Learning Disability

Learning Disability

Introduction

People with learning disabilities are labelled, stigmatized, marked for life by the mere fact of being different, and placed in a position of inferiority. This has generated an attitude of rejection, shame, distress and discomfort, also over-familiar behaviour, which them as people unable to fend for themselves. The learning disabled person, in theory, is a person with the same rights as others, but they are unfortunately prevented from exercising them by the discriminatory behaviour that society and politicians show, making them feel like “second class citizens”.

Discussion

Theme 1

Lack of Services at the International Level

Policies and poor standards

In most of the countries, the policies developed at the government level may not always incorporate the needs and issues of the learning disabled people. Furthermore, most counties do not enforce or develop such policies and standards at all. With respect to inclusive education policies for the learning disabled people, a study of more than 25 nations pertaining to the Fast Track Initiative revealed that 18 countries provided very limited information about the proposed policies and standards for learning disabled children. Moreover, such countries did not even mention the inclusion of disability (Kolb, 2004). One of the significant drawbacks related to education policy is the inadequate economic incentives. Most of the countries at the international level may not even try to increase the attendance of learning disabled children. On the other hand, there are factors such as inadequate social protection for disabled children, and support services along with families.

Insufficient provision of services

One of the significant obstacles and difficulties for learning disabled people is the poor health care services and other support related programs such as rehabilitation and care. There are a number of studies, which suggest that lack of services at the international level is a significant barrier for learning disabled people. For instance, research conducted in the four of the Southern African countries indicated that 20-60% of the population received essential medical rehabilitation, 15-35% received support services, 3-23% received vocational training, and 2-20% received social welfare services. On the other hand, research conducted in Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu in India revealed that learning disabled people do not go to healthcare centres due to high cost and poor services in the region (Barr, 2009).

Problems with the provision of services

The quality of the services may be affected due to poor coordination of services. Furthermore, the services may be affected due to lack of human resource and competition. These factors have a significant impact on the accessibility and condition of the facilities and services for learning disabilities. The data from the study of World Health Survey in 50 countries revealed that learning disabled people considered that providers had a lack of expertise to fulfil their needs. Moreover, the respondents also indicated that they were treated inappropriately at times often discriminated with respect to the essential health care services. On the other hand, a number of carers are not paid adequately and lack professional training. Research in the US indicates that nearly 80% of social workers ...