Those with physical disabilities usually do not disrupt classes and monopolize the teacher’s time and talents. Wheel chairs, crutches or canes are not a problem in most new schools. A few old schools still have stairs that hinder those children. It is those who disabilities that cause them to disrupt the classroom order that cause the stress in our schools. Those need to have their needs met without taking away from the needs of Joe and Jill average. There is no cheap way to do that. Our politicians have been forcing our educators to accommodate them on the cheap and it is not working.

Private schools can and do accommodate a few of those physically challenged, but they avoid the others like the plague.

well said Ben. Lets not forget that teachers aids do most of the work in the classroom for these students. Also physically and mentally challenged are two different things.

I totally agree with Ben. It is also a very good article!

I agree with you Ben, but it also seems nowadays that we are all too eager to slap labels on kids.

I also agree that parents need to accept more repsonsibility for their children, and not simply shrug when teachers come to them with concerns about behaviour. There is seemingly no consequences for bad behaviour or disrupting the class. A lot of parents simply aren’t being parents, and I think that would go a long way to addressing teacher concerns in the classroom.

Well said! This is what I’ve been hearing from MANY teachers, parents and taxpayers. Unfortunately, as you pointed out it’s politically incorrect to mention a return to separate classes. And this is not segregation. Put special needs in one space where you can focus your resources to help those children succeed to the best of their ability. Bring them to classrooms for special presentations and events, activities etc. it only makes sense to target your resources to get the most benefit.
A stretch of an analogy here – in health care we don’t keep our sickest and highest need patients in a general ward – we move them to ICU, Rehab, Psychiatry, NICU or wherever they can get that extra care from trained staff …

Nice article Ben. The public school system is expecting to much out of the teachers with no tools or funding to do the job. Parents 9 out of 10 times take their frustrations out on the teacher. E-80 is the stumbling block of this teachers contract dispute.

Don’t forget when the teacher is dealing with behaviour, special needs, disabled the rest of the class is not getting the attention they need.

The one teacher they interviewed on global complained that he had too many kids with IEPs in his class. It sounded like he has all these severely disabled kids in his class. IEPs are used for a lot of reasons. They can be used for gifted kids or kids with chronic illnesses. The school district gets funding for special needs students. Maybe we should be asking them what they are doing with the money.

To clarify my earlier post, I was not referring to those designated as special needs who function well in a classroom setting, achieve their learning outcomes with no disruptions. I was referring to profound special needs who cannot show they are achieving the learning outcomes and those who are extremely disruptive. Perhaps a quieter setting, more one on one is more suited to their needs so that they can learn more effectively. If a designated special needs child can learn, interact with others and aren’t disruptive to the larger group they should be kept in the mainstream classes with others. Inclusion is wonderful, and we want to teach our children acceptance of others with disabilities, but children are sent to school for an education, not socialization.

Get this I am one of those parents. Get this, I knew something wasn’t right contrary to the people around me saying nothing is wrong. Get this, parents like me, that did their part on getting their child assessed and funding in place for schooling….get this….it is only 4 hours X 3 days a week….The only child in the school with special needs. Get this! My kid still has social issues and I DO count on his teacher to help me teach him proper social skills….I do not expect her to raise him, however she spends more time 5 days a week with my kid than I do, that is nothing any parent can do anything about. I also count on all the kids and adults around him to show him how to properly act in social situations. That being said, the government is not funding enough EAs, if my son is only getting 12 hours a week of EA time. The kid in the next school over is only getting an hour, because amazingly enough there are kids out there with behavioral issues with no funding and taking away from the “funding” put in place for the kids who’s parents did do there homework OR their special need are not considered in need of funding. That being said teachers can’t turn around and tell the government we need more help! IN all honesty I think unless you have a child with special needs or are a teacher teaching a child with Special Needs you have no idea what that parent has to go through. Do you know how long the waiting list is in SD57 to see a psychologist to get funding put in place after they have already started school? For you to blame the parents is pretty much arrogant on your part. Teaching empathy is something that all kids need to learn whether you are Jack and Jill Average or the top kid in the class, to learn how to co operate with all kinds of people is a skill muchly needed in this society…clearly. I am not against Special needs in the regular class, I am however against not enough assistance to those who need it teacher and child alike. I will never blame the teacher, I will only blame the government for not enough funding for those with special needs or those on IEPs. I will not blame the parents because like I said unless you have been there you have no idea. I am tired of apologizing for my sons behavior, or how it takes him longer to comprehend what I just said to him. Does that mean I should home school? I don’t think I am “educated” enough to teach him, besides almost all kids behave better without their parents around.

