Teach Now (Teaching Certification): Policy I Feel Strongly About

Module 2 Unit 1 Activity 2 (Part 2)

Improvement with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)

            One of the core principles for the IDEA is the Zero reject-child find. This principle states that in public education, no student should be excluded because they have a disability and that each state must step in to place children who may be permitted to have special education services.

            I believe that this part of the IDEA really helps and encourages disabled children to be put into a regular classroom with other children, and also influences students to have these children in their schools. This is very important for the child with the disability as they will not only be able to get a chance at getting an education, but it will also help them learn one of the biggest skills that we learn at school which is socializing. We as humans are social beings and it is very important that children get to be with their peers, interact with them, and grow with them at the same time. It also helps regular children be more knowledgeable, less afraid, and more understanding of others who may be a little different. By knowing them they may also learn compassion and be over all accepting of others in the future.

            In my personal experience I have visited many third world countries and I occasionally see disabled children in the street, at hours when they should clearly be at school. It is really heartbreaking to see them in the middle of the day, not attending school, and instead sometimes begging on the streets without having anywhere to go. They are not only children with disabilities, but they enter another category being out-of-school children. I have seen some disabled children with their parents, but rarely out with other children their age, or just being kids. The schools don’t provide facilities for them and they are mostly excluded from receiving the education they deserve. Also children their age do not seem to include them in activities they are involved in and essentially these children become outcasts in society. If this were to be the case in the U.S., the only people that could get help in these types of situations would be the elite as they would have the means to do so.

            An act like the IDEA would really prevent disabled children to be left out with no help, or depending on the type of parents they have, left to their own means. Though there may be a few negative aspects to this act, the positive aspects really outweigh them. Although all children are unique, they are more alike than different and certainly if possible, they should be given a chance to equally live in their society without being segregated.

Resources: 

1. Including Students with Special Needs, Marilyn Friend/William D. Bursuck, 6th Edition,    2012.

2. http://www.education.com/reference/article/six-major-principles-idea/

3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Individuals_with_Disabilities_Education_Act 

4. http://naturespathways.com/healthy-kids/item/1524-the-importance-of-socialization-for-kids-with-disabilities

5. http://www.globalpartnership.org/focus-areas/out-of-school-children