Seeing the blind in education
Governor David Paterson’s 52nd veto may have seemed nondescript, but it shed light on both his personal journey and the evolution of education for people with disabilities over the past generation.
Under the bill in question, Newsday reported today, parents of blind or deaf children would have received mandatory information from their local school district about special state-run schools for the deaf and blind.
In Paterson's view:
"Providing parents with information about only one educational option, our state-operated facilities, might lead some parents to discount the full range of options that might be appropriate and available for their children,"
The Governor grew up legally blind, and rather than placing him in a segregated educational setting, his family sought out a public school system on Long Island that enabled him to attend “mainstream” classes.
While Paterson went on to thrive intellectually and professionally, there is nonetheless an ongoing debate in the disability community over how best to meet the needs of blind and deaf students. Does a child benefit more from specialized schooling or a more integrative approach? How do you foster equality of opportunity but at the same time recognize unique needs?
An international conference hosted by the Disability Action Council convened a round table in 2005 to discuss both the value of inclusion and the policy obstacles that hinder true educational equity for people with disabilities.
Recently, Ian Hamilton wrote in Scotland's Herald about some of the practical and ethical dilemmas of mainstreaming blind students. He reflects on his own experience with visual impairment:
“Blind children need to be taught that they have a rightful place in the visual world and also to have confidence that they are being taught the right range of skills from as young an age as possible. Being the only blind person in the classroom with the talking computer and the classroom assistant only highlights the fact that you are different from everyone else. Peer support is vital….“The difficulty is that it all comes down to individual circumstances. For example, the involvement of parents by giving them proper information and choices; how confident the child feels about their blindness; does the school have the proper resources in place to support a blind child; and do they have a positive attitude to make integration within the classroom actually happen?”
The piece evoked a counterargument from Sarah, a blogger with a disability who received her education through a mainstream program:
“If I had not gone to mainstream schools, I would never have believed that I had a place in able-bodied society.”
As for the feelings of alienation that might come from being the only student with a disability in the classroom:
“… these things were well worth the embarrassment that they caused. Because making me feel different was not all that they did. They also taught two mainstream schools full of able-bodied children and teachers about life with a disability. If even one of them sees a disabled person today and doesn’t discriminate against them because they think of me, then it was all worth it.”
Paterson’s veto was a seemingly mild statement, but it illuminated one aspect of a community that mainstream institutions often render invisible.
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Comments (1)
Thank you so much for linking to my piece and for cross posting extracts of it.