Having a Disability Does Not Mean One Cannot Learn By: Samantha Lebron

One of the biggest misconceptions about disability is that just because one has a disability, one cannot learn. Pieces of legislation in recent history, such as the Individuals with Disabilities Education (IDEA) and the Individualized Education Program (IEP), have mitigated this misconception to a degree but are they enough to break the glass ceiling that society has imposed on disabled individuals as a result of what they have been taught about disabilities in the first place?

The term ‘glass ceiling’ is typically used in business settings, and it refers to the final position an individual reaches beyond which they are unable to advance despite having qualifications that make them eligible for higher-level positions. To be clear, this has to do with bias that exists in those environments, not necessarily the policies that are in place. However, for this piece, I will use it about those who have disabilities that have been, or are currently being, educationally stunted by those around them who have a bias that those with disabilities cannot learn. This can be seen in various instances, such as IEPs remaining unchanged year after year, being told that a student must remain in a self-contained classroom without opportunities for inclusion, or not being offered opportunities for college readiness.

IEPs are legal written documents designed to provide a tailored educational experience for students with disabilities, ensuring that the necessary supports are in place for them to succeed academically and functionally. At minimum, a school is supposed to have an IEP meeting annually to discuss academic achievement and functional performance. It is an opportunity for the student, along with parents or guardians, to consult with a team of qualified individuals on whether specific goals have been met for the year or not. This qualified team may include a general education teacher, a special education teacher, a school district representative, and someone who can interpret evaluation results, such as a school psychologist. When appropriate, a student should be present at their IEP meeting. Not only does it allow the student to share what is working or not working best for them while at school, but it is a great way to teach self-advocacy skills.

An IEP should be updated annually, rather than remain unchanged throughout a student’s academic career. A parent or guardian should not have to say that their child’s IEP looks the same as it did in 7th grade as it does in 12th grade. That may seem like an exaggeration, but unfortunately, it is not. Some families can confidently make that statement, sadly.

We have moved on from the days of special needs classrooms being in basements of buildings, fortunately, and have embraced inclusion as a new model. While attending a presentation on a different topic a few months ago, an audience member posed a question to the presenter. What does your organization define as inclusion? The presentation had to do with affordable housing for people with disabilities specifically, and he brought up the question because counties have their own definition of inclusion regarding housing that differs from what organizations believe is inclusion. As I considered the term inclusion while writing this piece, it led me to another question. Is there a standardized definition of the term inclusion in educational spaces for those with disabilities? What one educator thinks is inclusion may be viewed as something entirely different for another.

I am grateful that the aunt who raised me taught me how to self-advocate for myself from a very early age, specifically when it came to my educational experience. She did not wait until I was in high school for me to attend my IEP meetings. I participated in those beginning in elementary school. However, when we moved from New Jersey to Florida in 2003, I quickly learned that the term special needs and special needs classrooms were very different from up north. I grew up in a reasonably small town in New Jersey, so my frame of reference may not be the best. However, I was under the impression that, for New Jersey, my school was selective about which disabilities they allowed. In hindsight, inclusion was not what it is today all those years ago. For comparison’s sake, when my family moved to Florida, I was shocked to see what a special needs classroom, or what it was known years ago as, a self-contained classroom, looked like in my new school. Students with their own nurses and bathrooms with adult-size changing tables were just some of the notable changes compared to my previous school. I would like to assume that this was the case because possibly, where I used to live, they may have told families that had children with those needs that they had to attend a different school that would be better equipped to serve those needs, but I digress.

The reason I bring this to attention is to highlight the differences in how these types of classrooms can operate. When I started at my new school in Florida, until a permanent aide was assigned to me, they had the classroom assistant of one of these classrooms fill in the gap. Before classes would start for the day, I would hang out in this classroom until I went to my classes, which were part of the mainstream curriculum. Therefore, I had the opportunity to observe firsthand how the students in this particular classroom were taught compared to other self-contained classrooms on campus. I was particularly impressed by one educator who effectively managed her classroom, despite having students of varying ages and abilities. She taught them the same concept simultaneously, tailoring her approach to ensure each student could understand it. One day, I asked the classroom assistant, away from the students and the teacher, of course, if the other two classrooms on campus operated in the same way.

She replied, “No, in those classrooms, they watch Barney and color all day.”

16-year-old me responded, “So they come to school to be babysat, that's it.”

I was infuriated by this, and I believe it comes from a place of knowing that if I did not have someone advocating in my corner, I could have well been one of those students, and my life could be very different today.

At the end of the school year, I made it a point to pull that teacher aside, the one who was teaching her students together on a level playing field, along with life skills. I thanked her for allowing me to spend time in her classroom throughout the year and also expressed my appreciation for the way she taught her students. Without specifying that I knew how the other classrooms were run and where I got that information from, I asked her why she teaches her students in the way that she does. I do not recall her exact words, but I know she told me they are only with me for a set amount of time. Once they finish high school, some may pursue other interests, but for others, I may be their primary source for learning these concepts. She was one for very few words, and even at my young age at that time, I understood what she meant. For some of those students, she may have been the only teacher or person, for that matter, to see their full potential and their ability to learn.

The last topic I will cover in this piece has to do with college readiness. Another misconception about people with disabilities is that they cannot learn at a college level. This is far from the truth. With the hope of ending this piece on a positive note, here are some tips on getting a child with a disability prepared for college.

· Early is always better than later - start talking about college with your child early, as well as your child's education team

· Do your research about programs such as Vocational Rehabilitation (VR), Medicaid Waivers, etc.

· Utilizing VR - do not wait until senior year or the last year of school to utilize services

· Attend disability vendor fairs

Above are just some of the tips that you can use to help your child with a disability become college-ready. Having discussions with your child early on about whether or not they want to attend college is essential. Personally, I was terrified about going away to college because I did not know how I would navigate a campus without an aide by my side. Once college became part of the IEP discussions, one of the first things the school told us was that colleges are not obligated to provide aide care. Back then, we were unaware of Medicaid Waivers or their ability to provide Personal Care Attendants (PCAs) to assist with my daily activities, and this would have included college. I encourage readers to do their research and be prepared. If I had known this, it would have eased my fears tremendously about going away to college. In my personal experience, VR was not even discussed until the last four months of high school, and I could have utilized their services before that to make me more prepared for college and future employment. Disability vendor fairs offer a wealth of information on disability services and programs designed to help students with disabilities prepare for college. I encourage families, even if their child is not of age yet, to attend vendor fairs to gather information that may be useful in the future.

If you've made it this far, I commend you; this piece is significantly shorter than my previous blog about my personal experience with hyperacusis. I sign off by thanking those who read the blog post and shared their thoughts with me. It was a vulnerable piece, but your positive words warmed my heart.