Youth and disability

Last updated
ACPS Atlanta 1996 27 ACPS Atlanta 1996 Basketball Amanda Carter.jpg
ACPS Atlanta 1996

Approximately 180-220 million young people live with disabilities globally, with 80% living in the developing world, therefore lacking acess to education, healthcare and employment [1]. Disability includes physical, mental or mental illness. Many young people live a healthy and stable life, although people with disabilities may have more obstacles than those without because of their possible limitations, created by physical weakness and social incapacity..[ citation needed ]

Contents

Disability and education

Before the 1970s, there were no major federal laws that protected the civil or constitutional rights of Americans with disabilities. The civil rights movement started off the "disability rights movement", which focused on social and therapeutic services for those with disabilities, and in 1975 the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) was created. This law establishes the rights of children with disabilities to attend public schools, to receive services designed to meet their needs free of charge, and to receive instruction in regular education classrooms alongside non-disabled children. [1]

The IDEA also authorized federal grants to states to cover some of the costs of special education services for youth aged three to twenty-one. [1] Additions to the law focused on improving access to general education and curriculum (inclusion programs), developing appropriate assessments, implementing appropriate disciplinary procedures and alternative placements, and creating transition services for youth leaving the education system. This transition can be difficult for youth with a disability if it is too sudden- many of these youth struggle with the independence that graduation allows. In 2004, additions were made to promote better accountability for results, enhance parent involvement, encourage the use of proven practices and materials (increase research on current practices), and reduce administrative burdens for teachers, states and local school districts. Before 1975, only one in five children with identified disabilities attended public school, and many states explicitly excluded children with certain types of disabilities from school; these included children who were blind or deaf, and children labeled "emotionally disturbed" or "mentally retarded". [1]

Current special education system

The current special education system can offer many different supports and services including transportation, speech-language pathology and audiology services, psychological services, physical and occupational therapy, therapeutic recreation, counseling services including rehabilitation counseling, orientation, and mobility services, medical services for diagnostic or evaluation purposes, school health services, social work services in school, and parent counseling and training children. [1] Each unique student and their unique symptoms of their disability is going to require different supports from another youth with a disability (even if it is the same disability). Within the classroom, there are many different ways that teachers and administration can adjust their work to meet the needs of the youth in their classroom with disabilities. Just a few of these adaptations are curriculum modification, small-group or individual instruction, and teachers who are especially skilled in motivating students, adapting instructional materials, teaching reading skills and language arts, and managing student behaviors. Specific accommodations might include tutors or aides, more time for students to take tests, alternative tests or assessments, modified grading standards, slower-paced instruction, shorter or different assignments, more frequent feedback, a reader or interpreter, a peer tutor, or special behavior management approaches and programs. [1]

Challenges and hardships

Family effects

Being a youth with a disability can create a financial burden on the individual, as well as to those who provide care and support. Their families also incur extra direct and indirect costs. [2] Families with disabled youth spend money on health care, therapeutic, behavioral, or educational services; transportation; caregivers; and other special needs services. Indirect costs include reductions in parents' ability to work because of additional time that is required to care for a child with a disability combined with high costs or unavailability of adequate child care. This is a similar problem to one that many families face, but disabled youth may live at home longer or require more attention. [2] These costs alone can decrease the financial stability of a family. Having a child with disabilities increases the likelihood that the mother (or less often the father) will either curtail hours of work or stop working altogether. [2] One study showed that a decline in employment of 9% for mothers with a disabled child relative to all mothers, with a resultant estimate of approximately $3,150 in lost pay. In addition, mothers who continue to work are estimated to reduce time worked by around two hours a week, with a range of between half an hour and five hours a week. [2]

Families with more resources may be able to maintain financial stability, even with the financial strain of having a youth with a disability. These resources may provide treatment, affordable housing, therapy, etc. for a youth with special needs. As a conclusion from the research listed above, these children are more likely to be able to function independently from their family, and live on their own at an earlier age, than those from families that may not be able to afford these extra resources.

