Barriers to Education
It is essential to think about what the phrase 'barriers to education' means before talking about my own education experience.
barriers can be attitudinal, organisational or practical
Although it is important to remember that sometimes there is no way to do this due to the nature of the disability and the experienced problems. As a result, each individual should be treated differently and their needs addressed in the same way. The barriers to learning faced by students with disabilities are many and complex and differ from student to student and often daily.
So, for this article, I will be only writing about my own experiences and understand that this may be very different to what others may have experienced.
When looking at access, you need to think about all aspects, not just physical; these include:
My experience with education has been very mixed, with some decisions that I have made throughout life being directly affected by my disability and the limitations. I started my education at a special needs school and continued on this road until 9 years old. All the knowledge I have had through my education in both a special needs school and in mainstream education has influenced my life and the person I have become now. The time in special needs education allowed me to become more independent and have much more access to services like Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy and Speech and Language Therapy sessions than if I had been in mainstream education from the start. Unfortunately, the main limitation of special needs education was that it did not challenge me at an academic level. If I had continued along this route, I would not have had the same opportunities I have had throughout my life. This is not the experience of everyone, and many people need that higher level of support that a special needs school can offer.
Thirty years ago, children were regularly put into Special Needs School because the provision was there. This view was not questioned because it was commonly believed that disabled people were not educated. After all, they wouldn't be able to work anyway. The individual was not seen; until this was challenged, children with disabilities are now encouraged to attend mainstream schools. This is quite a recent change in my forty years of life. Thankfully more disabled people can experience mainstream education and are provided with more opportunities because of this. However, there is still a long way to go, and still many disabled people do not have the same chances that their able-bodied peers have through education and employment.
When looking at access, you need to think about all aspects, not just physical; these include:
- Access means physical access as well as access to the curriculum
- Awareness of the needs of disabled people and the barriers they may experience
- Acceptance that you may need to do things differently
- Appreciation of the effects of hidden difficulties, such as pain, tiredness and emotional stress
My experience with education has been very mixed, with some decisions that I have made throughout life being directly affected by my disability and the limitations. I started my education at a special needs school and continued on this road until 9 years old. All the knowledge I have had through my education in both a special needs school and in mainstream education has influenced my life and the person I have become now. The time in special needs education allowed me to become more independent and have much more access to services like Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy and Speech and Language Therapy sessions than if I had been in mainstream education from the start. Unfortunately, the main limitation of special needs education was that it did not challenge me at an academic level. If I had continued along this route, I would not have had the same opportunities I have had throughout my life. This is not the experience of everyone, and many people need that higher level of support that a special needs school can offer.
Thirty years ago, children were regularly put into Special Needs School because the provision was there. This view was not questioned because it was commonly believed that disabled people were not educated. After all, they wouldn't be able to work anyway. The individual was not seen; until this was challenged, children with disabilities are now encouraged to attend mainstream schools. This is quite a recent change in my forty years of life. Thankfully more disabled people can experience mainstream education and are provided with more opportunities because of this. However, there is still a long way to go, and still many disabled people do not have the same chances that their able-bodied peers have through education and employment.
There are still many occasions when decisions are made about a disabled child and what provision they should be provided, finding reasons for disabled children not going into a mainstream school just because the special needs school around the corner meets the child's needs. I feel this will lead to the overuse of special needs schools or SEN Unit's which provide the same level of segregation as a child going to a special needs school does.
My parents were always keen to get me into Mainstream Education and were prepared to fight but knew they had to be realistic about my needs and the red tape they would have to cut through. So they bided their time until my health improved, and they felt I would be able to cope in Mainstream Education.
After a while, my parents started the long process of trying to get me into Mainstream School. From what I gather, this took quite a while, and there was lots of compromising along the way because there was always a school 'more suitable for my needs' than perhaps was the one that my parents wanted me to attend. My parents wanted me to go to the local Lower School, but due to another school with better access in another village, it was agreed that this would be the school that I would attend.
To ensure that I coped, I was phased into the school, initially attending once a week, then twice etc. This was in Year 4 of Lower School. I coped well with this, and I would say this was a positive way for me. After a year of phased attendance, it was agreed that I would attend the same school for a further full year rather than progressing up to the next year because, at the time, my area worked on a 3 tier system within education, so I would have had to start afresh and change schools again when it was unknown whether I was going to cope or not. So rather than going up to Middle School with the pupils of my year, from this point, I was always a year behind my peers. In the UK, this is a very unusual process, only happening on rare occasions. I am glad this happened in my education rather than later on because I adjusted to the idea quite quickly. For the rest of my education, although I was always a year behind, more often than not, this wasn't noticeable.
