Knowing Your Rights as an Individual: Access to an Equal Education

Why is it that people assume that individuals with a handicap or those who have significant disabilities are not capable or worthy of receiving a good education?  And when they do attend school, they are placed in isolated classrooms away from students receiving general education instruction?  I find this unfair because it not only gives those students a clear label of "disabled", but it robs them of having social interaction with a variety of peers, engaging in literate behaviors (conversing, playing, working collaboratively) with others. 


What ALL students need is an equal opportunity to receive the best education, more specifically a solid foundation of literacy so they have quality of life experiences.  First and foremost, whether an individual has a disability or not, parents must expose their children to resources that provide engagement of literacy.  Providing home-based initial instruction using such resources to develop reading and writing skills pave the way for the future development of these skills.  Parents of children who have significant disabilities need more training and instruction on strategies in order to begin building their children's literacy skills.  With the ever changing progression and growth of technology, children with disabilities benefit more than those in past years; assisting them in ways according to their particular needs, however, parents and teachers need to stay abreast of these changes so they can ensure children with disabilities with the utmost literacy instruction.


Another issue is the separation between general education and special education.  How can we expect any literacy skills to develop and grow for students with disabilities if they are not exposed to atmospheres where literacy practices are being used?  Replacing the idea of separate instruction based on ability needs to be replaced with inclusive classrooms, which will benefit literacy skills for children with disabilities.  It has been determined that when students with disabilities interact with children with no disabilities, there is an improvement in their communication skills.