Poverty

Eighty percent of people with disabilities live in resource-poor societies. They are often considered to be a burden, and carry a very negative social stigma. Many are unable to contribute to society, attend school, or find work. [3]

Disabled youth in the justice system

In the justice system, youth are disproportionately male, poor and have significant learning or behavioral disabilities to the extent that they require services listed under the IDEA. [4] There are 1345,000 youth incarcerated in the U.S. system, and 30%-70% of these individuals are youth with disabilities. [4] Psychiatric disorders occur more often among prisoners than among those outside of prison. Such illnesses relate to at least some of the difficulties former inmates experience after they are released. [5] Those who were diagnosed with a mental disability may have a harder time readjusting to life outside of prison after being released; this often consists of repetition of crime, or difficulty maintaining independent stability financially or emotionally.[ citation needed ]

See also

Related Research Articles

Special education is the practice of educating students in a way that accommodates their individual differences, disabilities, and special needs. This involves the individually planned and systematically monitored arrangement of teaching procedures, adapted equipment and materials, and accessible settings. These interventions are designed to help individuals with special needs achieve a higher level of personal self-sufficiency and success in school and in their community, which may not be available if the student were only given access to a typical classroom education.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">School psychology</span> Branch of psychology

School psychology is a field that applies principles from educational psychology, developmental psychology, clinical psychology, community psychology, and behavior analysis to meet the learning and behavioral health needs of children and adolescents. It is an area of applied psychology practiced by a school psychologist. They often collaborate with educators, families, school leaders, community members, and other professionals to create safe and supportive school environments.

People with disabilities in the United States are a significant minority group, making up a fifth of the overall population and over half of Americans older than eighty. There is a complex history underlying the United States and its relationship with its disabled population, with great progress being made in the last century to improve the livelihood of disabled citizens through legislation providing protections and benefits. Most notably, the Americans with Disabilities Act is a comprehensive anti-discrimination policy that works to protect Americans with disabilities in public settings and the workplace.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Individuals with Disabilities Education Act</span> United States law

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is a piece of American legislation that ensures students with a disability are provided with a Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) that is tailored to their individual needs. IDEA was previously known as the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (EHA) from 1975 to 1990. In 1990, the United States Congress reauthorized EHA and changed the title to IDEA. Overall, the goal of IDEA is to provide children with disabilities the same opportunity for education as those students who do not have a disability.

An Individualized Education Program (IEP) is a legal document under United States law that is developed for each public school child in the U.S. who needs special education. It is created through a team of the child's parent(s) and district personnel who are knowledgeable about the child's needs. IEPs must be reviewed every year to keep track of the child's educational progress.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Youth detention center</span> Type of prison for people under the age of majority

In criminal justice systems, a youth detention center, known as a juvenile detention center (JDC), juvenile detention, juvenile jail, juvenile hall, or more colloquially as juvie/juvy, also sometimes referred as observation home or remand home is a prison for people under the age of majority, to which they have been sentenced and committed for a period of time, or detained on a short-term basis while awaiting trial or placement in a long-term care program. Juveniles go through a separate court system, the juvenile court, which sentences or commits juveniles to a certain program or facility.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mainstreaming (education)</span> Placing disabled students in regular classrooms

Mainstreaming, in the context of education, is the practice of placing students with special education needs in a general education classroom during specific time periods based on their skills. This means students who are a part of the special education classroom will join the regular education classroom at certain times which are fitting for the special education student. These students may attend art or physical education in the regular education classrooms. Sometimes these students will attend math and science in a separate classroom, but attend English in a general education classroom. Schools that practice mainstreaming believe that students with special needs who cannot function in a general education classroom to a certain extent belong in the special education environment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Inclusion (education)</span> Where disabled students spend most of their time with non-disabled students

Inclusion in education refers to all students being able to access and gain equal opportunities to education and learning. It arose in the context of special education with an individualized education program or 504 plan, and is built on the notion that it is more effective for students with special needs to have the said mixed experience for them to be more successful in social interactions leading to further success in life. The philosophy behind the implementation of the inclusion model does not prioritize, but still provides for the utilization of special classrooms and special schools for the education of students with disabilities. Inclusive education models are brought into force by educational administrators with the intention of moving away from seclusion models of special education to the fullest extent practical, the idea being that it is to the social benefit of general education students and special education students alike, with the more able students serving as peer models and those less able serving as motivation for general education students to learn empathy.