Adjusting to Mainstream schooling was not always easy; I suddenly wasn't at the top of everything and had to work at being middle of the class. My teacher for the first full year at Lower School was what I needed. He did not put barriers in my way; he enabled me to be part of the education road ahead. I was encouraged to get my literacy and numeracy to the same level as other people in the class. By the time this year had finished, my literacy and numeracy skills had increased immensely, and in most areas, I was achieving average and above results. When attending the Special Needs School, these weren't seen as important as independence and mobility, which meant that I was at a disadvantage at the beginning of the year to many in the class. If you haven't got an education and qualifications to back up the independence and can-do attitude that I was encouraged to have, what is the point? The main reason for schooling and education is to prepare and give children opportunities that they might not have if they are not provided with a good education. This year meant I was academically set up for my future schooling and lowered some of the barriers put in place previously.
Although my first year of full-time Mainstream schooling was a success academically, there were some tough times. I was quite obviously different to the children who attended the school. Although I gained friendships, there were still several occasions that I fell foul to the children who didn't understand me or my disability, which led to times of bullying. This was hard as all I wanted was to be the same as everyone else and be liked by everyone. Thankfully there was little bullying at this time, but it did prepare me for what it could be like. Throughout the rest of my education, there were plenty more occasions I would learn what it is like to be at the end of a bullies harsh words. The children I went to school with were part of what provided me with a barrier to a full education. I was regularly bullied to the point that I would not want to attend school and pull a sickie to avoid putting myself through it. Although I was always good at doing my work and getting reasonable results, it made me wary of attending. It marred much of my experience of the education I received and limited some of my opportunities.
Before this year was out, my parents spent much time discussing what was best for me and the future education I would receive. Another hard decision had to be made by my parents, and although they wanted me to go to the same school as my peers, it was agreed that there was another school in a different village which could cater for my needs better. This meant I had to make new friends all over again, I tried to keep in contact with some, but this became more difficult the more time that passed. This led to a disjointed education again and gave me challenges that most children would never have to think about, let alone experience. Although things are improving, if you speak to most disabled children now, they will give you similar accounts.
My parents were always keen to get me into Mainstream Education and were prepared to fight but knew they had to be realistic about my needs and the red tape they would have to cut through. So they bided their time until my health improved, and they felt I would be able to cope in Mainstream Education.
After a while, my parents started the long process of trying to get me into Mainstream School. From what I gather, this took quite a while, and there was lots of compromising along the way because there was always a school 'more suitable for my needs' than perhaps was the one that my parents wanted me to attend. My parents wanted me to go to the local Lower School, but due to another school with better access in another village, it was agreed that this would be the school that I would attend.
To ensure that I coped, I was phased into the school, initially attending once a week, then twice etc. This was in Year 4 of Lower School. I coped well with this, and I would say this was a positive way for me. After a year of phased attendance, it was agreed that I would attend the same school for a further full year rather than progressing up to the next year because, at the time, my area worked on a 3 tier system within education, so I would have had to start afresh and change schools again when it was unknown whether I was going to cope or not. So rather than going up to Middle School with the pupils of my year, from this point, I was always a year behind my peers. In the UK, this is a very unusual process, only happening on rare occasions. I am glad this happened in my education rather than later on because I adjusted to the idea quite quickly. For the rest of my education, although I was always a year behind, more often than not, this wasn't noticeable.
Adjusting to Mainstream schooling was not always easy; I suddenly wasn't at the top of everything and had to work at being middle of the class. My teacher for the first full year at Lower School was what I needed. He did not put barriers in my way; he enabled me to be part of the education road ahead. I was encouraged to get my literacy and numeracy to the same level as other people in the class. By the time this year had finished, my literacy and numeracy skills had increased immensely, and in most areas, I was achieving average and above results. When attending the Special Needs School, these weren't seen as important as independence and mobility, which meant that I was at a disadvantage at the beginning of the year to many in the class. If you haven't got an education and qualifications to back up the independence and can-do attitude that I was encouraged to have, what is the point? The main reason for schooling and education is to prepare and give children opportunities that they might not have if they are not provided with a good education. This year meant I was academically set up for my future schooling and lowered some of the barriers put in place previously.
Although my first year of full-time Mainstream schooling was a success academically, there were some tough times. I was quite obviously different to the children who attended the school. Although I gained friendships, there were still several occasions that I fell foul to the children who didn't understand me or my disability, which led to times of bullying. This was hard as all I wanted was to be the same as everyone else and be liked by everyone. Thankfully there was little bullying at this time, but it did prepare me for what it could be like. Throughout the rest of my education, there were plenty more occasions I would learn what it is like to be at the end of a bullies harsh words. The children I went to school with were part of what provided me with a barrier to a full education. I was regularly bullied to the point that I would not want to attend school and pull a sickie to avoid putting myself through it. Although I was always good at doing my work and getting reasonable results, it made me wary of attending. It marred much of my experience of the education I received and limited some of my opportunities.
