Educators and Students with Disabilities - Essay Example

To support the process government has also provided federal funding at times and encouraged states to help educators in the process. Through various legislative measures, the government has made efforts to eliminate any form of discrimination against students with disabilities (Goldenson, 1978). The Rehabilitation Act of 1973, for the first time, emphasized that no discrimination should occur against disabled students in determining any state funding or scholarship opportunities.

After observing a weak implementation of the law, it was final that stringent measures are required to help accelerate the process of developing accommodation facilities within the educational system (Iovacchini & Marion, 1983). It is a moral obligation of the educators to provide for students with disabilities, to help them succeed and integrate into the social setup. The US Department of Education, thereby, banned any form of discrimination against any student with mental or physical impairment, in 1988. Research shows that a wide majority of teachers and educators believe that students with disabilities deserve equal opportunities and should not face any form of discrimination at school or work. However, at the same time only around a third of them believe that they have adequate resources available to provide a quality learning experience to students facing any major disability (Aksamit, Leuenberger & Morris, 1987). They also believe that little infrastructure is available in schools to accommodate such students and little or no training is provided to teachers to effectively assist such students. Finally, teachers think they do not have adequate time to cater to the individual needs of disabled students.

            In it, important to bear in mind that the relative number of students reporting a disability, is increasing every few years, and therefore, it is important to cater to the needs of this segment (Kolstoe, 1978). Due to medical advancement, a large number of disabled individuals can now live up to a normal age. This means that they need assistance to achieve their career goals and to advance in education. “Students with disability have been largely unrepresented in the engineering departments and scientific fields” (DeLoach, 1992). However, the number has significantly increased in other disciplines over the last decade. Students in private schools have been more satisfied with the attitude of educators towards meeting their needs. Similarly, better equipment is available in private universities to facilitate students facing disabilities.

Students with disabilities need assistance in a morally responsible way, such as students with hearing disabilities must be another student who is ready to volunteer to take notes for him. In addition, the use of computer software has made the process of facilitation of disabled students much simpler (Brown, 1992). Lastly, I believe that federal funding and resources need to be available for further improving the quality of life of students facing disabilities. Students should have accommodations and facilities to integrate them into the system and let them feel secure. Certainly, progress is evident during the past few years to improve the treatment given to students with disabilities, but a lot more needs to be done to achieve the desired goals.