examples of disabled people of color in their lesson plans to help students better understand their experiences.</p>
<p>When teaching about Harriet Tubman, educators can mention how she freed enslaved people while coping with the lifelong effects of a <a href="https://doi.org/10.3171/2016.3.FOCUS1586">head injury</a>. Tubman’s political activism provides a historical example of disabled people of color who helped improve society for all. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/458714/original/file-20220419-15105-i8f6ja.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A man and a woman in a wheelchair pose together next to a painting." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/458714/original/file-20220419-15105-i8f6ja.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/458714/original/file-20220419-15105-i8f6ja.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=737&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458714/original/file-20220419-15105-i8f6ja.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=737&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458714/original/file-20220419-15105-i8f6ja.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=737&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458714/original/file-20220419-15105-i8f6ja.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=927&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458714/original/file-20220419-15105-i8f6ja.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=927&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458714/original/file-20220419-15105-i8f6ja.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=927&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Famous Mexican artist Frida Kahlo suffered from spinal and pelvic damage after a bus accident.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/eventosuc3m/14416334809">Universidad Carlos III de Madrid/flickr</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Art teachers can highlight Mexican artist Frida Kahlo and how she boldly addressed her <a href="https://doi.org/10.2522/ptj.20160036">physical disabilities in self-portraits</a>. Disabled people’s experiences are frequently shown from the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/09540253.2016.1247947">perspective of people without disabilities</a>. In her art, Kahlo displayed herself <a href="https://artincontext.org/the-broken-column-frida-kahlo/">with bandages</a> and sitting in a <a href="https://www.fridakahlo.org/self-portrait-with-the-portrait-of-doctor-farill.jsp">wheelchair</a>. Her portraits featured her own reactions to having disabilities. </p>
<p>Physical education teachers can discuss current events, such as recent news about Olympian Simone Biles’s <a href="https://www.espn.com/espnw/voices/story/_/id/17602540/bravo-simone-biles-taking-stand-adhd-stigma">attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1590/1516-4446-2021-0036">anxiety</a>. Her openness has sparked <a href="https://www.insider.com/simone-biles-adhd-meds-banned-japan-impacting-performance-2021-7">international conversations</a> about less noticeable disabilities. </p>
<p>Teaching students about the contributions that disabled people of color make to our society emphasizes that neither race nor disability should be equated with inferiority.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/178111/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mildred Boveda does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Students with disabilities do better when they remain in general education classes, but systemic bias often leads them to be placed in separate classrooms, a special education researcher writes.Mildred Boveda, Associate Professor of Special Education, Penn StateLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1669322021-10-14T08:12:37Z2021-10-14T08:12:37ZDisabled children still face exclusion in PE – here’s what needs to change<p>Children between the ages of five and 18 should do a minimum of <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/physical-activity-guidelines-uk-chief-medical-officers-report">60 minutes of exercise a day</a> across the week, according to UK government recommendations. And physical education (PE) is, of course, one of the main ways in which both primary and secondary schools meet these guidelines. </p>
<p>As disabled children are more likely to be <a href="https://bmcsportsscimedrehabil.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13102-015-0016-7">sedentary</a>, it’s particularly important that they can take part in school exercise. Surveys <a href="https://www.sportanddev.org/sites/default/files/downloads/efds_active_together_report.pdf">have also shown</a> that most disabled children would like to be able to take part in PE more often. Yet our <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09687599.2021.1907551">latest research</a>, assisted by recently retired academic and former Paralympic athlete <a href="https://www.paralympic.org/stuart-braye">Dr Stuart Braye</a>, shows that disabled children attending mainstream schools still experience many difficulties in joining in with PE lessons.</p>
<p>At the first world conference on <a href="https://www.european-agency.org/sites/default/files/salamanca-statement-and-framework.pdf">special needs education</a> held in Spain, in 1994, representatives of 92 countries declared that <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/17408989.2019.1571183">inclusive education was the right</a> of all children. It should be the norm in all schools, they said. </p>
<p>Nearly three decades on, however, <a href="https://www.allfie.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/AccessibityPlans-report-EMBARGOED.pdf">personal accounts</a> of <a href="https://theconversation.com/schools-are-failing-pupils-with-special-needs-despite-best-efforts-of-dedicated-staff-123400">social isolation</a> and non-inclusive mainstream education show that school, for many children with disabilities, is anything but inclusive. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Primary school children climb on gymnastics equipment" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/426175/original/file-20211013-27-17kerq8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/426175/original/file-20211013-27-17kerq8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426175/original/file-20211013-27-17kerq8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426175/original/file-20211013-27-17kerq8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426175/original/file-20211013-27-17kerq8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426175/original/file-20211013-27-17kerq8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426175/original/file-20211013-27-17kerq8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Ensuring that classes and equipment both are adaptable to varying degrees of physical disability is crucial.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/fr/image-photo/school-children-climbing-gymnasium-equipment-216579763">Air Images | Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Inclusive PE</h2>
<p>This is especially true for PE. In 2015, <a href="https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000235409">UNESCO</a> called for all educational establishments to ensure that inclusive, adaptive and safe opportunities to participate in PE be provided for disabled children. Yet despite advances in disability equality legislation both <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/RightsOfDisabledPersons.aspx">on a global level</a> and <a href="https://www.gov.uk/guidance/equality-act-2010-guidance">in the UK</a> specifically, this has long <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/1034912X.2018.1435852">not been the case</a>. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/1034912X.2018.1435852">Research</a> has consistently shown that disabled children experience a less-than-welcoming attitude in mainstream school PE. They don’t have access to the right equipment, they feel marginalised and excluded by both non-disabled peers and teachers. Crucially, PE teachers are not adequately trained to support their needs.</p>
<h2>Inadequate teacher training</h2>
<p>Studies also show that PE teachers feel <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17408980802400502">under prepared</a> and <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1356336X11413183">ill-equipped</a> to include disabled children in PE lessons. In our <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09687599.2021.1907551">recent study</a>, for which we interviewed families of disabled children, PE teachers and teacher training providers, we found evidence that initial teacher training (ITT) programmes are inadequate. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A paralympic blade runner on an athletics track" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/426194/original/file-20211013-21-cbpikk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/426194/original/file-20211013-21-cbpikk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426194/original/file-20211013-21-cbpikk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426194/original/file-20211013-21-cbpikk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426194/original/file-20211013-21-cbpikk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426194/original/file-20211013-21-cbpikk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426194/original/file-20211013-21-cbpikk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The growing popularity of paralympic sports has not translated into daily support for children with disabilities to access PE.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/fr/image-photo/explosive-start-athlete-handicap-stadium-288632147">sportpoint</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>One of the main reasons for this is that the once popular four-year bachelor of education courses have for many been replaced by one-year ITT courses. As a result, the inclusion of disabled children is only covered superficially. </p>
<p>PE teaching professionals also revealed that ITT provision interprets the term “inclusion” in the broadest possible sense. This means that disability becomes one among many equality issues to be covered as part of a full curriculum.</p>
<p>Our respondents said that the opportunity to work with disabled children during training is essential. Doing a placement within a school that caters to disabled pupils, particularly a <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-british-government-is-failing-pupils-with-special-needs-heres-how-to-change-that-118143">special-needs school</a>, would give student teachers the chance to build competence and confidence to develop appropriate inclusion strategies. Instead, our respondents said, many ITT work placements do not introduce trainee teachers to disabled children at all.</p>
<p>More input from disabled people into PE teacher training would also be beneficial. None of the participants in our study had ever heard of a disabled PE teacher. Indeed, <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/09687599.2020.1867074">research shows</a> only 0.5% of the teaching workforce reports having disabilities. </p>
<p>Yet none of our study participants could think of any reason why a disabled person could not complete a PE teacher training qualification and practice as a PE teacher. Perhaps this is what it would take to ensure inclusive education, and inclusive PE, becomes a reality for all children with disabilities.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/166932/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Inclusive education has been promoted since the 1970s. But research shows children with disabilities are still excluded from school activities and sports in particularTom Gibbons, Senior Lecturer in Sport & Exercise, Teesside UniversityKevin Dixon, Senior Lecturer, Department of Sport, Exercise and Rehabilitation, Northumbria University, NewcastleLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1666152021-10-04T15:17:53Z2021-10-04T15:17:53ZChildren on individual education plans: What parents need to know, and 4 questions they should ask<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/422778/original/file-20210922-27-1fpud0n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=35%2C17%2C5955%2C3970&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Parents who have busy schedules may not feel as though they can make a valuable contribution to their child's individual education plan.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Already a month into the school year, and after two years of disrupted learning by COVID-19, students with <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/7778721/ontario-parents-frustrated-special-needs-remote-learning-covid/">special education needs have been deeply affected</a>.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/general/elemsec/speced/individu.html">Individual education plans (IEPs)</a> have become a crucial part of the education system. And the <a href="https://peopleforeducation.ca/report/2018-annual-report-on-schools-the-new-basics-for-public-education/">number of students on IEPs is growing across Ontario public schools</a>. </p>
<p>IEPs are created for students <a href="http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/parents/speced.html">who are defined as exceptional</a>, in order to consider their individual needs (whether behavioural, communicative, physical, intellectual) and support their optimal <a href="http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/general/elemsec/speced/individu.html">learning potential</a>. </p>
<p>An <a href="http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/general/elemsec/speced/ontario.html">exceptional student in education</a> refers to a child who has been identified as gifted or as having a disability. Many children who are not identified as exceptional can still have an IEP that is “<a href="https://p14cdn4static.sharpschool.com/UserFiles/Servers/Server_73620/File/Our%20Board/Departments/Special%20Education%20Services/terms.pdf">non-identitified</a>.” This allows them to receive special supports within their educational journeys. </p>
<p>If an IEP is inaccurate, a child’s learning needs will not be met. IEPs are meant to be constructed by a team of professionals in <a href="http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/general/elemsec/speced/guide/resource/iepresguid.pdf">collaboration with parents</a>, as each stakeholder has different information about the child. </p>
<p>Parents who have busy schedules may not feel as though they can make a valuable contribution to their child’s education and discussions about an IEP. Or they may lack the awareness of their <a href="http://www.ldao.ca/wp-content/uploads/A-Parents-Guide-to-Special-Education.pdf">parental rights</a> when it comes to participating in the IEP process. This means they may be wrongly left out of the conversation.</p>
<h2>What are IEPs?</h2>
<p>Individual education plans are used to identify and plan annual goals for students who may require extra supports or individualized learning. If done incorrectly, IEPs can create hostility between experts and parents where certain students become misrepresented, segregated and <a href="https://doi.org/10.33015/dominican.edu/2019.HCS.ST.08">stigmatized</a> in the classroom. </p>
<p>Inaccurate IEPs often set low expectations and misrepresent a child’s needs and abilities. Imagine this scenario: A child shows difficulty reading out loud in class and is offered one-on-one reading support. Upon discussion with the child and parents, it becomes apparent that the child reads well at home out loud and only “freezes” when asked to read out loud in front of classroom peers because of extreme nervousness. </p>
<p>In this case, an inaccurate IEP may reflect a need for reading support when in reality the child may require supports for anxiety. Accurate IEPs are important to ensure a child’s appropriate needs are met. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A child holds a pencil crayon to a cut piece of orange construction paper, the photo is from the top-down and the desk is covered with other craft materials" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/422767/original/file-20210922-23-rhrbyy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/422767/original/file-20210922-23-rhrbyy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=431&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/422767/original/file-20210922-23-rhrbyy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=431&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/422767/original/file-20210922-23-rhrbyy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=431&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/422767/original/file-20210922-23-rhrbyy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=542&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/422767/original/file-20210922-23-rhrbyy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=542&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/422767/original/file-20210922-23-rhrbyy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=542&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Independent learning plans are meant to ensure a child’s learning needs are met.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Sigmund/Unsplash)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>As a classroom teacher and doctoral student researcher, I believe parents can support their children if empowered to understand how IEPs are key to meaningful learning. </p>
<p>Here are four questions parents can ask to ensure that the IEP accurately represents their child’s learning needs.</p>
<h2>1. How is my child being perceived?</h2>
<p>As mentioned above, not all IEPs are written to support children who have been assessed as having a disability — but many are. </p>
<p>Disability is conceptualized in two main ways in research: <a href="https://canbc.org/blog/medical-model-of-disability-versus-social-model-of-disability/">the medical model and the social model</a>. These two models are important to distinguish as many students on IEPs have a disability diagnosis. </p>
<p>The medical model assumes that disability is an abnormality that requires “fixing,” whereas the social model positions disability as a difference in people. The social model shifts from fixing the child to fixing the conditions of the learning environment. The medical model assumes a deficit view of the child’s ability where the social model emphasizes supports a child needs to learn.</p>
<p>I advise both teachers and parents to adopt a social model outlook in order to ensure the classroom environment reflects and adapts to the learning needs of the child in order to provide them with a quality education. </p>
<p>Classroom adaptations of material and learning expectations (like access to material at their modified learning grade level), assessments (like access to accommodations for using speech-to-text software during tests) and the overall classroom environment (like flexible seating and quiet spaces) permit your child to address their needs and individual learning goals, enhancing their performance and success.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Children sit in a classroom, smiling up at the front of the room" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/422775/original/file-20210922-22-1794ghc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/422775/original/file-20210922-22-1794ghc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/422775/original/file-20210922-22-1794ghc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/422775/original/file-20210922-22-1794ghc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/422775/original/file-20210922-22-1794ghc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/422775/original/file-20210922-22-1794ghc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/422775/original/file-20210922-22-1794ghc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Parents should ask how the resources and tools outlined in an independent education plan are going to be used or applied in the classroom.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Kuanish Reymbaev/Unsplash)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>2. How does the IEP attend to my child’s needs?</h2>