I totally agree!! ADD/ADHD, FAS spectrum disorders require one on one instruction. The lack of parent accountability for their child’s behaviour, is very frustrating for both teachers and education assistants.

I also believe the education system would be better served by quality assessments of both teachers and education assistants and removal or upgrading of those found lacking in ability.

Then maybe teachers need to be open and honest with parents about their child and their child’s behaviour or just how the child is doing in general. I know last year my kids teacher was bad for that. I’d ask her how my kid was doing in a certain subject and the teacher would say everything is fine. Then report cards come out and then there is a list of subjects my child needs to “work on” and some of those things were the very things I had been asking about for months. Yet when I do those subjects with her at home to make sure she doesn’t fall behind she has no issues and zips right through them with little to no help from me so it makes no sense why the teacher wouldn’t just say “yes she is having problems with math or social studies” when I ask if everything is OK.

Reality is most teachers aids divide their time between two classrooms, so the teachers only get help %50 to deal with the special needs kids.
These kids need special, at times one on one attention. This has been changing for the negative since 2002. My time with the school district I witnessed many occasions where the child with special needs was interrupting not only the classroom, but always the students around them. The teachers do their best, but at a sacrifice to actual teaching.

I have also witnessed parents of special needs kids demanding their child be in regular classrooms although they would not benefit from the teaching going on. It may not be politically correct to have these kids in their own classes but we must be realistic as well. Are we willing to sacrifice our child’s education for this inclusion? Because right now we are.

I totally agree with you Ben. I have worked with special needs adults and children and still do and can quite rightfully say that special needs people need their own space in which to learn, whether it’s life skills or academic curriculum. I truly believe that we, as a society, are not doing any harm by giving that space to people with special needs.

How about the special needs child that is very close to being of average IQ but isn’t. They can certainly recognize that they are “different” from the other children in the classroom and they might be negatively affected by that recognition. Would it not be better for them to be the top of their class (in a special needs class)?

Has anyone asked the students how having a special needs classmate affects them? We have heard from parents, teachers, and other adults, but not from the ones who share the classroom.

P Val. We’ll said.

Yes, P Val very well said. I too believe in all you have said

Some parents will protest, but I think the solution is to bring back special needs classrooms. Hiring a teacher or an EA for each student designated as special needs isn’t sustainable.

Mama T, I had 2 special needs children as classmates most of my elementary school time. I never once saw these children as taking away from my education, or being “in the way” so to speak. These were, in my eyes anyhow, just regular students trying to learn the same as the rest of us. They were friends, classmates and equals. No one sat there and rolled their eyes thinking boy are we missing out when he tried to read out loud and stuttered having issues with some words. Instead we helped him and cheered him on to do it himself.

Accommodation of disabled in our schools and universities and workforce needs proper education. There was an incident documented in 2011 by BCHRT in which a teacher in UNBC with disability was insulted publicly by another (who was shortly after promoted to UNBC acting Dean). The teacher with disability was complaining of discrimination and being forced to resign. The UNBC former president subsequently left UNBC to Japan and the UNBC Provost demoted.

I hope the new president in UNBC appoints a provost who has more respect for students/teachers with disability instead of insulting them or promoting those disgraced who have insulted the disabled. I haven’t heard an apology yet on the matter.

Sorry Prof. I wasn’t envolved with the slight, but I share your outrage. The hell you must endure makes my heart ache. In a world where putin takes over another country, Ebola spreads, and Iraq spirals into hell, I think your hardships will be my top priority.