Assessment 1

Inclusive Education Essay

Legislation

While looking into the rights and responsibilities of students who have Autism

Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and also other conditions that consider them to have a

disability, it showed that there is a huge variety of conditions and each one has its

own pros and cons when dealing in the education side of learning. In the Disability

Discrimination Act 1992 (DDA) it defines what the government considers to be a

disability ranging from “total or partial loss of the persons bodily or mental functions”

to “a disorder, illness or disease that affects a person’s thought processes,

perception of reality, emotions or judgement or that results in disturbed behaviour”,

(Basser & Jones, 2002). The DDA also describes that all students whether disabled

or not has the rights to many typical needs such as an equal education and assists in

how dealing with harassment and/or bullying for students with disabilities.

The other government legislation, the Disability Standards for Education 2005 (DSE)

delves further into the rights and responsibilities between students, teachers, parents

and careers in the matter of someone with a disability. According the DSE there are

3 types of obligations for education providers there are consult, make reasonable

adjustments and eliminate harassment and victimisation, with these 3 obligations

each has its own issues to deal with.

Consult within the DSE illustrates that education providers will discuss each student

and the type of condition they have, this communication allows for better

understanding which in turn can lead to a better education for the student. By

opening up this consultation between education providers and parent it also allows

both parties to know what is happening with a student and if there is any kind of

improvement.

Reasonable adjustment discusses the possibility that education providers can make

changes to help in the education of a student, while this is in the act it also dictates

that the education provider doesn’t have to make all changes if it puts unjustiable

hardship onto itself which can include “financial circumstances of the education

provider, benefit or detriment to any persons concerned and the disability of the

student”, (Ruddock, 2005).

As well as being in the DDA the DSE also described eliminating discrimination

towards people with disabilities and that education providers must be a part of this

process. This can range from educating all student of disabilities and the

punishments for those being the bully, it also dictates that education provided must

have strategies or programs in place to deal with these kinds of issues.

The last part of the DSE states the rights and responsibilities for the standards that

all education providers must adhere by the standards cover topics such as

enrolment, participation, curriculum development, accreditation and delivery, student

support and harassment and victimisation. Each one of the standards has a rights
and requirements section allowing education providers to understand specifically

what each one stands for and the guidelines that need to be followed.

Issues that may arise when teaching a student with a disability

While students with disabilities can cause trouble within the classroom there are

many types that won’t disrupt the class at all but their education could still be

suffering. In many cases it can be likely that students suffer from ASD and even

within that there are many different types on the ASD spectrum.

Davis, Florian, and Ainscow (2004) give a description stating that by putting

students with disabilities into categories they refer to as strand can make teaching

and the education easier for teachers. These strands are characterised as

communication and interaction, cognition and learning, behaviour, emotional and

social development and lastly sensory and/or physical, by placing student into one of

these it may help teachers and even parents assist in the student’s education.

Another major issue when dealing with disabled students isn’t with those students

but the regular ones, this can be in the form of bullying or lesser peer engagement.

In a study done by Symes and Humphrey (2011), they got 40 regular students, 40

students with ASD and 40 students who suffered from dyslexia and found that the

students with ASD experienced high levels of rejection, low levels of acceptance,

lower levels of peer support and high levels and bullying which is one issue that as

the teacher must be dealt with.

Teaching Strategies

Some strategies that are already in place are Teachers Aids (TA) which at present

state aren’t as regularly available as more and more students with disabilities are

showing up in schools. While TA are becoming scarce it has also been show that

when there is one in the class the teacher who is running the class actually pulls

away from the education of the student, Symes and Humphrey (2010) has shown in

a study that students with a TA underperforming academically, are isolated and get

less attention from the teacher in charge

This has also been linked to the relationships between the TA and the teachers

stating that using when there is no relationship between the teacher and TA it has

been seen a huge backlash on the education of the disabled student. So for one

strategy would be build connections with TA who in most cases would know and

understand the student better and are there to help build on the education of that

student.

As for most teachers the worst thing is not understanding or being a new teacher

with no experience dealing with students with ASD, Loreman, Earle, Sharma, and

Forlin (2007) suggests that the best thing for new teachers is to research and study

and be open minded with what could happen. The best option is to understand that

there are many different types or ASD and with every case is different from the last,

this is also helpful in preparing from what to do when organising lesson plans with

students with ASD. So when a student with ASD is in a class the best option is to

research what kind of issues if any that student may have and try to prepare the

lesson for any of this options if they do arise.