<p>Children have a variety of needs that are unique and require distinctive attention. Some of these needs might include but are not limited to: anxiety, behavioural, communication, academic and social needs. The needs of your child must be reflected in the IEP to ensure that the classroom is adapted to support their day-to-day needs, wants and interests.</p>
<p>For instance, if your child <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1096250612446853">needs help moving from one class or space to another</a>, their IEP should recognize this and address how their transitions will be supported both verbally and visually. Such supports might include things like a printed or posted schedule, adults redirecting your child to appropriate tasks or spaces and modelling how to transition between tasks and spaces with pictures and videos throughout the day.</p>
<h2>3. What do the words in the IEP mean?</h2>
<p>Education-specific jargon is used to construct IEPs: words like “<a href="http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/policyfunding/growSuccess.pdf">accommodations,” “modifications,” “differentiated instruction</a>.” Parents should be encouraged to ask questions about IEPs and what they mean. Understanding the terms will help ensure your child’s learning and growth are accurately supported.</p>
<h2>4. What is this going to look like in the classroom for my child?</h2>
<p>The way an IEP is written may differ greatly from how it is actually enacted. This is why it is important for parents to work in collaboration with education professionals when creating an IEP over time. </p>
<p>Parents should ask how the resources and tools outlined in the IEP are going to be used or applied in the classroom, and should ask teachers for examples of how educators will engage the supports with the child.</p>
<h2>The takeaway</h2>
<p>When parents or caregivers participate in the process of drafting an IEP, it can limit the misrepresentation of their child’s needs. Misrepresentation can impact a child’s attitude towards learning, identity as a learner and learning outcomes.</p>
<p>IEPs are working documents. They are meant to be flexible and adaptable so if the strategies proposed do not work, they can change. Parents, experts and teachers need to create spaces for open dialogue, without judgement, to support children’s learning.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/166615/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tori Trajanovski does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Individual education plans (IEPs) should be created by a team of professionals in collaboration with parents. If a child’s IEP is inaccurate, their learning needs won’t be met.Tori Trajanovski, PhD Student, Faculty of Education, York University, CanadaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1419292021-01-04T17:26:19Z2021-01-04T17:26:19ZRestraining and secluding students with disabilities is an urgent human rights issue<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/376553/original/file-20201223-21-12wgivs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C396%2C4633%2C2851&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A recent Manitoba study documented the shocking use of restraints and seclusion of children with disabilities in schools. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Across Canada, <a href="https://www.policyalternatives.ca/sites/default/files/uploads/publications/National%20Office/2015/07/Disability_and_Inclusion_in_Education.pdf">children with disabilities are disadvantaged</a>
when it comes to the support they receive in schools. While Canada espouses a commitment to <a href="https://www.un.org/development/desa/disabilities/convention-on-the-rights-of-persons-with-disabilities/article-24-education.html">inclusive education</a>, the right to it remains elusive for some students.</p>
<p>Our research team at the University of Manitoba revealed another grave problem that needs redress: The <a href="https://cjds.uwaterloo.ca/index.php/cjds/article/view/693">shocking use of physical restraint and seclusion spaces, which contributes to the further marginalization</a> of children with disabilities in schools. </p>
<p>We conducted an anonymous <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/disabilites-nadine-bartlett-report-behind-closed-doors-1.5610071">survey online</a> of parents of children with disabilities in Manitoba in the summer of 2019. Our team sought to document parental perspectives, because little is known about <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-cornered-canadian-schools-reach-a-turning-point-in-use-of-seclusion">the scope and nature of physical restraint and seclusion in schools in Manitoba</a>, and there is a need for regulation and accountability. </p>
<p>The survey consisted of 48 questions and asked parents/guardians about their child’s experiences with physical restraint and seclusion at school, as well as the nature and impact of such practices. The survey had a sample size of 62 respondents. While the survey sample size was small, the results are worrisome and paint a bleak picture about the treatment of students with disabilities in Manitoba. </p>
<p>Previous surveys conducted in <a href="https://inclusionbc.org/our-resources/stop-hurting-kids-2/">British Columbia </a>, <a href="http://inclusionalberta.org/clientuploads/Seclusion_and_Restraint_Survey_Results.pdf">Alberta</a> and the <a href="https://doi.org/10.2511/rpsd.35.3-4.116">United States</a> have shown similar results. </p>
<h2>Human rights problem</h2>
<p>The reported experiences of students with disabilities in Manitoba’s schools, along with the findings from other surveys, contravene several human rights conventions such as the <a href="https://www.un.org/disabilities/documents/convention/convoptprot-e.pdf">United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities</a> and the <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/ProfessionalInterest/crc.pdf">United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child</a>. Both these conventions provide protections from cruel and inhumane treatment. Parents should not have to advocate for their children’s basic rights. </p>
<p>The absence of policies further exacerbates this human rights problem. In Manitoba, there are no provincial educational policies to regulate the use of physical restraint and seclusion in schools. There are also no accountability structures to track their use. The absence of regulation has contributed to the misuse of these practices and students with disabilities are most at risk. </p>
<p>Our findings and recommendations for policy and practice are detailed in a report, <a href="https://www.flipsnack.com/bartlettnresearch/behind-closed-doors-restraint-and-seclusion-in-manitoba-s-sc.html"><em>Behind Closed Doors</em></a>. The report provides a framework to make schools more inclusive for students with disabilities and to ensure their rights are not violated under international conventions. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A boy faces a wall sitting on a couch." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/376489/original/file-20201222-15-kmflz3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/376489/original/file-20201222-15-kmflz3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376489/original/file-20201222-15-kmflz3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376489/original/file-20201222-15-kmflz3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376489/original/file-20201222-15-kmflz3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376489/original/file-20201222-15-kmflz3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376489/original/file-20201222-15-kmflz3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Physical restraint and seclusion contributes to further marginalizing of children with disabilities in schools.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Unsafe</h2>
<p>In our study, parents reported the use of unsafe restraints that are banned in most correctional and health care facilities. The restraints included prone and supine holds that are known to have a <a href="https://www.ndrn.org/images/Documents/Resources/Publications/Reports/School_is_Not_Supposed_to_Hurt_3_v7.pdf">high risk of death</a>.</p>
<p>Parents also described the use of mechanical restraints. One parent indicated that “<a href="https://www.medline.com/jump/product/x/Z05-PF58346">posey cuffs</a>” — a kind of wrist restraint sometimes used in mental health settings — had been used to strap their child to a chair.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/019874290903400405">dangerous misuse of seclusion spaces</a> was also described. For example, a parent reported that a closet had been used to seclude their child. Parents also shared that doorknobs on seclusion spaces had been modified so their child could not get out. </p>
<p>Not surprisingly, 90 per cent of the parents surveyed indicated that their child had suffered emotional trauma due to these practices.</p>
<p>While restraint and seclusion are intended to be <a href="https://www.autcom.org/pdf/HowSafeSchoolhouse.pdf">crisis responses</a>, some parents reported their frequent and prolonged use. </p>
<p>The accounts included children being restrained or secluded on a daily basis, with instances of seclusion lasting up to three hours. The students who were identified as being restrained and secluded most often were between the ages of five and 10, and were on the autism spectrum.</p>
<h2>Under-reported</h2>
<p>Reporting practices about the use of restraint and seclusion were highly variable. Approximately half of the parents indicated that they were rarely or never informed by the school that their child had been restrained or secluded.</p>
<p>When parents were asked how they learned about the use of restraints, they said the most frequent informants were the children themselves. Some parents that were informed by the school indicated that it often happened much after the fact in an informal manner. Written documentation was reported as almost non-existent, with 90 per cent of parents sharing that they never received a written report. </p>
<p>Based on these shocking findings, the research team has proposed several recommendations. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Incident report." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/376490/original/file-20201222-49513-5eecd7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/376490/original/file-20201222-49513-5eecd7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=352&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376490/original/file-20201222-49513-5eecd7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=352&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376490/original/file-20201222-49513-5eecd7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=352&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376490/original/file-20201222-49513-5eecd7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=442&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376490/original/file-20201222-49513-5eecd7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=442&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376490/original/file-20201222-49513-5eecd7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=442&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Mandated documentation and reporting must be established to ensure accountability.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><strong>1. Provincial standards</strong></p>
<p>In Manitoba, there is an urgent need for the province to set provincial standards that clearly define restraint and seclusion as crisis responses. Standards should spell out that restraint and seclusion may only be used when there is an immediate threat to physical safety, and should regulate their use. The province must also mandate school divisions to follow standards.</p>
<p>The provinces of <a href="https://www.alberta.ca/seclusion-standards.aspx">Alberta</a> and <a href="https://edu.princeedwardisland.ca/psb/policies-regulations/operational-policies-and-procedures">Prince Edward Island</a> already regulate these procedures and may serve as models for Manitoba. </p>
<p><strong>2. Documentation, reporting and accountability</strong></p>
<p>Mandated documentation and reporting practices at the school, district and provincial level must also be established to ensure transparency and accountability. Reporting to parents should occur within 24 hours and include a written followup and debriefing meeting. The opportunity to reflect on the events leading up to and including the restraint and seclusion are critical to changing practice and preventing future occurrences. </p>
<p>Establishing data collection at the school, division and provincial level will also help to monitor prevalence and create accountability.</p>
<p>In the United States, the <a href="https://www2.ed.gov/policy/seclusion/restraint-and-seclusion-resource-document.html">Department of Education</a> has developed reporting requirements that have been incorporated into many state policies. Ensuring that restraint and seclusion are not strategies in students’ individualized plans may also prevent their normalization. </p>
<p><strong>3. Provincial audit of seclusion spaces</strong></p>
<p>A provincial audit of seclusion spaces and the development of standards are clearly warranted to ensure they are safe, humane and comply with health, safety and fire codes. If not banned completely, as has been proposed in <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/alberta/article-alberta-united-conservatives-repeal-ban-on-school-seclusion-rooms/">Alberta</a>, seclusion spaces at a minimum must be highly regulated.</p>
<p><strong>4. Training</strong></p>
<p>Along with regulation and comprehensive training of educators, including teachers, administrators and educational assistants, evidence-based, positive, proactive alternatives to restraint and seclusion must be prioritized. <a href="https://www.pbis.org/">Positive Behaviour Interventions and Supports (PBIS)</a> and training in de-escalation strategies have been found to reduce the use of restraint and seclusion and should be required for all educators.</p>
<h2>Looking ahead</h2>
<p>When contacted by CBC News about this study in June, a representative of the <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/disabilites-nadine-bartlett-report-behind-closed-doors-1.5610071">minister of education in Manitoba</a> said the ministry would immediately initiate a review of the report and issue recommendations related to seclusion. </p>
<p>While this may indicate a step in the right direction, notably absent from the ministry’s response was any mention of restraint. Unfortunately, the response also highlights the ongoing need to defend the rights of children with disabilities across Canada.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/141929/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nadine Bartlett receives funding from The Centre for Human Rights Research at the University of Manitoba and
The Faculty of Education at the University of Manitoba
</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Taylor Ellis does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The use of restraints and seclusion in schools for children with disabilities is a human rights problem that needs redress through greater accountability.Nadine Bartlett, Assistant Professor in Inclusive Education, University of ManitobaTaylor Ellis, Research assistant, Faculty of Education, University of ManitobaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1366962020-06-01T15:57:12Z2020-06-01T15:57:12ZCoronavirus: Distance learning poses challenges for some families of children with disabilities<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/338360/original/file-20200528-51471-sfcs5y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=44%2C0%2C2802%2C1661&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Parents are missing in-person supports for children. Here, MaShel West holds her son Lucas' hands while talking with his certified behaviour analyst at their home in Layton, Utah, March 5, 2020. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Ivy Ceballo/The Deseret News via AP)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>At a time when schools are closed due to COVID-19, many parents are juggling work, finances, child care and distance learning. It’s a lot to manage. For parents of children with disabilities, some unique challenges <a href="https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/coronavirus/parents-of-kids-with-special-needs-say-pandemic-presents-unique-challenges-1.4880560">have emerged</a>.</p>
<p>In Canada, it’s unclear exactly how many students between kindergarten and Grade 12 receive what schools call “special education services,” but according to <a href="https://inclusiveedns.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/CIE-Students-First-WEBreport-2.pdf">provincial figures</a>, percentages range from <a href="https://www.alberta.ca/student-population-statistics.aspx">10 per cent</a> to <a href="http://www.cdpdj.qc.ca/Publications/etude_inclusion_EHDAA_synthese_EN.pdf">20 per cent</a> of total student enrolment. </p>
<p>Figures from <a href="https://wwwdnntst.tdsb.on.ca/Portals/research/docs/reports/SpecialEducation%20in%20TDSB%20-%20TrendsComparisons%20to%20Ontario%202009-15.pdf">Ontario</a>, <a href="http://www.cdpdj.qc.ca/Publications/etude_inclusion_EHDAA_synthese_EN.pdf">Québec</a>, <a href="https://bctf.ca/publications.aspx?id=49000">British Columbia</a>, <a href="https://www.alberta.ca/student-population-statistics.aspx">Alberta</a>, <a href="https://inclusiveedns.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/CIE-Students-First-WEBreport-2.pdf">Nova Scotia</a> and <a href="https://www.gnb.ca/legis/business/pastsessions/57/57-2/LegDocs/2/en/StrengtheningInclusion-e.pdf">New Brunswick</a> show there are more than 750,000 students receiving special education services out <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=3710001901">of about 4.3 million students enrolled in those provinces alone</a>.</p>
<p>Students receiving special education services may have a learning disability, autism spectrum disorder or a mental illness. Canadian schools offer different <a href="http://catalogue.pearsoned.ca/educator/product/Inclusion-of-Learners-with-Exceptionalities-in-Canadian-Schools-A-Practical-Handbook-for-Teachers-6E/9780134772059.page">types of supports</a>. Most children access differentiated teaching approaches in regular classes and some have individual learning plans, while others participate in tailored programs offered in specialized classes. </p>
<h2>While schools are closed</h2>
<p>Along with several researchers, I am engaging with families across the country who are sharing stories about how they are supporting their children with special education needs while schools are closed. </p>
<p>Through responses to a survey and in-depth interviews, we are hearing about the range of approaches that exist, some of which fit well for families and their children, and others that simply don’t. </p>
