Inclusion in Relation to Students with a Specific Disability or Special Need - Coursework Example

INCLUSION IN RELATION TO WITH A SPECIFIC DISABILITY OR SPECIAL NEED It is good to live in asociety which upholds inclusion. However, in most of our set up, inclusion does not apply. There are legislations around inclusion, which involves the educational settings. They give us an opportunity to work as a team in order to realize inclusion. In addition to this, children who have vision impairment (VI) will have a chance to be included in the educational setting without discrimination. However, with this, there may be practical implications as a practitioner. Adjustments and adaptations need to be made in order to have everyone in the class succeed and be in a safe environment. This has allowed the society to understand the diagnosis procedures and have allowed those with vision impairment to feel the sense of belonging. As a result the visually impaired gain confidence and are able to succeed in life. Inclusion also provides them with great opportunities in terms of future economic empowerment. What inclusion is, the legislation around it and how it applies in the education settings. Inclusion involves involvement of all students in the learning process within a classroom set up without exclusion (Loreman, Deppeler, Harvey, 2011). The school and teachers are required to support all students, without discrimination. Inclusion dictates that there be no discriminating against any person on the basis of physical impairment. It can also involve extra guidance for the student throughout the day. Through this, the differences of students are valued. These differences can include culture, gender, religion, sexuality, ability, socio economic status and any other way a students may be (Loreman, Deppeler& Harvey, 2011). By inclusion, the families of the students and their close ones feel appreciated. This will allow the differences to be celebrated other than be regretted. Self-esteem for the students is also boosted. Nevertheless, inclusion, can as well be seen to cater for all forms of diversity (Loreman, Deppeler, Harvey, 2011) and through this, every student in school becomes part of the normal schooling system. Through inclusion, the needs of all students are met in order to bring up the best of the students. A good example of legislation around inclusion is the Disability Standards for Education (2005) which resulted from the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (Anon, nd). The Acts are formed in order to prevent possible discrimination against those with disabilities. Therefore, this legislation does apply to educational settings due to the fact that in the Act, Section 22 makes it clear that it is illegal for any educational authority to discriminate against someone who has a disability (Anon, nd). Through the legislation, (Parts 4 to 8) it show how students with disabilities are to access education. It mentions participation, enrolment to services that support students, curriculum development and no harassment at all (Anon, nd). Hence, this legislation allows the students to be involved in an educational setting and the evidence of inclusion (Anon, nd). Another law that is around inclusion is the NSW Anti-Discrimination Act 1977, in which it is illegal to discriminate against physical impairment. It therefore supports adoption of inclusion within education settings. It is thus illegal to discriminate against any student and so all students need be included in the participation in the classroom (Anon, 1977). Discussion The disability that I have chosen to examine is vision impairment (VI) with special attention on reduced vision. This is when a person is not able to see as much as the normal person does. It could affect their daily lives, resulting in the need for special attention. In this regard, the teacher in the classroom is required to accommodate the children even with the reduced vision. Children who have vision impairment may depend more on other senses such as hearing and touching senses (Davis & Hopwood, 2007). However, in Australia, children who have vision impairments are greatly educated (Morris & Sharma, 2011). Teachers and support staff do attempt to make sure that the children with the impairments meet their educational and daily schooling needs. Types of vision impairments include albinism, anirdia, cataracts, glaucoma, hemianopia, macular degeneration, nystagmus, optic atrophy, retinispigmentosa, retinopathy of prematurity, squints, myopia, hypermetropia, astigmatism and errors of refraction (Mason, 2001). The characteristics of a person with visual impairment, specifically reduced vision include their limited eye sight. When a child is to concentrate for a long time doing work or focusing on a specific thing, he/she may get visually fatigued hence they may need some time to rest. Rest helps their eyes to rest and so very vital (Davis & Hopwood, 2007). Inflamed eyes or eyes that are bloodshot are also symptoms of impairment. More so, it is problematic for the children whose eyes are not comfortable in light that is bright (Mason, 2001). Other characteristics include rubbing the eyes and movements of the eyes that are not normal. The eyes of these children lack the usual movements such as the common quick horizontal or vertical movement (Mason, 2001). Moreover, persistent headaches, paining eyes, dizziness, bumping on objects, poor balance may be also be indicators of visual impairment (Mason, 2001). However, characteristics of a diagnosed student with visual impairment may include better sight on intervals. They are able to see well occasionally though not on regular basis. Though they cannot easily scan read nor have quick glance on reading materials, they gradually adapt socially and feel part of the class (Yanoff, 2006). According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics in 2009, it is indicated that approximately 300,000 people in Australia have visual impairment. The ABS indicates the frequency of occurrence from 292,700 to expand to the amount of 421,600 in 15 years from when the census was taken (Anon, nd). Some pregnancy complications when the foetus is developing can have effect on the baby and cause visual impairment. Good example is maternal rubella which results in the infant having visual impairment (Farrell, 2006). Other causes can include infections, brain tumours or injuries and in some cases diabetes