Back to school with a disability

Over the years since the development of a national Australian curriculum began, it has become increasingly easier for teachers to feel supported when they have children in their class who live with a disability. This should be reassuring to parents of those children. The ACARA website has pages of information on how to ensure that such children are catered for. On its page titled Student Diversity, it states:

The purpose of this advice is to support teachers in meeting their obligations under the Disability Standards for Education 2005 (Commonwealth of Australia, 2006) (the Standards) to ensure that all students with disability are able to participate in the Australian Curriculum on the same basis as their peers through rigorous, meaningful and dignified learning programs.

Naturally, it cites the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 which decrees that students with disability have the same rights as other students, including the right to education and training ‘on the same basis’ as students without disability.

Many people will believe that the Australian curriculum is all about academic learning (reading, writing, maths etc.) and they are right. However, there are some ‘extras’ called General Capabilities. One of these is the Personal and Social Capability which is important for students with disability. The reason for this is that students with well-developed social and emotional skills:

• find it easier to manage themselves
• relate to others
• develop resilience and a sense of self-worth
• resolve conflict
• engage in teamwork
• feel positive about themselves and the world around them.

More on these General Capabilities later. Teachers or parents looking for ways to foster social and emotional skills would find my book IN MY WORLD a valuable tool. The main characters in the two stories in this book live with a disability (dwarfism; wheelchair use) and both have adventures that any child would enjoy. Children with and without a disability will identify with the stories and the characters. I invite you to find out more. Books can be ordered on the book sales page of this website