<p>We hope to learn about ways that distance learning can work well for students with special education needs and also about families’ needs. We hope our findings can then be used to better inform planning as schools begin to open. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/338377/original/file-20200528-51467-102oyw9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/338377/original/file-20200528-51467-102oyw9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=408&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/338377/original/file-20200528-51467-102oyw9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=408&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/338377/original/file-20200528-51467-102oyw9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=408&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/338377/original/file-20200528-51467-102oyw9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=512&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/338377/original/file-20200528-51467-102oyw9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=512&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/338377/original/file-20200528-51467-102oyw9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=512&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Collaborative approaches to supporting children with special needs have been interrupted by coronavirus closures.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Collaborative approaches</h2>
<p>A <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s40474-015-0038-6">collaborative team</a> approach is typically adopted when children need special education services, with students, parents, teachers, educational assistants and other school and community-based staff <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/13603116.2013.788223">working together</a> to plan and implement programming.</p>
<p>Given the human supports required by many students with disabilities in order to flourish socially, emotionally and academically, it’s a challenge for systems to provide the <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2020/04/special-education-goes-remote-covid-19-pandemic/610231/">right types</a> and amounts of distance learning opportunities and supports.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/every-child-matters-what-principals-need-to-effectively-lead-inclusive-schools-114249">Every child matters: What principals need to effectively lead inclusive schools</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Some students who find structured schooling to be a poor fit are benefiting from the shift to a more relaxed pace and self-directed learning. They can dance, jump and wiggle to their heart’s content. They can engage in tasks for a length of time that works for them and make choices during their days. The right kind of distance learning paired with accessible technology and available supports <a href="https://www.understood.org/en/school-learning/the-surprising-benefits-of-online-learning-for-my-not-so-typical-child">may be a great fit for them</a>.</p>
<p>Other students who thrive on a predictable routine, struggle with transitions and <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/fscd-angela-bladon-trish-bowman-rajan-sawhney-covid-1.5513215">depend on the strong relationships</a> built over time with teachers and educational assistants are experiencing a range of emotions, including <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/disability-new-brunswick-christine-roberts-jayden-moore-haley-flaro-1.5534430">worry, fear, anger and sadness</a>. </p>
<p>Some feel that they’ve lost a second home <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/windsor/autism-covid19-1.5521666">and may not understand why</a>. Some students may also communicate these difficult emotions in ways that are challenging for parents, caregivers and siblings.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/338383/original/file-20200528-51467-1vstpya.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/338383/original/file-20200528-51467-1vstpya.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/338383/original/file-20200528-51467-1vstpya.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/338383/original/file-20200528-51467-1vstpya.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/338383/original/file-20200528-51467-1vstpya.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/338383/original/file-20200528-51467-1vstpya.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/338383/original/file-20200528-51467-1vstpya.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Some parents are describing feeling overwhelmed without respite and collaboration with school staff.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Family challenges</h2>
<p>Parents of students who have worked hard to make gains in their learning worry that they may fall behind. This is particularly the case where parents may not have the English- or French-language skills to provide help or the time to engage with their children because of work and life commitments. Where internet access and technology in homes is the exception rather than the rule, the situation is further complicated.</p>
<p>Parents who typically work in partnership with school staff and community organizations are especially <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/radio/checkup/pandemic-home-schooling-families-children-special-needs-1.5522119">struggling with the disappearance of face-to-face networks and collaboration in supporting children</a>. </p>
<p>Many researchers have found that parents of children with disabilities wear many hats — as full-time caregiver, advocate and social worker — and find the experience extraordinarily <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/13603116.2011.557445">stressful</a>. Without respite and collaboration with school staff, parents are describing <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/windsor/autism-covid19-1.5521666">feeling very overwhelmed</a>.</p>
<h2>Social, emotional supports</h2>
<p>It’s helpful for all families, and necessary for some, to find ways of connecting with others — for both parents and students. Connecting with school staff, community groups, family and friends may look different right now, but some of the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ridd.2014.05.012">benefits</a> remain.</p>
<p>In my work with teachers, I focus on the need to emphasize social-emotional learning alongside academics as <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-89842-1_9">key to well-being</a>. This is vital right now and will continue to be in the tricky transitions ahead. Across the country, school staff have reached out to students in different ways. Some are recording themselves reading favourite books and others are connecting by phone or video chats. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/zach-churchill-education-minister-covid-19-learning-plan-pandemic-1.5533604">Some regions</a> have social workers or psychologists reaching out to students or discussing <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/windsor/student-mental-health-1.5569068">mental health</a> via virtual classes.</p>
<h2>Peer connections matter</h2>
<p>Connections with peers are also crucial for students. Building and maintaining <a href="https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/eei/vol19/iss1/3/">friendships</a> is not always easy for students with <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ridd.2020.103634">disabilities</a>. Many students rely on school-based networks for friendship and may not have these connections in their neighbourhoods, particularly if they haven’t been in an <a href="https://communitylivingontario.ca/en/if-inclusion-means-everyone-why-not-me/">inclusive environment</a> at school.</p>
<p>Some community groups have come up with <a href="https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/how-people-with-neuro-differences-and-disabilities-are-staying-connected-during-the-pandemic-1.4907560">creative solutions</a> to virtually connect students. As one example, the Special Friends Network, a grassroots organization operating in the Halton region of Ontario, <a href="http://thespecialfriendsnetwork.ca/gallery.html">has organized Zoom sessions</a> where youth with all types of disabilities can chat, play games, create art work and take part in talent shows. </p>
<p>Peer and social support for parents is also crucial <a href="https://www.apa.org/research/action/children-disabilities-covid-19">at this time</a> — connecting with others who are in similar circumstances, seeking respite supports and collaborating with schools where possible. Organizations like the <a href="https://www.pleo.on.ca/">Parents Lifeline of Eastern Ontario</a> are offering virtual peer support groups and <a href="http://autismnovascotia.ca/covid-resources">others have created a range</a> of <a href="https://www.surreyplace.ca/resources-publications/coronavirus-updates-resources/">virtual options</a> for families.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/338378/original/file-20200528-51449-1r2n8xm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/338378/original/file-20200528-51449-1r2n8xm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/338378/original/file-20200528-51449-1r2n8xm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/338378/original/file-20200528-51449-1r2n8xm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/338378/original/file-20200528-51449-1r2n8xm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/338378/original/file-20200528-51449-1r2n8xm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/338378/original/file-20200528-51449-1r2n8xm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Can we imagine how we can nurture and develop social networks among students with and without disabilities?</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Expanding inclusion</h2>
<p>Our conversations with parents are bringing to light issues of inclusion and exclusion, of balancing academic and social needs and development and of the challenges of differentiating distance learning in ways that allow it to be meaningful. </p>
<p>It’s our hope that whatever schooling looks like in the fall in context of coronavirus, our schools and communities can create learning opportunities that reflect the unique strengths and needs of all our students. </p>
<p>We will be continuing to encourage educators and school communities to imagine how can we develop social networks among students with and without disabilities, how can we build authentic communities that live inside and outside the brick and mortar of a school and how can we support partnerships between families and school staff. </p>
<p>As researchers, educators, families and the general public, we’re learning a lot from the often-difficult experiences of students and families. Let’s make sure this learning isn’t lost.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/136696/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jess Whitley does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Connecting with school staff, community groups, family and friends may look different right now for families of children with disabilities, but some benefits remain.Jess Whitley, Associate Professor of Inclusive Education, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of OttawaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1234002019-09-12T10:01:22Z2019-09-12T10:01:22ZSchools are failing pupils with special needs, despite best efforts of dedicated staff<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/292164/original/file-20190912-190031-vvew28.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=166%2C308%2C5384%2C3392&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/downsyndrome-school-boy-group-children-corridor-1488262742?src=eW6wbqSs44muy5nu9waEaA-1-11">Shutterstock.</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>A <a href="https://www.nao.org.uk/report/support-for-pupils-with-special-educational-needs-and-disabilities/">new report</a> by the National Audit Office (NAO) has found that local authorities are struggling to deliver proper support for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities. The report finds that the current system – introduced in 2014 – is not financially sustainable.</p>
<p>The system was designed to enable education, health and social services to work together for the benefit of the child, and give families and young people with special needs a greater voice in their education. But in practice, this simply isn’t happening, as funding has not increased in line with demand. </p>
<p>According to the NAO report, the number of pupils with the highest level of need (those who qualify for an education, health and care (EHC) plan) has risen by almost 20% since the changes came into force – but funding has not kept pace. </p>
<p>The report states that since 2014, £349m in extra funding has been given to support this group of students. But because the number of pupils with special educational needs and disabilities grew, the funding per pupil fell by 3% (it was an average of £19,600, and is now £19,100). </p>
<p>This means that – despite the dedicated hard work of staff at local schools – many are struggling to provide the support that they want to give, and that parents expect.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/292156/original/file-20190912-190007-1uk22ae.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/292156/original/file-20190912-190007-1uk22ae.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292156/original/file-20190912-190007-1uk22ae.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292156/original/file-20190912-190007-1uk22ae.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292156/original/file-20190912-190007-1uk22ae.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292156/original/file-20190912-190007-1uk22ae.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292156/original/file-20190912-190007-1uk22ae.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Resources aren’t always available.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/cute-hispanic-language-therapist-working-kid-681369220?src=T3PsOMB977JxefUkbxrL-Q-1-9">Shutterstock.</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The NAO’s findings reflect the day-to-day experiences we hear from the field, as academics in education. Reports of overworked and under-resourced staff <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1467-8578.12014">are common</a>. </p>
<p>Our Special Educational Needs Coordinator students (SENCOs) are responsible for supporting pupils with special needs in schools around the country. They are telling us that they lack access to local authority experts, such as educational psychologists or behaviour specialists. </p>
<p>And instead of having financial support to use the resources they think will best help individual pupils, they are limited to what has been used in the past, or is available freely. </p>
<h2>Funding shortfall</h2>
<p>To try and find the funding to support students, the report states that local authorities are drawing on their dedicated schools grant reserves – money which is ring-fenced to be used for education, from the block grant from previous years. But these resources are being outstripped by the growing numbers of pupils with special needs. </p>
<p>Local authorities are left with no option but to use the current general school budget (called “school block funding”) to support pupils with special educational needs and disabilities, which means less money to spend on the rest of the student body. </p>
<p>The report questions whether schools will no longer want to have students with special needs, if it means that they will have less money for their mainstream pupils. Indeed, <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/807862/Timpson_review.pdf">a recent report</a> on exclusions found an increase in <a href="https://educationinspection.blog.gov.uk/2019/05/10/what-is-off-rolling-and-how-does-ofsted-look-at-it-on-inspection/">“off rolling”</a> – an informal agreement whereby parents concede to remove children with special needs from the school roll, when it’s in the best interests of the school and not the pupil. </p>
<h2>Not learning, not happy</h2>
<p>The lack of support available is affecting which schools pupils with special educational needs and disabilities attend. Ofsted rates local authority special schools quite highly (92% rated “good” or “outstanding” overall). This compares to 85% of mainstream schools and only 78% of independent special schools. Yet the number of pupils with special needs going to independent special schools is increasing – likely due to the lack of effective support and provision in mainstream schools. </p>
<p>Stark figures on school exclusion also indicate that pupils’ needs are not being met, which is preventing them from engaging with the education provided. Although pupils with special educational needs and disabilities make up only 15% of a school, they make up almost half of all exclusions: 45% of permanent exclusions and 43% of exclusions over a fixed period. Clearly, these pupils aren’t learning and aren’t happy in school. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/292160/original/file-20190912-190007-1sou4hr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/292160/original/file-20190912-190007-1sou4hr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=381&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292160/original/file-20190912-190007-1sou4hr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=381&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292160/original/file-20190912-190007-1sou4hr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=381&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292160/original/file-20190912-190007-1sou4hr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=479&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292160/original/file-20190912-190007-1sou4hr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=479&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292160/original/file-20190912-190007-1sou4hr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=479&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Excluded.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/boy-schoolbag-waiting-parent-while-raining-477361750?src=RJ2e4N5cc8GOPLtD1Ec9Kw-1-0">Shutterstock.</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The 2014 changes to the government’s guidance on how schools, health and social services support students with special needs advocated for more mainstream provision, and the right of the family to choose a school for their child with special needs. These children can have quite extensive disabilities, and five to ten years ago many families would not have even considered mainstream education as an option. </p>
<p>We firmly believe all children have a right to be educated with their peers – but schools must have the right support and funding to do this. Parents quite rightfully advocate for their own children. If schools are given adequate funding, they will not be put in the unenviable position of having to choose between supporting pupils with special educational needs and disabilities, or spending on resources for the rest of the school. </p>
<p>The NAO report reflects the hard reality for children with special educational needs and disabilities in mainstream schools, which are themselves confronted every day with difficult choices about how to allocate limited resources. Clearly, the aspirations of the 2014 reforms have not been realised. Now, the government’s guidance needs to be better aligned with teaching and support practices that have been shown to work. Otherwise, schools will continue to fail this vulnerable group of pupils – despite their best efforts.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/123400/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Anna Tsakalaki receives funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Council.
