“PRO-CHOICE IN THE EDUCATION OF STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES”

When it comes to the Special Schools Vs Inclusive Education, I am on neither side of the debate. Each child is an an individual and the type of education they receive, must always be reflected upon what is in their best interests.

I attended a special school up until I was 17 years old and while I have very happy memories of my childhood, my education suffered due to attending a special school. I went to school in a time where “special school” was considered the “norm” for most children with disabilities.

At the age of 17, I was eventually enrolled in a “mainstream” school, where I thrived. I would of benefited from attending a mainstream school at a much earlier age.

At the age of 30, I volunteered at a special school for students with severe intellectual and physical disabilities, as well as complex medical needs-for some of these students, attending a special school could not be considered to be in their best interests.

All too often in this debate, people take the “blanket approach” . Either all students with disabilities should attend a “special school” or they should attend a “mainstream school”. This issue is not that black and white and what works for one student, may not work for another.

For advocates of inclusive education -have they really thought about the inner workings of inclusion in reality?

If you have a student with severe physical and intellectual disabilities as well as complex medical issues, who needs to be peg fed, changed three times a day and needs to lie down at certain times of the day-how can this happen in a mainstream classroom?

I’m not saying that can’t happen, I’m saying, have we really thought about how this would happen? All children are individuals and have different needs, we must be able to meet the educational needs of all students.

If special schools are to be phased out as recommended by the Disability Royal Commission, we must go back to the drawing board, when it comes to inclusive education.

Senator Jordon Steele-John has stated that by having children attend segregated school settings, we are subjecting them to loneliness, and abusive practices which are unacceptable.

However, anecdotal evidence presented by the Royal Commission has shown that children who attend mainstream settings can equally be subjected to loneliness and abusive practices at school.

Senator Steele John also stated that special schools should be phased out by 2030. I think this is an unrealistic target, this is a process that we must get right, otherwise we risk doing more harm than good to students with disabilities.

Education Minister Jason Clare said it was incumbent on the federal, state and territory governments to implement the commission's recommendations.

Minister Clare told Sky News "We need to make sure that children get the sort of education that they need, and there's a lot that we do at the moment in providing that support for students,"

Choices shouldn’t be made to appease the opponents of special or inclusive education , but rather on the best interests of each individual student with a disability.