Special education in the United States enables students with exceptional learning needs to access resources through special education programs. These programs did not always exist. "The idea of excluding students with any disability from public school education can be traced back to 1893, when the Massachusetts Supreme Court expelled a student merely due to poor academic ability". This exclusion would be the basis of education for all individuals with special needs for years to come. In 1954, Brown v. Board of Education sparked the belief that the right to a public education applies to all individuals regardless of race, gender, or disability. Finally, special education programs in the United States were made mandatory in 1975 when the United States Congress passed the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (EAHCA) "(sometimes referred to using the acronyms EAHCA or EHA, or Public Law 94-142) was enacted by the United States Congress in 1975, in response to discriminatory treatment by public educational agencies against students with disabilities." The EAHCA was later modified to strengthen protections to students with disabilities and renamed the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). IDEA requires states to provide special education and related services consistent with federal standards as a condition of receiving federal funds.

In the U.S. the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is a special education law that mandates regulation for students with disabilities to protect their rights as students and the rights of their parents. The IDEA requires that all students receive a Free and Appropriate Public Education (FAPE), and that these students should be educated in the least restrictive environment (LRE). To determine what an appropriate setting is for a student, an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) team will review the student's strengths, weaknesses, and needs, and consider the educational benefits from placement in any particular educational setting. By law the team is required to include the student's parent or guardian, a general education teacher, a special education teacher, a representative of the local education agency, someone to interpret evaluation results and, if appropriate, the student. It is the IEP team's responsibility to determine what environment is the LRE for any given student with disabilities, which varies between every student. The goal of an IEP is to create the LRE for that student to learn in. For some students, mainstream inclusion in a standard classroom may be an appropriate setting whereas other students may need to be in a special education classroom full time, but many students fall somewhere within this spectrum. Students may also require supplementary aids and services to achieve educational goals while being placed in a classroom with students without disabilities, these resources are provided as needed. The LRE for a student is less of a physical location, and more of a concept to ensure that the student is receiving the services that they need to be successful.

In clinical diagnostic and functional development, special needs refers to individuals who require assistance for disabilities that may be medical, mental, or psychological. Guidelines for clinical diagnosis are given in both the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders and the International Classification of Diseases 9th edition. Special needs can range from people with autism, cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, dyslexia, dyscalculia, dyspraxia, dysgraphia, blindness, deafness, ADHD, and cystic fibrosis. They can also include cleft lips and missing limbs. The types of special needs vary in severity, and a student with a special need is classified as being a severe case when the student's IQ is between 20 and 35. These students typically need assistance in school, and have different services provided for them to succeed in a different setting.

A group home, congregate living facility, care home, adult family home, etc., is a structured and supervised residence model that provides assisted living and medical care for those with complex health needs. Traditionally, the model has been used for children or young people who cannot live with their families or afford their own homes, people with chronic disabilities who may be adults or seniors, or people with dementia and related aged illnesses. Typically, there are no more than six residents, and there is at least one trained caregiver there 24 hours a day. In some early "model programs", a house manager, night manager, weekend activity coordinator, and four part-time skill teachers were reported. Originally, the term group home referred to homes of 8 to 16 individuals, which was a state-mandated size during deinstitutionalization. Residential nursing facilities, also included in this article, may be as large in 2015 as 100 individuals, which is no longer the case in fields such as intellectual and developmental disabilities. Depending on the severity of the condition requiring one to need to live in a group home, some clients are able to attend day programs and most clients are able to live normal lifestyles.