</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Cathy Tissot does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A new report has found funding shortfalls are forcing schools to make difficult decisions about which pupils get support.Cathy Tissot, Professor of Education, University of ReadingAnna Tsakalaki, Lecturer in Education, University of ReadingLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1181432019-07-16T12:10:59Z2019-07-16T12:10:59ZThe British government is failing pupils with special needs – here’s how to change that<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/282685/original/file-20190704-51297-q1os1b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Children, parents and teachers in England recently took to the streets to march over a “<a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-48448424">national crisis</a>” in special educational needs (SEND) funding.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://neu.org.uk/funding/send-crisis">Send National Crisis</a> campaign say special needs funding is failing to keep pace with demand and that reductions in school and college funding has led to teaching assistant support being cut. They also say that special needs provision in England has lost out on £1.2bn since 2015 as central government has failed to provide sufficient funding increases to keep pace with increased demand. Indeed, <a href="https://www.fenews.co.uk/press-releases/28329-special-needs-provision-in-england-has-lost-1-2bn-funding-since-2015">research by the national education union</a> found that 93% of local authorities have been affected by this funding shortfall since 2015. </p>
<p>This seems ironic given that 2019 marks the 25th anniversary of <a href="http://www.unesco.org/education/pdf/SALAMA_E.PDF">UNESCO’s Salamanca Statement</a> – the most influential international policy document on special education. It argues that regular schools with an inclusive orientation are the most effective means to combat discriminatory attitudes and create welcoming communities. This type of provision, it concludes, can help to build an inclusive society and achieve education for all.</p>
<p>Over recent years, many countries have made great strides in terms of inclusive education. The Italian government, for example, closed all special schools, units and other <a href="https://zeroproject.org/policy/in-italy-students-with-disabilities-are-not-segregated/">non-inclusive provision</a>. The Canadian province of New Brunswick enacted legislation making <a href="http://www2.gnb.ca/content/dam/gnb/Departments/ed/pdf/K12/Inclusion/Inclusion.pdf">disability discrimination in education unlawful</a>. Portugal has recently introduced a legal framework for the <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13603116.2019.1624846">inclusion of disabled children</a>. Meanwhile, England has gone backwards, with more students placed in segregated provision or <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1467-8578.12181">excluded from educational opportunities</a>. </p>
<p>So what can be learnt from other countries approaches to inclusive education?</p>
<h2>Involve families</h2>
<p>A pattern that emerges from <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Inside-the-Autonomous-School-Making-Sense-of-a-Global-Educational-Trend/Salokangas-Ainscow/p/book/9781138215412">international research</a> is the way education systems based on competition and choice – like in England – reduce connections between schools and their local communities. Put simply, too many families feel the need to choose schools away from their homes that seem more attractive. This is worrying in the light of <a href="https://www.eenet.org.uk/resources/docs/family_action.pdf">research</a> which indicates that in order to achieve greater inclusion the work of schools with families and local communities is vital. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/282686/original/file-20190704-51305-1v2472d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/282686/original/file-20190704-51305-1v2472d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/282686/original/file-20190704-51305-1v2472d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/282686/original/file-20190704-51305-1v2472d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/282686/original/file-20190704-51305-1v2472d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/282686/original/file-20190704-51305-1v2472d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/282686/original/file-20190704-51305-1v2472d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">All children should be able to learn with their peers.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Developing inclusive schools requires a collective effort from teachers, families and the wider community for it to fully work. And there must be a clear sense of what is intended. In particular, the term “inclusion” must be defined in a way that will speak to everybody who needs to be involved.
The definition of inclusion provided by UNESCO is particularly helpful in that it avoids the use of jargon: “<a href="http://www.unesco.org/new/en/media-services/single-view/news/a_guide_for_ensuring_inclusion_and_equity_in_education/">Every learner matters and matters equally</a>”.</p>
<h2>Teachers must feel valued</h2>
<p><a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264231191-en">Evidence from the OECD</a> suggests that countries where teachers are supported, and where the profession is valued, are able to be more effective in the classroom for all students – so teacher support is vital if inclusion is to go mainstream. </p>
<p>Schools also need to be reformed and practices need to be improved in ways that will lead teachers to respond positively to student diversity. This will encourage teachers to see individual differences not as problems to be fixed but as opportunities for enriching learning. This kind of approach is more likely to be successful in environments where there is a culture of collaboration that encourages collective problem solving between staff.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/282690/original/file-20190704-51262-dobzo7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/282690/original/file-20190704-51262-dobzo7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/282690/original/file-20190704-51262-dobzo7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/282690/original/file-20190704-51262-dobzo7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/282690/original/file-20190704-51262-dobzo7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/282690/original/file-20190704-51262-dobzo7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/282690/original/file-20190704-51262-dobzo7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Teachers must feel valued and supported for inclusion to work.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Tackle the bigger picture</h2>
<p>It’s also important to know who is included, who is segregated and who is excluded from schooling. Without such data, there can be no accountability. But when data collection efforts are only focused on particular categories of pupils, as is currently the case, there is a risk of promoting negative views of those students who share certain characteristics, or come from similar backgrounds. This distracts attention from more fundamental questions, such as: why are schools failing some learners, and what are the barriers experienced by these students? </p>
<p>Also, given the dangers associated with school isolation and competition, it is clear that inclusion requires some form of local coordination. Unfortunately, in many parts of England no one organisation has the overall picture that would enable them to orchestrate more collaborative ways of working. This is why local authorities should be involved in monitoring and challenging schools – including academies – while teachers share responsibility for the overall leadership of improvement efforts. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/282692/original/file-20190704-51268-9iryc0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/282692/original/file-20190704-51268-9iryc0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/282692/original/file-20190704-51268-9iryc0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/282692/original/file-20190704-51268-9iryc0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/282692/original/file-20190704-51268-9iryc0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/282692/original/file-20190704-51268-9iryc0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/282692/original/file-20190704-51268-9iryc0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An inclusive curriculum would enable all pupils to thrive.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>What connects these ideas is the importance of drawing together teachers, parents and the community around a common purpose. Evidence from other parts of the world suggests that this has the potential <a href="https://alana.org.br/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/A_Summary_of_the_evidence_on_inclusive_education.pdf">to benefit all students</a>. In this way, an emphasis on inclusion contributes to improvements in the overall quality of national educational provision.</p>
<p>Education is devolved in the UK – which means that each home nation can pursue its own education agenda – so it can be hard to make comparisons. But there’s no reason why it isn’t possible to have an inclusive education system across the board – what is needed is the collective will to make it happen.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/118143/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mel Ainscow does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>When it comes to inclusive education, England has gone backwards, with more and more students placed in segregated provision or excluded from educational opportunities.Mel Ainscow, Emeritus Professor of Education, University of ManchesterLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1192272019-06-25T20:24:24Z2019-06-25T20:24:24ZMost Australian teachers feel unprepared to teach students with special needs<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/281087/original/file-20190625-81766-1ysn2sv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">How can we better prepare and support teachers for the reality of diverse Australian classrooms?</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">from shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Fewer than half (38%) of <a href="http://www.oecd.org/education/talis/TALIS2018_CN_AUS.pdf">Australian teachers</a> feel prepared to teach students with special needs when they finish their formal training. This is despite 74% having trained to teach in mixed-ability settings as part of their studies.</p>
<p>The latest <a href="http://www.oecd.org/education/talis/">Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS)</a> shows teachers across the OECD felt professional development opportunities were particularly inadequate for teaching students with special needs.</p>
<p>Students with special needs are students for whom a learning need has been formally identified due to cognitive, physical or emotional difficulties.</p>
<p>According to the TALIS report, nearly 30% of teachers in Australia work in classes where at least 10% of students have special needs. The report adds to a body of research suggesting teachers <a href="https://www.aracy.org.au/publications-resources/command/download_file/id/246/filename/Inclusive_education_for_students_with_disability_-_A_review_of_the_best_evidence_in_relation_to_theory_and_practice.pdf">feel unprepared to teach students with special needs</a> in mixed-ability classrooms. </p>
<p>So, how can we better prepare and support teachers for the reality of diverse Australian classrooms? Investing in high-quality pathways to qualification for special education teachers, and expecting every Australian school to employ at least one specialist teacher to support teachers and students, would be a worthwhile place to start. </p>
<h2>Better teacher preparation to begin with</h2>
<p>Depending on the data source, between 8% and 20% of school-age children have <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Lookup/4429.0main+features100302009">identified disabilities</a> or <a href="https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/education/one-in-five-students-has-a-disability-confidential-data/news-story/a3b1360c2185890344aa79e7f9097c73">special educational needs</a>. </p>
<p>Teachers are expected to design learning experiences for students of all abilities and support students with disabilities to participate in learning. This is set out in a national <a href="https://www.aitsl.edu.au/docs/default-source/apst-resources/australian_professional_standard_for_teachers_final.pdf">set of professional standards</a>, introduced in 2011, that guide the program content for initial teacher qualifications. </p>
<p>But some critics believe <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/262731686_Professional_Standards_for_Australian_Special_Education_Teachers">the standards don’t go far enough</a> in relation to teaching students with special needs. Typically, teacher education programs include a semester unit related to teaching students with special needs. </p>
<p>Traditionally, the content was taught “categorically”, meaning lecturers provided introductory information about multiple categories of special need. Contemporary units have <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/08856257.2013.778113">shifted away from the categorical model</a>, recognising that teaching in diverse classrooms is more complex than just responding to one individual need at a time. </p>
<p>But while a semester unit can focus on key concepts and practices, these need to be reinforced throughout the program. In fact, given the nature of today’s classrooms, they should be at the heart of the program. Preservice teachers need support to understand evidence-based inclusive practices, <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/233234812_Teacher_preparation_for_inclusive_education_Increasing_knowledge_but_raising_concerns">address common concerns and misconceptions about inclusion</a>, and apply strategies in practice.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/281091/original/file-20190625-81758-h0m49o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/281091/original/file-20190625-81758-h0m49o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/281091/original/file-20190625-81758-h0m49o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=437&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281091/original/file-20190625-81758-h0m49o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=437&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281091/original/file-20190625-81758-h0m49o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=437&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281091/original/file-20190625-81758-h0m49o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=550&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281091/original/file-20190625-81758-h0m49o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=550&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281091/original/file-20190625-81758-h0m49o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=550&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">One semester of a specialist education program won’t be enough for teachers to feel confident teaching students with special needs.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/O3gOgPB4sRU">Sarah Shaffer/Unsplash</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Even with excellent preservice education, a graduating teacher, by definition, is inexperienced. Teaching students with special needs requires skills that develop with time and ongoing support. </p>
<p>Yet, only 37% of early career teachers (those in their first five years of practice) in the survey said they work with an assigned mentor. </p>
<h2>Employ qualified specialist teachers</h2>
<p>In the TALIS report, almost one in five principals reported the quality of their school’s inclusive education was hindered by a shortage of teachers who were competent in teaching students with special needs.</p>
<p>Not every school is required to employ qualified special education teachers. And the percentage of schools with at least one qualified special education teacher is not known. </p>
<p>One study found even when schools advertise for a special education teacher or coordinator, they often <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jennifer_Stephenson/publication/271898111_What_Do_Employers_Ask_for_in_Advertisements_for_Special_Education_Positions/links/54dc32190cf23fe133b09530/What-Do-Employers-Ask-for-in-Advertisements-for-Special-Education-Positions.pdf">fail to list formal special education qualifications</a> among the selection criteria. And less than one-third explicitly call for special education experience. </p>
<p>Further, there is no nationally recognised pathway to qualification as a special education teacher in Australia. Special education is not a recognised area of specialisation in the <a href="https://www.aitsl.edu.au/deliver-ite-programs/standards-and-procedures">standards</a> that guide accreditation of teacher education programs. </p>
<p>This makes it difficult to design specialist undergraduate degrees. At the same time, there is no financial incentive for teachers to do postgraduate qualifications. Under these conditions, it is hard to see how the shortage of qualified specialist teachers will be addressed. </p>
<p>Countries including the <a href="https://www.cec.sped.org/standards">US</a> and the <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/273877/special_educational_needs_code_of_practice.pdf">UK</a> have developed national, professional standards detailing essential knowledge and skills for special education teachers. These have been formally adopted and guide the content of accredited teacher education programs. </p>
<p>Both countries have clear regulations about <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-award-for-sen-co-ordination-learning-outcomes">qualifications</a> and/or <a href="https://www.specialeducationguide.com/teacher-certification/">licensure</a> for employment as a special education teacher or coordinator (in the US, these are supported by legislation). </p>
<p>Australia is lagging behind in these key areas, despite calls from <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/262731686_Professional_Standards_for_Australian_Special_Education_Teachers">researchers</a> and <a href="http://aase.edu.au/about/position-papers">professional associations</a>. </p>
<h2>Quality professional development</h2>
<p>The TALIS report shows teachers prefer professional development opportunities in which they collaborate with colleagues, such as through peer learning or coaching. Attending one-off workshops remains the most common option for professional development (reported by 93% of teachers), despite the lack of evidence for its effectiveness. </p>
