Disability:

Should students with disability be integrated in

regular classrooms?
Roadmap:
The Controversy: A brief introduction
Key Terms
History of Special Education in Ontario
A Legal Perspective
Labelling & Intersectionality
Arguments for inclusion
Arguments against inclusion
Our Rhizomatic, Non-binary, Non-concluding Exit Point
A Brief Intro: Understanding the question
Should students with disabilities be integrated in
regular classrooms?
- Brief contextualization of debate:
YES: it is essential to have them included
NO: it is unbeneficial for the learning of disabled
students
Some Key Umbrella Terms
Brought forth by the Education Act -

- Exceptionalities: behavioral, communicational,

intellectual, physical and multiple
- Exceptional Pupil
- Special Education Program
 1960s - decade of educational reform

lobby groups

1968, Hall-Dennis Report, Living and Learning: The Report of

Special the Provincial Committee on Aims and Objectives of
Education in Education in the Schools of Ontario

Ontario: A the right for every individual to have equal access to

learning
History in a
Nutshell 1970s - further reform

funding

Early Identification Program

 1980s - focus on Spec. Ed.
Special Bill 82
Education in 1990s - Meeting Spec. Ed. Needs...ish
Ontario: A
their inclusion
History in a
Nutshell shortcoming: 1993 budget cuts in education
Stigma & Stereotyping
Surrounding Students with
Exceptionalities
 Examples of Stigma & Stereotypes:

A disability is something to be fixed, an abnormality to be corrected or cured.

People with disabilities are helpless and dependent.

Those with disabilities are innocent and endowed with a special grace, which
functions as a mechanism to inspire others to value life.
 Reducing Stigma & Stereotypical Thoughts Towards Those With Disability

Think before you speak: Words carry

hidden meanings
Use People First Language. The person
needs to come before the attribute.
Create: Understanding, Awareness &
Acceptance.
Exposure.

The Ontario Ministry of Education NOT using

People First Language is problematic.

(From the Ministrys 2017 Version of Special

Education in Ontario: Policy & Resource Guide.
Page A9.)
Defining Exceptionalities as per the Ontario
Ministry of Education
 BEHAVIOURAL
Behavioural Exceptionality:

A learning disorder characterized by specific behaviour problems over such a period of time, and to such a
marked degree, and of such a nature, as to adversely affect educational performance and that may be
accompanied by one or more of the following:

a. an inability to build or to maintain interpersonal relationships;

b. b. excessive fears or anxieties;

c. c. a tendency to compulsive reaction;

d. d. an inability to learn that cannot be traced to intellectual, sensory, or other health factors, or any
combination thereof.
 COMMUNICATIONAL
Autism: A Neurodevelopmental disorder
Measured on a spectrum

Deaf and Hard of Hearing

Language Impairment
 COMMUNICATIONAL
Speech Impairment: A disorder in language formulation
Learning Disability: One of a number of neurodevelopmental disorders that has an impact on the ability to learn and use
academic and other skills
results in
(a) academic underachievement that is inconsistent with the intellectual abilities of the student
(b) academic achievement that can be maintained by the student only with extremely high levels of effort and/or with
additional support;
 INTELLECTUAL

Mild Intellectual Disability: A learning disorder characterized by:

a. an ability to profit educationally within a regular class with the aid of considerable curriculum modification
and support services;

b. an inability to profit educationally within a regular class because of slow intellectual development;

c. a potential for academic learning, independent social adjustment, and economic self support.
 INTELLECTUAL

Developmental Disability: A severe learning disorder characterized by:

a. an inability to profit from a special education program for students with mild intellectual disabilities because
of slow intellectual development;

b. an ability to profit from a special education program that is designed to accommodate slow intellectual
development;

c. a limited potential for academic learning, independent social adjustment, and economic self-support.
 PHYSICAL
Physical Disability: A condition of such severe physical limitation or deficiency as to require special assistance in
learning situations

Blind and Low Vision: A condition of partial or total impairment of sight or vision that even with correction affects
educational performance adversely

M U LT I P L E
Multiple Exceptionalities: A combination of learning or other disorders
PROS - Arguments for Inclusion

*Disclaimer: data collected based on studies focusing on students with

disabilities that are intellectual, cognitive, non-verbal, sensory,
non-ambulatory, developmental, and multiple. The range of those
disabilities are mild to severe.
Academic Setting

- Improvement of academic achievement for both students with and without disabilities (Besic et al,
2017; Wishart & Manning, 1996)

- promotion of multi-level learning, due to differentiated instruction (Bennett & Gallagher, 2013)

- Use of technology in classrooms = better for both students with disabilities and those without -
access to resources they would not have otherwise (Bennett & Gallagher, 2013)
Social Setting

- According to Carter et al. from Vanderbilt University and Wisconsin-Madison University, individuals
with severe disabilities developed good relations with their peers, and in some cases friendships
developed (2016, p. 210).

