Challenges
#1: Dublin-Belfast Group of 8
Everyone felt that the major challenge we all face is how we as individuals or as
part of services, schools or other organizations work within an increasingly inclusive
society and educational environment. We believe that our group is itself representative
of the trends for reconciliation within the island of Ireland and we are grateful
for this opportunity to meet together and reflect on where we are professionally
within the Inclusion Debate, how technology may help the young people and/or adults
with whom we work have better or easier access to educational/training opportunities
and to consider the way forward.
Members of our group are drawn from a wide range of tings from segregated to fully
inclusive and have shared interests in the application of technology — all
of which should facilitate an excellent exchange of information etc and help each
person plan for his/her evolving role within a period of rapid change.
#2: McGovern and O’Hagan, Belfast
At present one of our greatest challenges is managing change within the learning
disability programm. We are currently going through a review of day care. This is
looking at community opportunities within our own areas, can be difficult to find
accessible buildings, complete with appropriate equipment such as
IT, leisure and relaxation activities. In addition, at present our
IT resources are limited and do
not include access for our service users.
#3: Moore, Belfast
My current greatest challenge is trying to ensure that pupils with Profound and
Multiple Learning Difficulties (PMLD) are as actively involved in teaching and learning
activities within my class, as their more able peer group. In September I will be
teaching children with
PMLD for the first time so this will be a big challenge for me!
#4: Lally, Belfast
My greatest challenge is due to take place in September. For the past 12 years I
have worked with children with autism and challenging behaviour. As I’m sure
you know this type of work requires a very specific way of thinking and working.
However, in September I will be working with pupils who do not have autism and think
that I will find this very difficult to adjust to. I will be working with a range
of pupils. All have a severe learning difficulty. There will be a total of 9 pupils.
3 have ASD, 3 have profound and multiple learning difficulties (PMLD), one has ASD and
PMLD and the remainder have global developmental delay. This group
would have a range of abilities. The group are aged 9 - 12 years.
You could say that I’ve been institutionalized! I’m not sure how anyone
can help me with this issue but I thought that I’d share it with you anyway!
#5: Pawelski, New York
Having an inclusive society is the ultimate goal… and education is the KEY
to realizing that goal. I am often in the situation to put together training materials,
CD-ROMs, activities that introduce the issue of disability to diverse groups…
sometimes involving folks from a variety of disciplines, general education teachers
or professionals. My challenge is that I often don’t have a lot of time to introduce
the topic/issues/concerns, and there is no one type of person with a disability.
I am always looking for more effective strategies, tools, activities to “get
the points across”… to help make the impact without dramatizing the
situations or individuals with disabilities in extraordinary ways.
Looking for ideas or ways others have attempted to do this. Creativity is key here
and trying to have individuals walk away and remember… think… challenge
them to make it happen and be open to considering the needs of people with disabilities
in diverse learning situations.
#6: Dille, New York
My biggest challenge is compromised of two related issues: 1. Being able to facilitate
and provide the needed support for students with severe autism while maintaining
and increasing each student’s autonomous functioning; and 2. Being able to
have staff provide each student’s needed support in an autonomously supportive
manner in which the student is increasing their capacity to self regulate and ultimately
acquires and maintains self determined behavior.
The biggest obstacle for this happening is intact belief systems and trying to convince
well meaning staff that regardless of the nature of the disability students are
first people who have innate desires to be autonomous and competent. Staff are well-meaning
as most believe they are doing their job efficiently if they are consistently prompting
the student through daily activities rather than fading out and providing students
with more choice options and opportunities to function autonomously.
My specific question for our time together is — what can we do to change
belief systems overall in regard to disability? And what hands on (no
pun intended) changes can be done right now in the schools to change practices?
#7: Bursztyn, New York
Help staff embrace inclusion as their core mission — instead of clinging to
the traditional belief: “Only we can do right by these unwanted and defenseless
children.”
#8: Goossens’, New York
When serving students with physical handicaps, classroom transitions seem to be
very challenging. Considerable time is lost in physically ting up for activities,
waiting for students to return from therapies/medical, waiting for students to use/return
from the bathrooms.
LOOKING for ideas on how to deal more efficiently with transitions
from one activity to the next. How are you addressing this dilemma at your site?
#9: Marinese, New York
I’m working with a small group at HVS who are attempting to approach
New York State regarding their guidelines for the
ELA standardized test that is administered to grades 3 through 8.
It is then administered again in grade 11 and is then called the Regents Examination.
In any case, one portion of the test is “reading” and students are not
allowed to have this portion read to them as it is a “reading” test.
(It may be worth as much at 60% of the test.) The fact is that many of our students
cannot read for physical reasons having to do with their disability. This means
these students will fail the tests administered in grades 3-8. The 11th grade version
is allowed to be read. The earlier tests are considered “diagnostic”
and therefore supposedly dictate academic intervention services.
However, we are attempting to convince New York State that physical disabilities
cannot be corrected with AIS and therefore our students require access to
text. Since the test is a comprehension test and does not truly address the decoding
skills it is actually measuring, we would like to find a way to convince the state
that our students must have the test read. Just as blind students need Brialle (an
alternative method); our students need a reader. The state argues that in the end
(at the commencement level), the test is read and does not prevent graduation. We
argue that for six years, it tells our students that they cannot comprehend information
as well as their peers (affects self-esteem), and pretends that we are correcting
(AIS) a problem when, in fact, we are not. Instead, our students should be working
on programs such as Kurzweil to master what they need to access text. In any case,
this is my battle at the moment, and I would like to receive permission to enlist
parents and to lobby Albany.
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