<p>There are <a href="https://www.aitsl.edu.au/tools-resources/resource/australian-teacher-performance-and-development-framework">promising national efforts</a> to improve induction, mentoring and professional development for teachers. </p>
<p>But the <em>content</em> of professional development also matters. Mentors should understand and be able to support evidence-based inclusive practices. Professional development should also be facilitated by those with expert knowledge. And teachers need ongoing access to information, advice and support in their daily work.</p>
<p>Professional development for inclusive practice <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/003172171109200616?casa_token=0l0kZ_ZkqCYAAAAA:AWW04jVlBaVIMhqO73za3KXavCM4abm-i2_1HTxssMkPlURegoAOGkZljPLiMnFWpOfZs7Nmq6e41g">can be effective</a> when it:</p>
<ul>
<li>actively engages teachers over extended periods</li>
<li>has clear links to student learning in local contexts</li>
<li>allows teachers to learn together as part of communities of practice</li>
<li>is supported by strong school leadership. </li>
</ul>
<p>Preparing teachers who feel confident to teach students with special needs is essential to having inclusive schools as part of an inclusive society. We shouldn’t underestimate the challenge of teaching for a very broad range of students. Equally, we shouldn’t underestimate the capacity of good teachers to do so, given the right support.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/119227/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jane Jarvis has previously received research funding from the Australian Association of Special Education.</span></em></p>Every school should should have at least one qualified special education teacher, and Australia should invest in a recognised pathway to be qualified.Jane Jarvis, Senior Lecturer in Education, Flinders UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1145542019-03-31T13:15:10Z2019-03-31T13:15:10ZWorld Autism Day – let’s allow disability to change our societies for the better<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/266653/original/file-20190330-71012-g0fn9m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=12%2C12%2C4268%2C1925&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Our societies would be kinder and better places overall if we considered what we can and do learn from autism. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>By now, it seems, almost everyone knows a child with autism, has a relative with autism or has seen someone on television like <a href="https://journals.library.brocku.ca/brocked/index.php/home/article/view/311">Big Bang Theory</a> who they think have autism. </p>
<p>But many are still confused about autism even though this term became <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2016/03/a-history-of-autism-research/473712/">widely used in the 1940s</a>. </p>
<p>Some wonder if <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/05/health/measles-vaccine-autism.html">vaccines cause it</a>. Can <a href="https://journalofethics.ama-assn.org/article/mothers-and-autism-evolution-discourse-blame/2015-04">parents make it happen</a>? No and no! Others question whether <a href="https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/autism-spectrum-disorder/diagnosis-treatment/drc-20352934">we as a society can fix autism</a>. But do we want to? Should we want to?</p>
<p>As an associate professor, teacher and behavioural analyst steeped in the field of special education and inclusive education, I am often looking at disability through the lens of what is aptly termed the <a href="https://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic-social/meetings/2017/new-york--disability-egm/Session%204/Canada.pdf">medical model</a>. </p>
<p>The medical model, focused on individual treatment and outcomes, tends to see disability as a single person’s problem —as an individual impairment.</p>
<p>I don’t think it’s an over-generalization to say that most people see autism this way, as well as disability in general. </p>
<p>In language about disability, a vocabulary has evolved that often suggests something is missing: think <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jcpp.12947">attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder</a>. I must admit we often teach about disability in a similar way: as something in someone that is lacking. </p>
<p>Yet often when people first begin living with disability, disability is foremost a change — a change in lifestyle and a change in expectations.</p>
<p>The truth, perhaps shocking to contemplate, is that disability can happen at any time, to anyone. The way you are now, or the way I am now, is a precarious and ever-changing reality. </p>
<p>Beyond being a researcher about autism, I’m also the parent of an adult son with autism. Autism is a near-and-dear reality to my work life, my personal life and my family life. </p>
<p>When we make disability the “other,” seeing those who have it as “the other people” —those who are not like us, those who are not “good enough” —we need to remember that there is no immunity against disability. </p>
<p>This journey of life that is full of unexpected twists and turns can result in disability for you or those you love. </p>
<h2>The social model of disability</h2>
<p>Let’s understand more about the <a href="http://cjds.uwaterloo.ca/index.php/cjds/article/view/186/329">social model</a> of disability, where we realize that disability — including autism — is framed by societal barriers and is a societal responsibility.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/266654/original/file-20190330-71012-1iu2h1r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/266654/original/file-20190330-71012-1iu2h1r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/266654/original/file-20190330-71012-1iu2h1r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/266654/original/file-20190330-71012-1iu2h1r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/266654/original/file-20190330-71012-1iu2h1r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/266654/original/file-20190330-71012-1iu2h1r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/266654/original/file-20190330-71012-1iu2h1r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Social barriers impact how individuals and families experience autism.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>After all, disability can appear from illness, from accidents, and even from living a long life. Disability is not always like autism — there from the beginning and persisting throughout the lifespan. </p>
<p>While <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/en/daily-quotidien/181128/dq181128a-eng.pdf?st=0sEk5B2q">one in 10 youth in Canada have disabilities, this number increases to 37 per cent in Canada’s seniors</a>.</p>
<p>We tend to find it so odd when a young child needs to use a walker to get around or if a teenager needs to use oxygen every day. Yet it seems unsurprising when our <a href="https://www.includingsamuel.com/">elderly citizens use exactly the same assistive devices</a>. Illness, disability, and age <a href="http://dsq-sds.org/article/view/5374/4647">all intersect</a> and can look very much the same.</p>
<p>Maybe it’s time to find disability unsurprising, so we don’t apologize and sympathize when autism is introduced into the conversation — or the lives around us. </p>
<p>Maybe it’s time to stop excluding and segregating our students with autism and, instead, smooth the pathways to post-secondary success or supportive employment. </p>
<h2>Rights and freedoms</h2>
<p>In Canada, we worry about the rising numbers of autism: <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/publications/diseases-conditions/infographic-autism-spectrum-disorder-children-youth-canada-2018.html">one in every 66 children and youth</a> in Canada is now diagnosed with autism. </p>
<p>We are concerned about painting a <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/autism-spectrum-disorder-public-health-agency-of-canada-1.4598859">national picture</a> of autism, about finding the right funding model, about using <a href="http://www.ontaba.org/pdf/ONTABA_OSETT-CB_Final_Report_Jan_2019.pdf">evidence-based interventions</a> and about how <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2677582/pdf/rstb20080324.pdf">stereotypes</a> and <a href="http://www.lpalebanon.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/A-Cross-Cultural-Comparison-of-Knowledge-and-Stigma-associated-with-auti....pdf">stigma</a> shape people’s views on autism. </p>
<p>But here’s what we really need: to keep advocating for services specific to autism all across Canada, to provide accessible supports to our northern and rural areas, to provide funding that is consistent and accessible. Our society should provide choice, advocacy, support, <a href="http://cjds.uwaterloo.ca/index.php/cjds/article/view/251/438">rights and freedoms</a>.<br>
If we look at autism internationally and comparatively, we may also see further complexities, <a href="https://research.library.mun.ca/13564/1/29463-77928-1-SM.pdf">such as mothers being obligated to attend school so that their children with autism can be allowed to attend</a>. </p>
<p>This is why we need a <a href="https://www.autismspeaks.org/world-autism-awareness-day">World Autism Day</a>. We need go far beyond a conversation about autism <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2015/04/02/my-three-daughters-are-autistic-i-despise-autism-awareness-month/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.f8a9159f266f">to take action</a>. </p>
<p>And besides this, we need to start celebrating the unique views autism brings. Wouldn’t our global societies be kinder and better if we considered what we learn from autism each day of the year? Then World Autism Day wouldn’t be necessary. Autism would simply be part of the everyday, as it should be.</p>
<p>Autism has changed. The diagnosis has changed. But have we? I have an idea — let’s let autism change us.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/114554/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kimberly Maich is affiliated with the Autism Society of Newfoundland & Labrador, Council for Exceptional Children (Division of Autism & Developmental Disabilities), and the Autism Action Council (Government of Newfoundland & Labrador), and teaches courses in ASD at Memorial University. </span></em></p>A medical model tends to see disability as an individual impairment, but disability — including autism — is part of all of our precarious, precious lives.Kimberly Maich, Associate Professor, Faculty of Education, Memorial University of NewfoundlandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/817932017-08-11T00:59:34Z2017-08-11T00:59:34ZBetsy DeVos’ 6-month report card: More undoing than doing<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/181705/original/file-20170810-27649-uj8hzn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=1543%2C0%2C2887%2C1802&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Betsy Devos has been busy advancing a conservative education agenda since her confirmation earlier this year.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Since the inauguration of Donald Trump, the news cycle has been dominated by stories of White House controversy: <a href="https://theconversation.com/trumps-revised-travel-ban-still-faces-legal-challenges-74141">a travel ban</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/facing-the-threat-from-north-korea-5-essential-reads-81873">North Korea</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/trump-isnt-letting-obamacare-die-hes-trying-to-kill-it-81373">health care</a> and more.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, Secretary of Education <a href="https://theconversation.com/who-is-betsy-devos-70843">Betsy DeVos</a> has been busy fulfilling her conservative agenda that seeks to broaden school choice and market-based schooling in pre-K through higher education.</p>
<p>As a researcher of education policy and politics, I’ve been following Secretary DeVos’ first six months in office. Here’s a quick look at what’s she’s done – and what’s been left in limbo.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/181706/original/file-20170810-27677-19dobnt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/181706/original/file-20170810-27677-19dobnt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/181706/original/file-20170810-27677-19dobnt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/181706/original/file-20170810-27677-19dobnt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/181706/original/file-20170810-27677-19dobnt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/181706/original/file-20170810-27677-19dobnt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/181706/original/file-20170810-27677-19dobnt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Devos at her January 2017 confirmation hearing.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Student loan forgiveness</h2>
<p>Student loan forgiveness is one area in which DeVos seems to be changing direction from the Obama administration. In particular, she’s considering changes to the “<a href="https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/repay-loans/forgiveness-cancellation/borrower-defense">borrower defense to repayment</a>” regulations. These rules help students who have been defrauded or left in the lurch by university closures.</p>
<p>The Trump administration has approved none of the more than 15,000 applications it has received for loan forgiveness. An estimated <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/zackfriedman/2017/07/28/student-loan-forgiveness-trump">65,000 applications</a> are currently pending after DeVos called a halt to the rules – an act that <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2017/07/06/pf/college/betsy-devos-lawsuit-student-loan-rule/index.html">prompted 18 states to sue</a> DeVos in July.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, on August 1, a <a href="http://www.npr.org/2017/08/02/541126799/new-fears-for-public-service-loan-forgiveness">legal motion was filed</a> by the Department of Education that has left another loan forgiveness initiative in a state of limbo. Since 2007, the <a href="https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/repay-loans/forgiveness-cancellation/public-service">Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program</a> has forgiven student debt for public employees (e.g., teachers, firefighters, police) after payments are made for 10 years. Some 500,000 people are waiting to see if their debt will be forgiven as expected.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/181707/original/file-20170810-4090-1l67vay.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/181707/original/file-20170810-4090-1l67vay.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/181707/original/file-20170810-4090-1l67vay.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/181707/original/file-20170810-4090-1l67vay.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/181707/original/file-20170810-4090-1l67vay.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/181707/original/file-20170810-4090-1l67vay.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/181707/original/file-20170810-4090-1l67vay.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">DeVos has left the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program in limbo. The program alleviates student debt for people like firefighters, social workers and teachers.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>For-profit colleges</h2>
<p>At the heart of the loan forgiveness controversy is the role of for-profit colleges and universities.</p>
<p>Under the Obama administration, revisions to the borrower defense rules came about after reports of <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/zackfriedman/2017/07/28/student-loan-forgiveness-trump">for-profit institutions luring students</a> into taking out student loans. Some of these schools – including <a href="http://www.nbcnews.com/news/education/corinthian-colleges-shuts-down-ending-classes-16-000-overnight-n348741">Corinthian Colleges</a> and <a href="https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2016/09/07/itt-tech-shuts-down-all-campuses">ITT-Tech</a> – abruptly closed, leaving students unemployed or <a href="http://college.usatoday.com/2016/03/25/former-corinthian-colleges-to-pay-over-1b-for-defrauding-students/">lacking the skills promised</a> by the institution. These closings account for the majority of the loan forgiveness applications pending due to DeVos’ delay. </p>
<p>What’s more, DeVos is seeking to loosen federal restrictions on for-profit colleges and universities. The Obama-era <a href="https://www.usnews.com/education/blogs/student-loan-ranger/2015/07/08/what-the-new-gainful-employment-rule-means-for-college-students">Gainful Employment Rule</a> requires colleges and universities to report how many of their graduates are able to pay back their student loans after graduation and what their income level is once completing a degree or certificate program. </p>
<p>DeVos called the current system “<a href="https://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/secretary-devos-announces-regulatory-reset-protect-students-taxpayers-higher-ed-institutions">a muddled process that’s unfair to students and schools</a>” and has decided to discard the current version of the Gainful Employment Rule and start the process from scratch.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/181708/original/file-20170810-20110-179265w.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/181708/original/file-20170810-20110-179265w.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=246&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/181708/original/file-20170810-20110-179265w.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=246&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/181708/original/file-20170810-20110-179265w.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=246&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/181708/original/file-20170810-20110-179265w.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=309&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/181708/original/file-20170810-20110-179265w.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=309&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/181708/original/file-20170810-20110-179265w.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=309&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Under DeVos, for-profit colleges may see a relaxing of Obama-era regulations.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:ITT_Technical_Institute_campus_Canton_Michigan.JPG">Dwight Burdette</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Sexual assault on campus</h2>
<p>Student loan forgiveness and for-profit regulations aren’t the only Obama-era initiatives that DeVos is seeking to roll back. DeVos has also been at the center of a controversy regarding campus sexual assault and Title IX, the anti-discrimination law.</p>