complications (Farrell, 2006). Nevertheless, while some visual impairment may become worse as the children grow older or over time, others may get improved vision over time (Holbrook, 2006). More specifically, as the brain and eyes work together, there can be ways in which our vision gets impaired. Other causes of visual impairment can also include structural impairments, or damage of parts of the eyes, refractive errors or a problem with the eyes in focusing images on the retina from the back. Cortical visual impairment also involves some damage from the brain that understands visual information (Holbrook, 2006). Children born with visual impairment are easy to tell. In other cases, visual impairment may be detected in later stages. However, it is a professional who determines the type of visual impairment and diagnosis it. Such professionals include ophthalmologists or optometrist. Diagnoses include glasses which can be provided to the person in order to have their vision become clearer. Also contact lenses can be given instead of vision glasses as some people may have lack of confidence from vision glasses (Holbrook, 2006). In addition, people also undergo through surgery in order for their vision to be restored or improved (Holbrook, 2006). Examples of Classroom implications and the possible adjustments to be made Practical implications in a classroom set up include; making sure that students with visual impairment are not left out, teaching them the curriculum and making sure they understand the work due to their reduced vision which disadvantage them from proper sight. Teachers may adjust by having the suffering students sit in front. The outstanding implication of visual impairment to many students is poor performance. The failure of the student to correctly see the writings on books or better still on the writing board would ultimately lead to such poor performance. Therefore special adjustments are mandatory in order to help the students with such cases. One of the ways that could be adopted as earlier alluded to is by proper sitting arrangements in the classrooms. The students with such impairment would be reserved the front seats in order to have them get closer to the teachers aid and the writing board. This reduces the strain while reading the inscriptions on the wall. Other adjustments include, enlarging writing font for the students. One can also get reading books with larger writings. Moreover, by the use of readable writing styles while printing, may aid the process of learning for the students (Yanoff, 2006). Another implication could involve, having the student forget glasses at home for those who use them. Special arrangements to have the glasses brought to the students would serve as an adjustment. This does allow the students to continue with their schooling and being involved in the classroom setting without being disadvantaged. One could also provide magnifying glasses and this could also be an adjustment in an effort to assist the student see clearer. The magnifying glass could also be provided for the rest of the class and an activity can be done in order for ‘inclusion’ to take place. This allows the students to feel included in all aspects of learning. There occur some effects, socially and emotionally to the impaired students (Mason, 2001). The student with reduced vision develop have low self-esteem, and feel left out due to the disability. A proper adjustment could involve asking the other students to help out when doing a demonstration in the class, as this will allow the student to see clearer and not feel excluded. Moreover this would allow the student to understand the class work as they are able to see and get involved. Also giving the student positive feedback on their work will increase their confidence. As the students’ vision is reduced, listening is an important aspect of their lives. They use their hearing senses more to complement the impairment. Therefore, the teacher may have to get adapted to speak clearly in order for the student to understand what is being taught. However, there are special adaptations which can help the students. These include; talking books and computer programs that use speech that is synthesised (Farrell, 2006). The teacher can also prepare activities for the whole class which involve computers in order to have all the students participate. This would allow the synthesised programs to be put in place without any discrimination or lack of confidence as no one will be left out. In conclusion, there are legislations already in place for inclusion. It is illegal to discriminate against people with physical impairment and this applies even to education settings. There are a few laws in Australia that are around inclusion. Students with reduced vision may be affected; however, there are adjustments and adaptations that can be put in place in order for all students to succeed. Therefore, inclusion should be upheld within learning institutions in order to avoid the issue of discrimination against such impairments. Equality in regards to teaching and learning should be upheld for the common welfare of all. References Anon, 1977. Anti-Discrimination Act 1977. Retrieved March 15, 2013, from Anon. nd. Advancing the equitable inclusion of people with disability in all aspects of business. Australian network on disability. Retrieved on March 18, 2013, from Australian Bureau of Statistics: Davis, P. & Hopwood, V. 2007. Inclusion for children with visual impairment in the mainstream primary classroom. Education 3-13: International Journal of Primary, Elementary and Early Year Education, 30(1), 41-46. Farrell, M. 2006. The effective Teachers Guide, Sensory Impairment and Physical disability: Practical Strategies. London & New York: Routledge. Holbrook, C. M. 2006. Children with Visual Impairments: A Parent’s Guide. United States: Woodbine House. Loreman, T. D. 2011. Inclusive education: Supporting diversity in the classroom. ALLEN & UNWIN. Mason, H. L. 2001. spotlight on Special Educational Needs: Visual Impairment. NASEN. Morris, C. & Sharma, U., 2011. Facilitating the Inclusion of Children With Vision Impairment: Perspectives of Itinerant Support Teachers. 35(2), 191-203. Ruddock, 2005. Disability Standards for Education (DTE). Retrieved March 15, 2013. Web. Yanoff, J. C. 2006. Classroom Teachers Inclusion Handbook: Practical Methods for Integrating Students with Special Needs. USA: Arthur Coyle Press. Read More