- In both groups, individuals with and without disabilities, show an improvement in self-esteem and
confidence (Besic et al., 2017; Moberg, 2003, p. 424).

- The students without disabilities gain an increase in understanding advocacy and diversity (Bennett &
Gallagher, 2013, p.102).

- Inclusion is a social justice right (United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with
Disabilities)
Recent Development
- Peer supplementary aid makes it feasible for students with severe disabilities to
attend public general education high school (Carter et al,, 2016)

- students learn off of one another

- social development

- peer support arrangement aids with classroom management - allows

teacher to know what to teach and with which strategies
CONS

Arguments against inclusion of students with

exceptionalities in Canadian classrooms
To consider...
- Student Safety
- Resources & Budget
- Classroom environment
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Ontario Teachers Calling for

Action on Student Violence
by Alan Kan on September 25, 2017
in NewsHot Topics
 A RHIZOMATIC EXIT(s)...
Using Gilles Deleuze and Flix Guattaris rhizomatic concept, we are embracing a
multiplicitous exit from this discussion. Characterized by connection and
heterogeneity, the rhizomatic concept serves not only to characterize our exit(s),
but functions also as a meta-level treatment of our subject itself.

To that end...
Understanding disability will not be realized through essentialist discourse. Disability manifests not
only as a spectrum within categories, but a web between categories.

We all believe in equity for marginalized groups and care for the well-being of all students.
However, we differ in how feasible we believe inclusion to be, and how best to achieve the
well-being of our students.
 Inclusion is a noble ideal- but for some students inclusion is unfeasible in practice both now
and in the future.
Inclusion to be unfeasible now, but possible in a future whose infrastructure provided adequate
accessibility, support and attitudinal change.
Inclusion, while difficult, is an immediate imperative (especially by all non-marginalized,
able-bodied priveledged power holders) for any bona fide disruption to current systemic
barriers, discrimination and inequity faced by students with exceptionalities.
Some of our group subscribe to the medical or expert/professional model of disability, believing the
current framework of identifying the limitations of, and taking the necessary action/adjustment that
would lead to fixing, or bettering the lot of the exceptional student, to be correct.

Others in our group believe the current model to be paternalistic and hegemonic, and subscribe
instead to a social model of disability that posits that "disability" is something created by external
societal factors such as a lack of accessibility, negative attitudes and exclusionary practices by
society.
Closely tied to frameworks, is the issue of normalization- which is also varied in the group. Some of us believe
normalizing protocols to be correct and necessary, some of us believe they are necessary but not necessarily
correct, and some of us believe they are neither correct nor necessary.
Inherent to acceptance or rejection of normalization is the extent of otherization of exceptional students.

believe the difference between exceptional and regular students is irreconcilable within their pedagogy,
believe otherization to be endemic to current curriculum frameworks and beyond the scope of influence
of a single teacher,
believe the concept of regular students to be absurd and that through universal and differentiated
learning strategies, individualized approach, and adaptive expertise a teacher can (and must) learn how to
teach all students.
The last point in our exit addresses student well-being and our different conceptions on how best to achieve
it. We all acknowledge belonging as a fundamental human need. We all acknowledge that self-concept,
self-efficacy and self-esteem are intrinsically tied to our experience of belonging. Where we differ as a
group is in what environment we see belonging most likely to manifest for the exceptional student.

Most of the group does not support inclusion because of the belief that belonging is more likely achieved for
an exceptional child outside of a regular classroom. It is the opinion of most of the group that violence
manifested by students with exceptionalities will not only affect the experience of belonging for those
students, but will also have a detrimental affect on the ability of the whole class to feel safe and experience
belonging.
Conversely, some in the group believe that inclusion is not contingent on safe spaces, but rather
brave spaces. Some believe that violence is a symptom of the anxiety, depression, grief, and a
general emotional deficit suffered by those whose belonging needs are not being met within
non-inclusive environments where inclusion is practiced poorly. Discovering difference, negotiating
unknowns and practicing inclusion well, demands a vulnerability that does not feel safe or
comfortable but is necessary for equity and well-being to ever be possible.

There is no one remedy, there is no singular solution.

An Excerpt From
A Message from the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario
The Hon. David C. Onley O. Ont.

As the first Lieutenant Governor of Ontario with a physical disability, I have adopted accessibility as
the overarching theme of my term in office...In Canada, we have made great strides in integrating
equity of opportunity across races, ethnicities, genders and religions. However, when it comes to
people with disabilities we still have some way to go. A big step in getting there is to make every
aspect of our society accessible for everyone, and to a large extent this is happening through
accessibility legislation. But the greatest barrier to accessibility lies not in our infrastructure - our
buildings, streets and transportation - it lies in our attitudes and our lack of awareness. Those who
work with students as teachers, educational assistants, early childhood educators and
administrators have a tremendous ability to influence, lead and inspire. ..

Im asking you to make it happen.