<p>During the Obama administration, a <a href="https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2014/09/19/president-obama-launches-its-us-campaign-end-sexual-assault-campus">great deal of focus</a> was paid to the widespread problem of sexual assault on college campuses. As a result, the administration <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/biden-and-obama-rewrite-the-rulebook-on-college-sexual-assaults/2016/07/03/0773302e-3654-11e6-a254-2b336e293a3c_story.html">issued guidelines</a> that advised universities to treat rape as a form of sexual harassment. University officials who failed to do so would be considered in violation of <a href="https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/tix_dis.html">Title IX</a>.</p>
<p>In an effort to reduce sexual violence on campus, the <a href="https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/letters/colleague-201104.pdf">administration suggested</a> that action be taken with a “<a href="https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2017/08/04/little-appetite-rollback-obama-guidelines-campus-sexual-assault">preponderance of evidence</a>” – a looser evidence standard that allowed alleged victims to request investigation more easily.</p>
<p>DeVos and her staff claim that the climate on campuses has swung too far in the wrong direction, leaving many men unfairly accused of assault. In fact, Candice Jackson, DeVos’ hire to head the civil rights division of the Department of Education, came under fire – and <a href="http://www.npr.org/2017/07/13/537082095/education-department-official-apologizes-for-flippant-campus-sexual-assault-comm">later apologized</a> – for “flippant” remarks she made characterizing the majority of campus sexual assault cases as the result of two drunk students or unhappy ex-girlfriends.</p>
<p>DeVos intends to revisit the current policy, but her intentions are still unclear. Importantly, whatever guidelines DeVos institutes, the U.S. Department of Education would likely maintain the power to withdraw federal funding to public institutions that fail to comply with Title IX guidelines. The department does not, however have direct methods with which to enforce sexual assault protections.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/181709/original/file-20170810-20679-6m0dub.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/181709/original/file-20170810-20679-6m0dub.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=481&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/181709/original/file-20170810-20679-6m0dub.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=481&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/181709/original/file-20170810-20679-6m0dub.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=481&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/181709/original/file-20170810-20679-6m0dub.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=605&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/181709/original/file-20170810-20679-6m0dub.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=605&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/181709/original/file-20170810-20679-6m0dub.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=605&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Former Vice President Joe Biden speaking at an anti-sexual violence event. Devos is looking to revisit the Obama administration’s campus sexual assault policies.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AP Photo/Paul Vernon</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Civil rights</h2>
<p>Early in her tenure as secretary of education, DeVos <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-why-transgender-students-need-safe-bathrooms-50831">rescinded Obama-era guidelines</a> interpreting Title IX with regard to protections for transgender students.</p>
<p>In June, Jackson <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/3866816-OCR-Instructions-to-the-Field-Re-Transgender.html">released a document</a> instructing schools on the topic of transgender students. It does not include <a href="http://www.latimes.com/local/education/la-essential-education-updates-southern-this-is-the-trump-administration-s-new-1497632892-htmlstory.html">bathroom protection for transgender students</a>, a key component of the Obama-era guidelines.</p>
<p>This document, in addition to Jackson’s controversial comments about sexual assault, <a href="http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/campaign-k-12/2017/08/democrats_blast_betsy_devos_hostility_civil_rights.html">spurred House Democrats</a> to demand the dismissal of Jackson from her post, but nothing has yet been done. </p>
<p>In addition to the policy shift for transgender students, DeVos has also been criticized for claiming that <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/betsy-devos-comments-about-hbcus-2017-2">historically black colleges and universities</a> were great pioneers of school choice. The comment <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2017/02/28/devos-called-hbcus-pioneers-of-school-choice-it-didnt-go-over-well">enraged critics</a>, leaving DeVos to <a href="https://apnews.com/c48492774a0a4f6185e3ef208ef83dd5">apologize</a> and attempt to combat perceptions that she may be insensitive to the plight of African-Americans.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/181711/original/file-20170810-20110-15ydlmy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/181711/original/file-20170810-20110-15ydlmy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=431&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/181711/original/file-20170810-20110-15ydlmy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=431&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/181711/original/file-20170810-20110-15ydlmy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=431&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/181711/original/file-20170810-20110-15ydlmy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=542&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/181711/original/file-20170810-20110-15ydlmy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=542&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/181711/original/file-20170810-20110-15ydlmy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=542&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Gavin Grimm’s suit to grant transgender students access to appropriate facilities remains undecided.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AP Photo/Steve Helber</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Special education</h2>
<p>In July, DeVos gave her first major speech on special education for students with disabilities. Critics were disappointed in her <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2017/07/18/the-deep-irony-in-betsy-devoss-first-speech-on-special-education">emphasis on school choice</a>, rather than the need for more resources dedicated to special education in public schools.</p>
<p>DeVos also stated in that speech that she has prioritized special education complaints in the Office of Civil Rights, which is not actually the office that deals with special education complaints. This confusion came six months after DeVos also took heat for <a href="http://time.com/4637642/betsy-devos-confirmation-education-policy">confusion about federal special education law</a> at her confirmation hearing.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/fftskn5HFdA?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">At her confirmation hearing in January, Betsy DeVos came under fire for a perceived lack of understanding about IDEA, the federal special education law.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What’s next?</h2>
<p>In sum, while Secretary DeVos has been in office, much of her agenda has been focused on rescinding actions taken by the Obama administration, without enacting much in the way of official replacement policy herself. This has left many policies and guidelines in a state of uncertainty while the country waits to see what will happen.</p>
<p>It appears that she’s changing what she can with her official power – and using her pulpit to influence. But broad change requires legislative action, which is yet to be seen.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/81793/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dustin Hornbeck does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>From student loans to Title IX, Betsy DeVos has had a busy six months in office. But despite numerous reversals of Obama-era guidelines, little has come in the way of tangible policy.Dustin Hornbeck, Ph.D. Student in Educational Leadership and Policy, Miami UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/636842016-10-07T11:08:05Z2016-10-07T11:08:05ZFive iPad apps that can help students with dyslexia<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/140517/original/image-20161005-14215-106tpw6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The right app can help a child with dyslexia.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Billion Photos/Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>It is estimated that around <a href="http://www.dyslexiaaction.org.uk/page/facts-and-figures-about-dyslexia-0">one in ten people</a> have dyslexia – a common learning difficulty which can cause problems with reading, writing and spelling. But dyslexia can cause more than just spelling difficulties, because it effects a person’s self-esteem and self-worth. Many dyslexics feel that they are “stupid” or “dumb”, but this is simply not the case. And in fact, most dyslexic students are no different to their non-dyslexic peers in their understanding of their academic subject.</p>
<p><a href="http://dyslexiahelp.umich.edu/tools/apps">Research</a> shows that many dyslexic students can benefit from using apps to help aid their learning. This is because apps can help dyslexic learners with <a href="https://theconversation.com/heres-what-you-need-to-know-about-starting-university-with-dyslexia-50035">specific cognitive difficulties</a> making it easier to process particular kinds of information. Apps can also help dyslexic students overcome some of the challenges that come with learning in an environment that isn’t gearerd up to “<a href="https://theconversation.com/heres-what-you-need-to-know-about-starting-university-with-dyslexia-50035">dyslexic styles of learning</a>” – such as non-interactive lectures and timed, written examinations – which many dyslexic students find hard to do. </p>
<p>This kind of <a href="http://mjay2.weebly.com/what-is-assertive-technology--content-3.html">assistive technology</a> is also important in the workplace. And below are my top five apps for iPads for dyslexic learners of any age.</p>
<h2><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/popplet-lite/id364738549?mt=8">Popplet Lite</a></h2>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/140504/original/image-20161005-14215-z7s5mc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/140504/original/image-20161005-14215-z7s5mc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=1065&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140504/original/image-20161005-14215-z7s5mc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=1065&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140504/original/image-20161005-14215-z7s5mc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=1065&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140504/original/image-20161005-14215-z7s5mc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1339&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140504/original/image-20161005-14215-z7s5mc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1339&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140504/original/image-20161005-14215-z7s5mc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1339&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Popplet is great for school and for learning in the classroom and at home.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This is a brilliant app that constructs mindmaps – which can be a great tool to help learners see the bigger picture. It basically helps users to capture and organise their ideas. With the app you can quick jot down your ideas and sort them visually. </p>
<p>As a lot of dyslexics are visual learners, being able to make a spider diagram or link ideas helps with organisation. This can be really useful and can save a lot of time, as many dyslexic students spend so much intellectual effort trying to spell and make a grammatical sentence that they can forget what the big picture is. Mind mapping is a great way to show the detail in any big picture.</p>
<p><strong>Cost:free</strong></p>
<p><br>
<br></p>
<h2><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/sonocent-recorder/id888823208?mt=8">Sonocent</a></h2>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/140507/original/image-20161005-14221-1ykkyvc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/140507/original/image-20161005-14221-1ykkyvc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=1065&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140507/original/image-20161005-14221-1ykkyvc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=1065&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140507/original/image-20161005-14221-1ykkyvc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=1065&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140507/original/image-20161005-14221-1ykkyvc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1339&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140507/original/image-20161005-14221-1ykkyvc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1339&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140507/original/image-20161005-14221-1ykkyvc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1339&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Sonocent Recorder takes accurate records of classes.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Sonocent records live talks such as lessons but could also be used in a meeting. It is easy to use and you can highlight key moments in the audio to make it easier to find things later. </p>
<p>The app also allows you to add photos right alongside your audio and type brief notes for further context – which is ideal for lectures.</p>
<p>As most speakers talk very fast, having dyslexia means spending more time physically recording and trying to keep up. These tools are great and can save you a lot of time transcribing.</p>
<p>There are alternatives such as <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/sonocent-recorder/id888823208?mt=8">NoteTalker</a> which does a similar job but isn’t free.</p>
<p><strong>Cost:free</strong></p>
<p><br>
<br></p>
<h2><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/clarospeak-free/id977258467?mt=8">ClaroSpeak </a></h2>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/140509/original/image-20161005-14236-dm8glh.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/140509/original/image-20161005-14236-dm8glh.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140509/original/image-20161005-14236-dm8glh.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140509/original/image-20161005-14236-dm8glh.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140509/original/image-20161005-14236-dm8glh.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140509/original/image-20161005-14236-dm8glh.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140509/original/image-20161005-14236-dm8glh.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Type into ClaroSpeak and have the text read back to you.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Clarospeak is a writing app that provides a list of words for you to select from. It can then read these back to you. It offers a good range of colour and font settings to allow for optimum reading, and word prediction to help with writing. You can also use it to help you proofread any documents or essays by listening back to what you’ve written.</p>
<p><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/clarospeak-plus/id845128025?mt=8">ClaroSpeak Plus</a> is a paid-for version that adds Optical Character Reading to enable any text book to be scanned and edited electronically. It can even capture text from a photo – meaning you can take a photo of your text book and have it read back to you.</p>
<p><strong>Cost:free</strong></p>
<p><br>
<br></p>
<h2><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/vbookz-pdf-voice-reader-us/id497274026?mt=8">vbookz</a></h2>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/140510/original/image-20161005-14212-gfy31c.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/140510/original/image-20161005-14212-gfy31c.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140510/original/image-20161005-14212-gfy31c.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140510/original/image-20161005-14212-gfy31c.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140510/original/image-20161005-14212-gfy31c.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140510/original/image-20161005-14212-gfy31c.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140510/original/image-20161005-14212-gfy31c.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">vBookz on iPad.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>PDFs are now used extensively in most walks of life – and especially at university and school. If you have problems with reading, this great little app will help you have PDFs read back to you. An interactive cursor allows users to follow along, pause reading or even repeat lines to ensure reading comprehension.</p>
<p>This app is available for both the iPad and iPhone which means you can read your documents on the go. It works with your email account to directly open PDFs and read them to you.</p>
<p><strong>Cost:free</strong></p>
<p><br>
<br></p>
<h2><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/clicker-sentences/id575603433?mt=8">Clicker Sentences</a></h2>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/140515/original/image-20161005-14208-1uoortd.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/140515/original/image-20161005-14208-1uoortd.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=439&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140515/original/image-20161005-14208-1uoortd.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=439&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140515/original/image-20161005-14208-1uoortd.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=439&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140515/original/image-20161005-14208-1uoortd.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=551&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140515/original/image-20161005-14208-1uoortd.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=551&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140515/original/image-20161005-14208-1uoortd.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=551&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Helps learners build sentences with whole words.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/140516/original/image-20161005-14243-1xm20md.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/140516/original/image-20161005-14243-1xm20md.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=439&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140516/original/image-20161005-14243-1xm20md.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=439&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140516/original/image-20161005-14243-1xm20md.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=439&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140516/original/image-20161005-14243-1xm20md.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=551&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140516/original/image-20161005-14243-1xm20md.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=551&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140516/original/image-20161005-14243-1xm20md.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=551&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Adding a picture to each sentence provides pupils with an additional cue.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Clicker Sentences is designed for primary aged learners and provides a grid selection of words for the learner to construct a sentence with. </p>