Emotional and behavioral disorders refer to a disability classification used in educational settings that allows educational institutions to provide special education and related services to students who have displayed poor social and/or academic progress.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Learning disability</span> Range of neurodevelopmental conditions

Learning disability, learning disorder, or learning difficulty is a condition in the brain that causes difficulties comprehending or processing information and can be caused by several different factors. Given the "difficulty learning in a typical manner", this does not exclude the ability to learn in a different manner. Therefore, some people can be more accurately described as having a "learning difference", thus avoiding any misconception of being disabled with a lack of ability to learn and possible negative stereotyping. In the United Kingdom, the term "learning disability" generally refers to an intellectual disability, while conditions such as dyslexia and dyspraxia are usually referred to as "learning difficulties".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Intellectual disability</span> Generalized neurodevelopmental disorder

Intellectual disability (ID), also known as general learning disability in the United Kingdom and formerly mental retardation, is a generalized neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by significantly impaired intellectual and adaptive functioning. It is defined by an IQ under 70, in addition to deficits in two or more adaptive behaviors that affect everyday, general living. Intellectual functions are defined under DSM-V as reasoning, problem‑solving, planning, abstract thinking, judgment, academic learning, and learning from instruction and experience, and practical understanding confirmed by both clinical assessment and standardized tests. Adaptive behavior is defined in terms of conceptual, social, and practical skills involving tasks performed by people in their everyday lives.

Colegio Cristiano El Shaddai is a private bilingual toddlers-through-secondary education inclusive school, located in the north of Colombia, in the city of Barranquilla. It is accredited by the Colombian Ministry of National Education and certified by the European Foundation for Quality Management EFQM. It is also in the list of the Colombian high-ranking schools for infant education, published by the Colombian Association of Preschool Education. Its inclusive education program caters to both students with typical development and disabled children. Its special education students include boys and girls who have been diagnosed with autism, Down syndrome, learning disabilities, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and other behavior disorders. These students study along with their non-disabled peers.

Special education in China provides education for all disabled students.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Refugee children</span>

Nearly half of all refugees are children, and almost one in three children living outside their country of birth is a refugee. These numbers encompass children whose refugee status has been formally confirmed, as well as children in refugee-like situations.

Disability in China is common, and according to the United Nations, approximately 83 million people in China are estimated to have a disability.

Inclusive Classroom is a term used within American pedagogy to describe a classroom in which all students, irrespective of their abilities or skills, are welcomed holistically. It is built on the notion that being in a non-segregated classroom will better prepare special-needs students for later life. In the United States, the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 guaranteed civil rights to disabled people, though inclusion of disabled students progressed slowly until the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, after which almost half of US students with disabilities were soon in general classrooms.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Laudan, Aron; Loprest, Pamela (Spring 2012). "Disability and the Education System". The Future of Children. 22 (1): 97–122. doi:10.1353/foc.2012.0007. PMID   22550687. S2CID   28098844.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Stabile, Mark; Allin, Sara (2012). "The Economic Costs of Childhood Disability". The Future of Children. Princeton University. 22 (1): 65–96. doi:10.1353/foc.2012.0008. eISSN   1550-1558. ISSN   1054-8289. JSTOR   41475647. PMID   22550686. S2CID   14505413 . Retrieved 2022-04-30.
  3. Manderson, Lenore (June 2004). "Disability, Global Legislation and Human Rights". The Politics of Health. 47 (2): 29–35. doi:10.1057/palgrave.development.1100027. S2CID   83481163.
  4. 1 2 Quinn, Mary; Rutherford, Robert; Leone, Peter; Osher, David; Poirer, Jeffery (2005). "Youth with Disabilities in Juvenile Corrections: A National Survey". Exceptional Children. 71 (3): 339–345. doi:10.1177/001440290507100308. S2CID   10847028.
  5. Schnittker, Jason; Massoglia, Michael; Uggen, Christopher (2012). "Out and Down: Incarceration and Psychiatric Disorders" (PDF). Journal of Health and Social Behavior. 53 (4): 448–464. doi:10.1177/0022146512453928. PMID   23197484. S2CID   18970611 . Retrieved 23 October 2014.