Before this year was out, my parents spent much time discussing what was best for me and the future education I would receive. Another hard decision had to be made by my parents, and although they wanted me to go to the same school as my peers, it was agreed that there was another school in a different village which could cater for my needs better. This meant I had to make new friends all over again, I tried to keep in contact with some, but this became more difficult the more time that passed. This led to a disjointed education again and gave me challenges that most children would never have to think about, let alone experience. Although things are improving, if you speak to most disabled children now, they will give you similar accounts.
The experience was much the same throughout the rest of my education, with having parents fighting for the right for me to have the education I deserved and having students who misunderstood me and my disability, leading to me being treated differently often due to my disability.
Once I left school, I did not go onto college or university straight away, partly for average reasons like not wanting to and not knowing what I wanted to do but also because it was much more of a challenge for me as I have to think about access issues rather than just what university has the best social scene. Several years later, I decided to improve my prospects through education by completing an Open University Degree. I am proud of my achievement in this as it was a very long road. The question of whether this will actually make a difference to my prospects is still unsure, but at least I can say I tried and have given myself as much chance to progress in life and get out of a job that has no prospects.
Many barriers to education I experienced could have been changed to positive experiences if there had been some simple changes in the way my education and my disability was approached. Referring back to the 4 points I discussed earlier, individuals and organisations need to think about these to achieve this. Through the education of adults and children, barriers to education no longer need to be an issue. We need to challenge the current disabling attitudes and practices. As a society, we need to give ALL our children the opportunities they deserve, not the select few.
Children learn about all aspects of life through education and is an important part of growing up; we need to teach children the most important lessons about life, not just algebra. Until disability becomes a normal part of life that children are used to, the message will stay the same, with adults giving well-meaning advice and information that they were taught by adults around them growing up. So it continues as it always has.
You said: "This above wording allows decisions to be made about a disabled child and what provision they should be provided, finding reasons for disabled children not go into a mainstream school just because the special needs school around the corner meets the needs of the child. I feel this will lead to the over use of special needs schools as it was when I was a child."
ReplyDeleteThat may be, but surely they are being aware of the falling school budgets for special education and materials. Mainstreaming of blind children has, I've read, been one of the main reasons of failling Braille literacy (schools barely keep up with purchases of printed schoolbooks, let alone Braille versions too, doubling costs). Yet knowing Brialle is associated with higher academic achievement, as well as simply giving a person more access to information in general.
Using something like Internet to connect special schools to mainstream schools with funding problems might be another option not listed in the Green Paper. In my school we also had kids who mainstreamed some classes but went to other buildings for other classes, depending on their needs. But, my tax district was fast-growing, going from small, poor and rural to wealthy and overbuilt. This meant most buildings for example were newer (and so physical accessibility was built-in rather than bolt-on) and budgets were lush for sports equipment and audio-visual devices (both for the yearbook staff and A/V students, but also for assisting the few disabled we had). The architect of the high school made room for a large elevator by the cafeteria. Meanwhile, the nearest urban district had decaying textbooks, hundred+ year old buildings, and oversized classes. No way they could adequately teach kids with any significant disabilities, especially not physical ones. Wheelchairs entered the main city school via the loading docks behind the cafeteria, which had lifts for the trucks delivering supplies. There was neither budget nor room to rebuild one of the multi-step entrances to a ramp or electric lift.
Of course ideally mainstream schools would get the budgets they need, but that's never something I'll hold my breath over.
It never fails. I can re-read and re-read, but I'll only see my horrid typos and misspellings *after* I've posted. Sigh. :)
DeleteThank you for your input, I do agree that there are times that a special needs school is what is needed and I do state this at the beginning of the post even if I do not explicitly state this is my view, I also state that every scenario is different and that I was only writing this post from my own experience and how I felt about my own experience of education rather than that which I was unfamiliar (apologies if this was not clear).
ReplyDeleteFunding is a big issue with regards to inclusive education and to ensure that each child receives the input that they require will always be a challenge whether in a mainstream or special needs school but I do not feel that sending a child to a special needs school just because it is cheaper is necessarily right for the child in question, which is what I feel will happen with the Green Paper (I am not saying this is what you have said, but felt that I needed to add this).
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ReplyDeleteGREAT READ. I'm a parent of a 9 year old girl with diplegic cp and the future scares me. The primary school she goes to is great. At least 1 special needs per year be it CP Downs or what ever. They get to school early every day to do physio. The school paid to train a TA to be a qualified physio. The kids regard my daughter as Ellie and not as the girl in the wheel chair. But what scares me is secondary school as this can be a evil and harsh environment. One a bright note her peers will be with her and i can only hope they stick by her. Here's wishing
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