<p>Pupils tap words in the grid to build sentences in the simple word processor, then hear each sentence automatically spoken aloud as they complete it, helping them to identify any mistakes and make corrections. </p>
<p>It is great for developing young pupils’ writing skills and build struggling writers’ confidence.</p>
<p><strong>Cost:£24.99</strong></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/63684/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Myles Pilling is affiliated with BATA council member - non- for profit organisation of suppliers of Assistive Technology and AT professionals in giving assistive technology solutions to the public</span></em></p>Dyslexic? There’s an app for that.Myles Pilling, External lecturer, Assistive Technologist, Specialist SEND ICT Consultant, Bath Spa UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/438862015-08-20T05:32:43Z2015-08-20T05:32:43ZThe trouble with teenagers: it stems from what they learn about friendship in school<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/87217/original/image-20150702-11311-1wz3uou.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">In a world of their own?</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Caroline Rix</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>I <a href="http://ncse.ie/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Report_13_Continuum_07_08_13.pdf">visited a Norwegian secondary school</a> a couple of years ago and met a young man who had been identified as having profound and multiple emotional, physical and behavioural difficulties. In the summer, as part of his school day, this teenager would go swimming, cycling and climbing; in the winter, he went skiing. He had full-time support from a social worker and clearly responded positively to this active school life. It seemed brilliant.</p>
<p>But then we discovered that he never did any of this activity with other young people – he was always alone with one or two adults. He wasn’t even based in the secondary school and had a room in the attached primary school because it was more convenient for his equipment. His curriculum was entirely different to his peers’ too. The professionals told us that these practical constraints kept him separated, but the school knew his peers would not want him around either. “They don’t have that much empathy for him”, we were told.</p>
<p>This is a very common argument about disabled pupils. We can include them when they are young but as they get older it gets harder and harder. Partly the argument is about exams, partly it is about the curriculum, but ultimately it is about teenagers being less empathetic than other human beings. </p>
<h2>Is friendship a special issue?</h2>
<p>Teenagers are often presented as being self-obsessed. They are only really interested in their peers and what their peers think. It is something inherent in being that age. And if you are disabled then this leaves you out on the margins. After all, the disabled child is different, teenagers don’t like difference and so the disabled child is more likely to be avoided.</p>
<p>But I think we have to be really careful with this argument. I recently revisited some data about friendship from <a href="http://fatih.edu.tr/%7Ehugur/Friendly/DOES%20BEING%20FRIENDLY%20MAKING%20FRIENDS.PDF">a Norwegian study by Per Frostada and Sip Jan Pijl</a>. This study, which involved 989 children in Norwegian schools, concluded that 20% to 25% of the pupils with special needs were not socially included in their peer group. </p>
<p>When children nominated friends in their class, the children identified with special needs were nominated less and were far more likely to have no nominations or shared nominations of friendship. This pattern increased with age. However, <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00313830802184558#.VY-0uRtViko">in another paper on this study</a> the researchers said this painted an overly negative picture. Most of the children who were identified with special needs had still nominated some friends and reported not feeling isolated. </p>
<p>And <a href="http://www.routledgementalhealth.com/books/details/9780415710992/">when I went back to this data</a> I noticed something else. Even though the percentages were smaller, there were 34 young people not identified with special needs who were friendless. Evidently, this is not simply a problem for disabled young people, it is a far wider problem for schools.</p>
<h2>Boxed together by age</h2>
<p>Teenage years are recognised as being particularly challenging for the health and well-being of young people and for their support within schools. The <a href="http://www.childrenssociety.org.uk/good-childhood-report-2013-online/index.html">challenge escalates</a> as they pass through secondary education. But I am convinced that the way we view people in their teens and the ways in which we educate them does little to help them move beyond these difficulties. If anything we make things worse. </p>
<p>Teenagers are the acceptable butt of everyone’s jokes, a secure fall-back for stand-up comedians in theatres across the nation. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/dLuEY6jN6gY?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">It’s easy to laugh at Harry Enfield’s character Kevin.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Yet the stereotype at which we laugh (or sigh) merely reflects how we have brought teenagers up and schooled them. Our young people are increasingly confined in formal education, locked into year groupings. Inevitably their main point of reference is their peers.</p>
<p>Having age in common does not mean we have anything else in common. The development of our minds, our bodies, our life experiences, our interests and desires is not based on a calendar. We are all growing and changing in different ways, at different times and with different priorities. </p>
<p>Is the answer to simply open up classes to make them multi-age? I doubt it. Even at primary level, <a href="http://www.nfer.ac.uk/nfer/PRE_PDF_Files/01_25_05.pdf">research</a> is equivocal about this (showing there is no real advantage or disadvantage in having children from different age groups in a class together). We probably need to look beyond a single solution.</p>
<h2>Schools need flexibility</h2>
<p>Let’s go back to the young man in Norway. If we asked pupils and adults at a secondary school “would you like to spend a few hours a week out of school climbing or swimming or cycling?”, many of them would probably say “yes”. If we were to find ways to open up the curriculum so that learners had more opportunity to explore that which was relevant and meaningful to them, how many would jump at the chance of joining in together?</p>
<p>Schools should have the flexibility to find ways to support the development of young people’s relationships, not only with their peers but with all of us. If they were encouraged to do so it could even help with the development of important people-skills, which are not just vital for personal well-being but are at the core of a successful economy. </p>
<p>This is not just about mixing up age and friendship groups, it is about finding and sharing common interests. Young people should be encouraged both to support each other and to have valuable links to those of all ages and backgrounds. After all, the notion of the teenager is our modern creation. And if we can change how it is understood and experienced we would all benefit.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/43886/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jonathan Rix does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Teenagers need to make friends outside their own cliques – and schools should help them.Jonathan Rix, Professor of participation and learning support, The Open UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/397932015-04-08T01:50:26Z2015-04-08T01:50:26ZStudents with autism need targeted attention – not a cage<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/77263/original/image-20150407-26512-7cyaia.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder need targeted support and funding to suit their individual needs and interests. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com.au</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>A <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-04-07/cage-review/6375668">review has been announced</a> into school policies in Canberra after it was <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/graeme-innes-says-appalling-cage-practice-not-oneoff-calls-for-inquiry-on-education-of-children-with-disabilities-20150404-1meige.html">reported</a> that a school was restraining a child with autism in a cage-like structure. Former disability discrimination commissioner Graeme Innes said this was not an isolated incident, and <a href="https://flinders.academia.edu/LeighBurrows">my research and time spent in schools</a> attests to this.</p>
<p>I worked with one child whose restraint had an innocent genesis, but over time the teacher was incapable of coping with the student with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and the innocent mechanism became harmful. </p>
<p>A “time-out room” was provided for the child, which is important for children with ASD because they can suffer from sensory overload and need a place to calm down. </p>
<p>Initially he was invited to go to the room with the door open when he was feeling overwhelmed. As his behaviour escalated over time, due to a failure to understand his needs, he began to be sent to the room. After a time the door was closed and eventually the child was locked in the room. </p>
<p>One day his parent came to pick him up and found him in the room bloodied from hitting his head against the wall in frustration and anger. </p>
<h2>Why are children being confined?</h2>
<p>Keeping a child confined is clearly not an acceptable way of coping with students with special needs, so why does it continue to happen?</p>
<p>When a child is restrained at school, at home, or anywhere for that matter, it’s often a cry for help. It’s a sign of desperation, of not knowing. Teachers are often unsure what to do, needing to protect themselves, their assistants and the other students and to comply with disability legislation. </p>
<p>They often don’t have time to carefully plan and tailor an intervention for a particular child, so they take bits and pieces of what they have heard about the need for safe boundaries, reduction of sensory overload and inclusion of the child in the classroom.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, in some situations this has resulted in teachers confining students, which is a serious misunderstanding of the use of a time-out room or safe space.</p>
<p>This would be devastating enough for any child, let alone one who had already had so much difficulty at school. A psychiatrist who saw him after the incident diagnosed “relational trauma” brought on by people he should have been able to trust locking him away against his will instead of helping him.</p>
<h2>What needs to happen to ensure this stops</h2>
<p>Students with ASD need a more tailored approach, focusing on their strengths and interests rather than their behaviour. Teachers need special instruction in how to deal with these students, with input from someone who will work with them on the ground – not tell them what to do from a theoretical point of view and then walk away and leave them to it. All training needs to focus on the student in question and their specific needs.</p>
<p>An example could be to create a quiet withdrawal area at the back of the room, with soft cloths, to create sanctuary and reduce stress when needed, yet still allow the child to hear and see what is going on in the classroom. Entry to this area is <strong>always</strong> the choice of the child; they are free to come and go as they please.</p>
<h2>Focus on the child’s interests, not their behaviour</h2>
<p>With the child in the scenario above I found I was able to get on his wavelength by finding out what he was interested in, which turned out to be art. </p>
<p>He ended up illustrating a story I wrote for him about a magic helper: a little wooden knight who came to help a boy when ever he needed it. The boy would give the little knight some magic sunflower seeds and he would wake up and come to the rescue. Over time his stress levels reduced and, as a result, so did the stress levels of those around him. </p>
<p>In this child’s case the key was taking an interest in his drawing, but for other young people it has been ice-skating, tennis or photography. In one case the “quiet area” we devised at the back of the classroom ended up being a “racetrack area” and lunchtime club.</p>
<p>In all cases, once the special interest was identified, relationships formed and the young person engaged, there was an opportunity to link back to the curriculum and more conventional tasks.</p>
<p>As an example, numeracy lessons could be focused on racing cars, using lap times and model car and racetrack dimensions. Literacy could use illustrations of a text shown to others. </p>
<p>The special interest becomes the focus of an integrated curriculum based on theme. Activities need to be engaging and meaningful, then gradually other aspects of the curriculum can be introduced.</p>
<p>I have seen this approach work time and again and it could easily be implemented on a wider scale if we took a more individualised approach. Sure it would be costly in the beginning, but it’s not as great a cost as putting a child in a cage.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/39793/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Leigh Burrows does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A review has been announced into school policies in Canberra after it was reported that a school was restraining a child with Autism in a cage-like structure.Leigh Burrows, Lecturer in Mindfulness and Education, Flinders UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/396542015-04-05T07:46:54Z2015-04-05T07:46:54ZSpecial needs children asked to stay home when inspectors call<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/76780/original/image-20150401-31302-7x0w2w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Mainstreamed, but left out. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Dubova/www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In a policy climate which <a href="https://www.gov.uk/school-attendance-absence/overview">threatens to fine parents</a> who keep their children out of school, it’s strange that some senior school leaders specifically ask some students to stay at home. And that others are asking neighbouring schools to take a small group of children for a short given period. The answers are to be found in a climate of inspection and testing in English schools which carries such high stakes that school leaders speak of “reputational risk” when children with special needs are included in their data and are present in their classrooms when the inspector calls.</p>
<p>Of all the findings from <a href="http://www.teachers.org.uk/node/23619">the fourth of our Cambridge reports</a> on the impact of government policies, all of which were commissioned by the National Union of Teachers, this is perhaps the most disturbing but also the most telling. It carries a powerful message as to what is valued and what has been systematically devalued in the pursuit of competitive education attainment targets.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.educ.cam.ac.uk/people/staff/galton/Costs_of_Inclusion_Final.pdf">move to reduce</a> the number of special schools, perhaps eventually to dispense with them altogether, predates this government. It was seen by many as a cost-cutting exercise, but was sometimes cloaked in rhetoric about including children within their peer group. </p>
<p>Our study, which revisited primary and secondary schools from <a href="https://www.educ.cam.ac.uk/people/staff/galton/Costs_of_Inclusion_Final.pdf">our previous reports</a> with the addition of recently established academies, was designed to explore the extent to which the lessons of the past decade had been learned. We wanted to find out to what extent schools are now more aware of the wide spectrum of abilities and disabilities and better prepared to educate all children. And whether children with special needs are now less liable to be excluded from school, consigned to the care of classroom assistants, or advised to find another school where they would be more “comfortable”. </p>
<h2>Children cast adrift</h2>
<p>The answers are not encouraging. Exclusion from school has become less of an option, due in large part to the increase in learning support staff to whom children with special needs may be “velcroed” (as one special need co-ordinator put it) on a virtually permanent basis. On the positive side, these support staff were much better informed and better trained than had been the case in our previous study. But this also proved to be a doubled-edge sword, allowing schools to replace qualified teachers with lesser qualified, or unqualified, staff. </p>
<p>We met and talked to children with complex learning needs who had previously been in special schools but were now, according to one teacher, “cast adrift” in a large secondary school – or in policyspeak, “mainstreamed”. While there are children for whom the mainstream is a better option than a special school, there are others for whom it is a form of benign abuse. Driven primarily by economic motives, the inclusion of children within a large secondary school proves, for some, to be a frightening and alienating experience.</p>
<h2>Uneven playing field</h2>
<p>We spent time in what we could call “good”, even exceptionally good schools that often teetered on the verge of an Ofsted rating of “special measures” or were even threatened with closure because they were caring and principled enough to take in the rejects from their neighbouring schools or academies. </p>
