The other day, our Technology in Education class had a guest speaker, Tracy Humphries, from the organization BCEDAccess. She gave us a very interesting presentation about removing barriers to education for students with learning challenges. Her talk was underpinned by the overlapping fundamental values of social justice, equity, and disability justice.
Tracy told us that the parents of students with disabilities and learning challenges say that technological solutions are still being denied to their children; the technology provided is often outdated; access is still a problem; training support is lacking; and it is difficult to obtain psycho-educational assessments for students. This last point is important because public funding for a student’s educational supports depends on the student’s having received a designation, which can only be secured after the completion of a psycho-educational assessment.
Ableism is the discrimination of and social prejudice against people with disabilities based on the belief that typical abilities are superior. At its heart, ableism is rooted in the assumption that disabled people require ‘fixing’ and defines people by their disability. Like racism and sexism, ableism classifies entire groups of people as ‘less than,’ and includes harmful stereotypes, misconceptions, and generalizations of people with disabilities.
Tracey explained how ableism can hinder some students’ access to technology. There may be a reluctance to provide some students with technological supports because they do not seem “disabled enough,” or owing to the wrong-headed belief that the tech should be only a temporary solution. In some cases, in fact, the technological support will be required forever. It needs to be seen as a tool that allows independence, just as we now view other tools such as wheelchairs.
I was glad to receive some concrete advice from Tracey about how we, as teachers, can help to remove barriers to education. She recommended:
- Carefully reading the student’s individual education plan (IEP)
- Asking the family about the student’s strengths and needs
- Asking the student what they need
- Finding out what is already available, what you can get, and what you will need to advocate for
- Obtaining an assessment for the student
- Talking to our union representative, who can also do advocacy
- Discussing what is needed with our school principal, and then raising the matter at the district level, if required.
Going forward in my teaching career, I will try to help other students in my classroom understand that some students will be using different tools and technology. More generally, I will demonstrate through my actions that I am doing my best to foster an inclusive environment every day.
