Introversial issues in disability society

Introversial issues in disability society

There currently is a small but developing body of research concerning the self-concept of children and adolescents with visual impairments. However, the self-concept of adults with visual impairments is largely uninvestigated. This paper will briefly define self-concept, review the literature on self-concept in persons with visual impairments, and present a study that extends this literature in several important ways.

Other studies have found no such deficits among adolescents with visual impairments. One potential cause for such a discrepancy between studies may be the populations from which the samples were drawn. The studies which found no discrepancy had samples from schools for the blind. In such a setting, participants might be less likely to feel different from their peers.

Other studies examining self-concept issues have looked at athletes with disabilities. Clearly, these athletes were examined in their field of excellence where their abilities could easily provide them with a very strong sense of competence. It should be kept in mind that these athletes were tested in settings where they were competing with other athletes with visual impairments and therefore might have been less likely to perceive themselves as being different.

Should special education classrooms be preserved? Today there are two distinct views on how to educate students with special instructional needs. " A candidate for special education is any student with a disability who requires specialized-or individualized teaching approaches in order to succeed in school at that particular point in time" (Stainback 21). The views can range from full inclusion in the schools to separate facilities for students with special educational needs. Full inclusion entails that all students regardless of handicapping conditions, will be in regular classrooms all of the time. Advocated for separate schools for students requiring special education, would argue that their students need specially trained teachers, and support groups from peers with the same needs. In contrast full inclusion supporters, as well as I, would suggest that all children will excel, feel more part of the community, and give things back to the community if they are fully integrated into the school system. Because full inclusion is so extremely beneficial to the children as a whole, it should be advocated at all schools at any level.

Supporters of separate schools claim that students will not be able to maximize their potential in a public school setting. Teachers in public or regular schools would be too preoccupied with teaching the laid out curriculum to worry about the needs of each individual. Students with special needs tend to require extra instruction in areas such as reasoning, logic, problem solving, and thinking skills. Some teachers may not be prepared or educated well enough to teach these techniques properly to individuals. Stainbeck, author of Controversial Issues Facing Special Education: Divergent Perspectives, said that "Special education students take up too much of the teacher's time and draw too much attention, and therefor take away the abilities of the "normal" children to learn"(21). In other words special education students take away ...