Being prepared is a great strategy but without the right resources or training this can

also make it very difficult, as Loreman (2007) states as “pillar seven: necessary

training and resources”, are crucial as the building blocks to understanding and

helping the education not only for students with disabilities but also the regular ones

also. One good strategy would to make sure that whatever school a teacher is

working at that they supply all the necessary training and support when dealing with

ASD students, not only that but by allowing the resources to assist with helping

create a safe and educational environment for all within the classroom. With the

training is shouldn’t just be for the teachers themselves but also the parents allowing

a direct communication line between both parties but also educate the other or

regular students on what they may expect from the disabled students within the

school and how to calmly defuse any situation that may arise.

The use of electronic devices with ASD students has shown to have benefits in both

keeping the student calm and on task and other assists the TA with their education.

Tunney and Ryan (2012) got 6 TA to use idevices (iPad, iPhone) with students who

suffer from ASD and are disruptive, in all cases by allowing the students to listen to

music or something they enjoyed it actually calmed them down and each student got

better grades after a long trial period. This was also shown by Millen, Edlin-White,

and Cobb (2010) who asked TA to use devices like ipads, touch screen laptops and

other electronic devices to assist in the education of students with ASD. The study

did show that as the devices had fewer commands and was predictable the students

were able to understand and learn much easier than just by one on one with the TA,

it did state that the TA was still needed for the devices but the education itself did

improve.
Even though majority of schools have their own units and/or classrooms for disabled

students there is still a lot that won’t allow these students to attend, in a study done

by Humphrey (2008), it showed that students with ASD are 20 times more likely to

be excluded from a school over regular students. With such high odds the article

goes on the state that with the demand for school to education disabled students

certain strategies need to be implemented these are, “1) challenge stereotypes and

raise expectations, 2)create order from chaos, 3) promote peer understanding, 4)

develop social skills, 5) adapt academic subjects, and 6) modify conversational

language.” While these aren’t proper strategies they can help those with less of an

understanding to start somewhere.

Conclusion

While looking at all these strategies and seeing all the variety that is available for

teachers it seems that the better option is to take each student as an individual and

go from there. While there may be disrupt students with and without ASD the best

option is to understand each student, communicated with peers and parents and

work out the best option to assist in the students learning. With the huge variety of

options ranging from devices to help calm students down to building relationships

with TA to better help the student.

Being prepared, knowing the rights and regulations of students with disabilities and

knowing that there is support and options in helping students with ASD can be one of

the best strategy for any teacher starting off in the education system.
References:

Basser, L. A., & Jones, M. (2002). The Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (Cth): a three-dimensional
approach to operationalising human rights. Melb. UL Rev., 26, 254.
Davis, P., Florian, L., & Ainscow, M. (2004). Teaching strategies and approaches for pupils with
special educational needs: A scoping study: DfES Publications.
Humphrey, N. (2008). Including pupils with autistic spectrum disorders in mainstream schools.
Support for learning, 23(1), 41-47.
Loreman, T. (2007). Seven Pillars of Support for Inclusive Education: Moving from. International
Journal of Whole Schooling, 3(2), 22-38.
Loreman, T., Earle, C., Sharma, U., & Forlin, C. (2007). The Development of an Instrument for
Measuring Pre-Service Teachers' Sentiments, Attitudes, and Concerns about Inclusive
Education. International Journal of Special Education, 22(1), 150-159.
Millen, L., Edlin-White, R., & Cobb, S. (2010). The development of educational collaborative virtual
environments for children with autism. Paper presented at the Proceedings of the 5th
Cambridge Workshop on Universal Access and Assistive Technology, Cambridge.
Ruddock, P. (2005). Disability standards for education 2005: Retrieved.
Symes, W., & Humphrey, N. (2010). Peer-group indicators of social inclusion among pupils with
autistic spectrum disorders (ASD) in mainstream secondary schools: A comparative study.
School Psychology International, 31(5), 478-494.
Symes, W., & Humphrey, N. (2011). School factors that facilitate or hinder the ability of teaching
assistants to effectively support pupils with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) in mainstream
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Tunney, R., & Ryan, M. (2012). Can iDevices help teaching assistants support pupils with ASD?
Journal of Assistive Technologies, 6(3), 182-191.