Blog #8 Ending Ableism in Education

 Ending Ableism in Education

Thomas Hehir

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To sum up the reading from Hehir, he talks about experiences that people have had to due with the reality and the views that people get from being/having a disabled child. People who are disabled or have disabled children are usually pitied in society. The expectations of people with disabilities are lowered and those people are held at a lower standard than students who do not have disabilities. Most often it is the case that disabled students are sent to alternative schools where they are supposed to be provided a better environment and this consists of grouping disabled children together. They do not get the same education as students who are not disabled and the bar for disabled children is set extremely low basically setting them up to not become successful as well as putting financial damage on the family. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gscAjUlKc7Y&ab_channel=TEDxTalks

This YouTube video of a physically disabled man touches on this matter. His quote at 5:26 reads, "Don't make decisions about students or individuals with disabilities without input from individuals with disabilities." In this case, instead of schools turning their heads to students with disabilities and refusing to give them the education that they may want, the student who has disabilities or the parents of the student should be the ones to make the choice if they want to be in an educational environment that provides the normal education and has the same standards for everyone. He goes on to say that students with disabilities are typically neglected and excluded from certain education. The point he is trying to get across is that we, as a society should normalize the idea and concept of disability in society. Students with disabilities should be included instead of excluded. Disabled students typically get a  stereotype that they cannot be successful, which is not true in every case. Teachers, administrators, and even parents, need to see that the decisions being made about disabled students can and do harm them and can have a negative effect on their future.