Equalizing Schools for All

For children and youth, school is their ‘world’ for at least six hours a day, five days a week. Imagine then, if that world was full of obstacles that stopped you from moving around, being part of groups, having fun or learning new things. For many children with disabilities, this is a daily reality. In a study conducted in Ottawa, Canada, children with disabilities shared with researchers the many different types of school exclusions (Pivik, McComas & Laflamme, 2002). Through a series of focus group meetings with youth between the ages of 9 and 15 years, and their parents, four categories of barriers were identified across eight different schools: 1) the physical environment (e.g., hallways and doorways too narrow); 2) intentional attitudinal barriers (e.g., isolation, bullying, intentional emotional or physical harm); 3) unintentional attitudinal barriers (e.g., lack of knowledge, understanding or awareness); and, 4) limitations inherent to the disability (e.g., difficulty with manual dexterity).

The most obvious barrier type is environmental or architectural. The reported environmental barriers included the following categories: doors, passageways, elevators, washrooms, stairs and ramps, lockers, water fountains, and recreational areas. Physically getting into school was a major problem for many of the students. Often the only door which had an access ramp was located at the rear of the building; requiring the student to traverse around the building in order to enter. If the ramp was not too steep or did not have a ledge that created obstacles, then often the doors were too heavy for the student to open unaided. Most often, the doors did not have automatic door buttons for easy access. Fire doors were of particular concern for the students and many expressed fear about being trapped in the school in the event of a fire (students are asked to meet in a pre-identified area and wait). Within the school, doorways were often not wide enough for wheelchair access or they had lips and/or ledges on the frame which make access difficult. All students reported a lack of access to recreational facilities and opportunities such as playgrounds, gyms, social events such as dances, physical education, and field trips. Simple things like locker hooks being too high or cluttered hallways limiting access became a source of daily frustration.

All of the students in the focus groups reported instances of intentional attitudinal barriers: isolation, physical bullying and/or emotional bullying. Isolation took the form of either being ignored or having difficulty forging friendships. Physical bullying usually related to people pushing the student’s wheelchair without permission, and in one instance, being purposely knocked out of their wheelchair. The most frequent attitudinal barrier mentioned was that of emotional bullying. The students indicated that this was the most hurtful and included name calling, people pointing, mouths dropping open, being made fun of, being labeled as “stupid”, condescending attitudes by teaching staff, and generally being treated differently from other students.

Unintentional attitudinal barriers relate to a lack of knowledge, education, understanding, or effort on the part of the educational system or staff. From the entire sample, the most frequently reported barrier was a lack of understanding by teachers and support staff. This took the form of being given inappropriate substitute work when too busy to adapt the curriculum, always being assigned as a teacher’s helper in physical education classes instead of adapting or equalizing the playing field, excluding children with special needs from certain classes without reason or, not understanding their physical capabilities or limitations.

Along with the environmental and attitudinal barriers faced by these youth, they also bear the difficulties associated with their condition or disability. For example, many of the students require a personal assistant or teaching aide for such basic activities as getting dressed for recess, personal care, remedial education efforts, or maneuvering within the school. The other major barrier noted by the students was their need for extra time to get to class, eat lunch, or complete school work. Along with information about their disability or condition, these physical requirements were the type of information that the students wanted school staff to understand.

Inclusion in school means more than incorporating children with disabilities into the present structure and system. It means ensuring accessibility and full participation by altering physical structures, educating teaching staff and students and providing the necessary methods and materials for optimal learning and social experiences.

For more information on the barriers identified and the students’ recommendations for solutions, please see the following article:

Pivik, J., McComas, J., & Laflamme, M. (2002). Barriers and facilitators to inclusive education as reported by students with physical disabilities and their parents. Exceptional Children, 69 (1), 97-106. See http://www.aprioriresearch.com/resources.htm

Resource

The Inclusive Schools Checklist. This checklist includes information from this and other studies as well as an extensive literature review of accessibility barriers, environmental design, universal design, inclusive education and standardized building codes. The Inclusive Schools Checklist covers 76 potential architectural barriers, 44 potential inclusive classroom practices and 23 potential school/school board inclusive policies. It addresses both physical and social inclusion for students with many different types of special needs. Administration requires a tape measure and takes about an hour to complete. The specifications for the measurements are based on standardized child and adult dimensions and anthropometrics identified in standardized building codes and are applicable for both elementary and high schools. This measure has undergone extensive reliability and validity testing and is available from Apriori Research—see http://www.aprioriresearch.com/inclusive_schools_checklist.htm.