<p>One secondary school on the brink of closure for nearly a decade was told by a visiting inspector: “You have to work ten times harder” to compete on an uneven playing field. In this school with 70 languages spoken, a constant inflow of low-paid immigrant workers, many living in substandard housing and exploited by unscrupulous landlords, there were 30 different kinds of support and intervention programmes, and staff “burnout” as a consequence of long hours and high levels of stress.</p>
<p>In a London secondary school now surrounded by academies, policies of so-called “strategic rationing” had left this secondary school with young people whose parents, lone parent or carer, had neither the knowledge nor the cultural capital to opt for an academy. The once outstanding Ofsted assessment had been downgraded to a level three – “requires improvement”. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/76799/original/image-20150401-31305-4j5jj1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/76799/original/image-20150401-31305-4j5jj1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=904&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/76799/original/image-20150401-31305-4j5jj1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=904&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/76799/original/image-20150401-31305-4j5jj1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=904&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/76799/original/image-20150401-31305-4j5jj1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1136&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/76799/original/image-20150401-31305-4j5jj1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1136&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/76799/original/image-20150401-31305-4j5jj1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1136&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Cherry picked.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Kappri/www.shutterstock.com</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We looked into “cherry picking” – anecdotal evidence that academies prefer to take on children with learning disabilities who had wealthier parents who were better able to support them. We asked how it was that local academies were able to discourage parents of children with special needs from applying. The response: “Because they can”. Academies, jealous of their reputation, would suggest “a more suitable option” for these children, a judgement difficult to dispute.</p>
<p>An acknowledgement we heard from one Ofsted inspector of the unevenness of the playing field was atypical. Our conclusion was that Ofsted’s reporting of the provision for special needs education has actually been inconsistent and often counter productive. We found that Ofsted inspections have failed to take sufficient account of the experiences of many children with special educational needs, and the ability of schools to collaborate and innovate in the interests of those children. </p>
<h2>Pressures of performance culture</h2>
<p>Our findings are echoed in <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-32075251">a recent report</a> by the Association of Teachers and Lecturers. It found close to nine out of ten staff saying that the need to provide support for children with mental health problems had increased significantly. At the same time, suitable provision was less and less easy to access, and cuts to services leaving pupils “dangerously at risk”. </p>
<p>Much is explained by what is described as the “performativity culture”, in which performance on tests trumps learning, effort or engagement, working systematically to the disadvantage of vulnerable and struggling children. Areas of school life in which they may succeed, and even enjoy learning, such as music, drama and visual art are progressively marginalised, viewed as detracting from the single-minded pursuit of those pervasive and generally ill-conceived targets.</p>
<p>In the midst of this political turmoil we found outstanding schools flying below the radar, led by conviction and principle, willing to go the extra mile, often to compensate for their less principled neighbours, guilty of that gravest of sins in the ideological repertoire – a focus on children’s needs.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/39654/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>John MacBeath was commissioned to write the study on special needs education by the National Union of Teachers.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Maurice Galton was commissioned to write this study on special needs education by the National Union of Teachers.</span></em></p>A relentless focus on test results is alienating children with special needs.John MacBeath, Emeritus Professor, Faculty of Education, University of CambridgeMaurice Galton, Emeritus Professor, Faculty of Education, University of CambridgeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/270872014-06-30T13:34:16Z2014-06-30T13:34:16ZWhy children with autism often fall victim to bullies<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/52489/original/bbh2vwym-1403884724.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">I didn't get the joke. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-35531647/stock-photo-young-child-holding-up-sign-to-mask-true-emotion-psychology-concept.html?src=pp-same_model-35531653-Z_db2vlYzryCUGzQj6MRZw-2">Young child via Cheryl Casey/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Bullying can affect anyone at any time, but young people with autism are especially vulnerable. The results can be devastating. Not being able to keep up with the teasing banter that often takes place among groups of young people can make the social world a very daunting place for children with autism. Being at odds with their peer group can lead to social isolation, rejection, and a lack of the supportive friendships that can protect against bullying. </p>
<p>Autism (including Asperger syndrome) is a developmental condition that the <a href="http://www.autism.org.uk/about-autism/autism-and-asperger-syndrome-an-introduction.aspx">National Autistic Society describes</a> as affecting “how a person communicates with, and relates to, other people and the world around them”. It is on a spectrum, meaning that although there are common areas of difficulty, people with autism are affected in very different ways, with widely varying degrees of severity. </p>
<p>As a consequence, while approximately 30% of young people with autism spectrum conditions attend special schools, <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/children-with-special-educational-needs-an-analysis-2013">around 70% are in mainstream settings</a>, according to the government. </p>
<p>Worryingly, there is a growing body of research that indicates that young people on the autism spectrum are considerably more vulnerable to bullying than their peers. </p>
<h2>Bullied for being different</h2>
<p>The nature of autism means that negotiating the complex social world can be a challenging and daunting experience. It is a “hidden condition”, and so other children may struggle to understand why a pupil with autism is behaving in a different way. Results from my recent <a href="http://aut.sagepub.com/content/early/2013/07/23/1362361313495965.abstract">research</a> – in which more than 100 parents and 700 teachers of children with autism spectrum conditions participated – indicated that behaviour problems are a major predictor of being bullied. </p>
<p>Outbursts can be seen as frightening or disruptive by peers, despite being a result of unbearable levels of stress and anxiety. It is also difficult for other children to understand some common differences, such as having particularly strong interests or sensitivity to noise. Jokes and sarcasm can also be problematic, with the autistic child often taking the literal meaning of what is said. </p>
<p>One such example would be a teacher telling a pupil to “pull up your socks” when intended to encourage more effort. This may be met with confusion and (what is perceived to be) an inappropriate or cheeky response by an autistic child who has taken the comment at face value. </p>
<p>With the arrival of adolescence, social groupings and conventions become more important and complex, presenting additional challenges. While bullying is generally thought to decrease with age, <a href="http://aut.sagepub.com/content/early/2013/07/23/1362361313495965.abstract">my research</a> suggests this may not be the case for young people with autism. We should be more, rather than less concerned, as this group of young people grows older. </p>
<p>Indeed, there have been a number of tragic cases where a young person with autism has taken his or her own life, often following years of bullying and isolation from peers. While suicide is thankfully rare, the short and long-term <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-health-impact-of-childhood-bullying-can-last-a-lifetime-26541">effects of being the victim of bullying</a> have been well documented. These negative consequences include low self-esteem, difficulties at school, and mental health issues, all of which can persist long after the bullying has ceased.</p>
<h2>What can parents and schools do?</h2>
<p>All of this paints a bleak picture. But it is important to remember that not all young people with autism are bullied, and there are strategies that can be used to prevent it. Bullying is a complicated context-dependent problem and it is important not to tackle one aspect in isolation but develop adaptive strategies, such as social stories. </p>
<p>Nevertheless, we need to focus not just on the victims, but also on the bullies and bystanders. There <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2010.01557.x/abstract">is evidence</a> that teaching pupils what to do if they witness bullying can help to protect victims, as children can learn to intervene, put pressure on bullies, or seek adult assistance. </p>
<p>Teachers with a good awareness of autism can be instrumental in promoting tolerance and encourage difference and individuality. It is <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/08856257.2012.726019#.U62OYrHb7Io">also important to achieve a balance</a> between support and independence at school. </p>
<p>Too much adult support can prevent pupils with autism from having appropriate contact with peers. But insufficient support may lead to increased vulnerability to bullying, such as on the school bus or at break and lunchtime. Close contact and collaboration between home and school can also help build positive relationships. It is valued by parents who may be the first to spot the warning signs that their child is being bullied. </p>
<p>Tackling bullying cannot happen in a vacuum, and it is clear that multiple strategies are needed. If this can be achieved – as is the case in many proactive schools with a strong anti-bullying ethos – then the bullying of this potentially vulnerable group of young people can be prevented.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/27087/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Judith Hebron has previously received funding from the Department for Education for the evaluation of Achievement for All. She is currently funded jointly by the Simon Research Fellowship at the University of Manchester and the Leverhulme Trust as an Early Career Research Fellow. </span></em></p>Bullying can affect anyone at any time, but young people with autism are especially vulnerable. The results can be devastating. Not being able to keep up with the teasing banter that often takes place…Judith Hebron, Research Fellow, Manchester Institute of Education, University of ManchesterLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/251252014-04-22T05:10:21Z2014-04-22T05:10:21ZChanges to special needs education may shut out parents<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/46477/original/m25zqh2s-1397577144.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Parents often know best how to help their kids overcome barriers to learning.
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-186309380/stock-photo-cognitive-development-of-kids-with-disabilities.html?src=yC5r3tNgL7131yuQX5cdZg-1-36">Olesia Bilkei/Shutterstock. Cognitive development photo</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>How schools should support students with special educational needs and disabilities is a controversial area of research. Debates continue over whether certain conditions exist or not, or if they are “over diagnosed”. In North America, there have been discussions about whether <a href="https://theconversation.com/adhd-is-real-and-saying-otherwise-is-damaging-25124">ADHD</a> is real. While in the UK, the use of the term <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/dyslexia-a-meaningless-label-claim-experts-in-controversial-new-book-9152801.html">dyslexia</a> has been called into question by academics who ask whether the term is “helpful” for supporting pupils with reading difficulties. </p>
<p>From September 2014 the way that schools in England and Wales support pupils with special needs and their families is set to change. But there are some concerns among parents that the changes could damage communication between families and schools.</p>
<p>A new Special Educational Needs Code of Practice, <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/251839/Draft_SEN_Code_of_Practice_-_statutory_guidance.pdf">currently in draft form,</a> will be introduced to replace the current code that has been in use since 2001. <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/teacher-network/teacher-blog/2014/feb/10/special-educational-needs-sen-reforms-five-things">The changes</a> outlined in the new document will represent an important shift in the way that schools work with pupils and families, and highlights <a href="http://www.councilfordisabledchildren.org.uk/media/546893/Open-letter-to-parents.pdf">family involvement</a>. </p>
<p>The new code is being introduced to fix a faltering system. The <a href="http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20130401151715/https://www.education.gov.uk/publications/eOrderingDownload/01143-2009DOM-EN.pdf">2009 Lamb Inquiry</a> found that a system built to support learners was instead creating negative experiences for parents and families. Parents reported that they wanted open and honest communication with schools. They wanted access to the information they need about their child’s education and better systems for assessing pupils’ educational needs.</p>
<h2>Families at centre</h2>
<p>There is a growing body of <a href="http://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/toolkit/parental-involvement/">research</a> showing an association between parental involvement in education and a <a href="https://edn.bris.ac.uk/157">positive impact on learning and achievement</a>. But several studies have shown that while working with families within schools is highly desirable, it <a href="http://eu.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0470682299.html">can also be a challenge</a>. </p>
<p>While the new code states that families should be fully involved in decision making about their child’s education, <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1467-9604.12032/abstract">some researchers argue</a> that the processes it outlines could prevent schools and families working well together. </p>
<p>Families have to make a lot of decisions when their child has a special need or disability. They have to decide on the best school, how to get the best support once at school and how they will know educational progress is being made. </p>
<p>They need to know how to communicate with a range of professionals and how to read official paperwork from school and the local authority. There <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09687590701259674#.U0UdGfldV8E">is evidence</a> that this kind of involvement is incredibly stressful for families. Some families feel excluded because they do not feel involved in making education plans or because key decisions about provision or interventions were not communicated to them. </p>
<p>The new code suggests schools and local authorities will now be able to develop record keeping and communication processes in their own way. While it may sound as if this flexibility might support better relationships and communication, <a href="http://www.ipsea.org.uk/news/changes-to-sen-law/ipsea-response-to-the-draft-sen-regulations-draft-sen-code-of-practice-transitional-arrangements.aspx">there are concerns</a> it could mean that provision will become more variable both locally and nationally. </p>
<h2>Communication key</h2>
<p>At the University of Bristol and Monclair State University in New Jersey we have been <a href="http://www.bristol.ac.uk/education/events/2014/1009.html">discussing</a> some of the potential challenges families may face in light of the changes to the code of practice. Parents we have talked to are concerned that these proposals could damage good relationships between schools and families. </p>
<p>There will inevitably be an adjustment period as local authorities and schools get to grips with new procedures. Changes are proposed in defined “areas of need” that could increase misunderstandings in how to identify special needs. </p>
<p>For example, “behavioural, emotional and social needs” will change to “social, mental and emotional health”, which could result in some children and young people’s educational needs relating to their behaviour no longer being accepted.</p>
<p>Changes in the ways that special needs and disabilities are monitored mean there will no longer be a requirement for schools to use an individual education plan. New ways to communicate targets will inevitably develop, but the standardised way of communicating to all families will be removed. </p>
<p>Local authorities will be required to publish a “local offer” to outline how they plan to support all pupils with special educational needs and disabilities. There is still uncertainty about what this “offer” will entail. Hundreds of parents and families across the country will be unsure how the needs of their children will be met in the coming months and years, and whether the current level of provision they receive will be maintained or even possibly cut. </p>
<p>However, the fact that these revisions to the code of practice highlight the importance of parental and family involvement is to be welcomed.</p>
<p>The most important message at the heart of these changes is the recognition that families have the best insight into the ways in which special educational needs and disabilities can impact on the life, learning and achievement of their child. This is one important reason why families continuing involvement in special educational needs provision is vital if schools are to continue providing the best support possible. </p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/25125/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Helen Knowler does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>How schools should support students with special educational needs and disabilities is a controversial area of research. Debates continue over whether certain conditions exist or not, or if they are “over…Helen Knowler, Senior Lecturer in Education , University of BristolLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.