UN Special Rapporteur on Disability

Ensuring Inclusion

Defining concepts and Identifying Indicators

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The Right to Education
Convention on the Rights of the Child
- Article 28
  1. States Parties recognize the right of the child to education… and on the basis of equal opportunity
- Article 23
  3. Recognizing the special needs of a disabled child, assistance shall be designed to ensure that the disabled child has effective access to and receives education… preparation for employment…conducive…to achieving the fullest possible social integration and individual development…
Definitions
- No satisfactory, workable definition of disability applicable to all situation and inclusive of all variables exists
- Available statistics are not sufficient
- Indicators are theoretical and do not relate to a socially operational and universal understanding of disability
Defining Disability
Definition of disability for statistical purposes should take into account:
- Disability is a condition not a description of the child
- Disability implies the existence of an impairment or limitations
  - restricting activity and participation
  - reducing function
Defining disability
- Disability as "handicap"
  - When social, economic, environmental and cultural circumstances place persons with impairment or disability at a disadvantage compared to others
- Defining disability from a medical perspective
  - does not address environmental and social factors
  - places the emphasis on the individual
  - does not address the relationship between the individual and the environment
Definition
- Disability involves a dysfunction at one or more of these levels:
  - impairments
  - activity limitations
  - participation restrictions
- All of which should take into consideration issues of "access", "inclusion", "needs", "services"
Disability and Education
- It is important to note:
  - the type of impairment
  - the definition of the impairment
  - criteria governing the impairment
- equally important is the extent to which:
  - Impairment and environment are a barrier to learning
Education
- And the kinds of indicators required to achieve:
  - Access
  - Meet learning goals
  - Ensure inclusion and full participation
Identifying indicators
Indicators should be:
- Qualitative & quantitative
- Simple & complex
- Clear, relevant
- Lend themselves to interpretation
- Easy to calculate from reliable, timely data
- Able to measure change over time
Education Indicators relating to the Standard Rules
The office of the UN Special Rapporteur has devised the following questions to gather indicators on education inclusion for persons with disabilities:
Question on Rule 6
What actions has your government taken to ensure the education of persons with disabilities in integrated settings?
( ) Adopting policies
( ) Passing legislation
( ) Adopting programmes
( ) Allocating financial resources
( ) Modifying and adapting schools to the needs of children with disabilities
( ) Training teachers & school administrators
( ) Providing accessible schools, classrooms & educational materials
( ) Involving organizations of persons with disabilities in planning & implementing
Rule 6
In your country, is education available to:
( )Children with disabilities
( )Women with disabilities
( )Low-income, working class and poor persons with disabilities
( )Disabled persons from all ethnic groups
( )Disabled persons from all religious groups
( )Disabled persons in all communities (urban, rural, agricultural, tribal, indigenous, migrant, refugee, illegal aliens)
( )All types of disabilities (including psycho-social & developmental disabilities)
Rule 6
In your country, does education for persons with disabilities include the use of
( ) Sign language interpreters
( ) Educational materials in Braille
( ) Lessons on tape
( ) Educational materials & teaching methods appropriate to children with intellectual disabilities
( ) Programmes for children whose needs cannot be met in integrated settings
Rule 6
Other than educational authorities, are the following groups involved in the educational process for children & adults with disabilities?
( ) Parents of children with disabilities
( ) Organizations of persons with disabilities
( ) NGOs dealing with children
( ) The community
Methods of identification:
Children with disabilities:
- Instituting a Child Find Policy To ensure that all children, regardless of the severity of their disability, and who need special education and related services are identified, located, and evaluated. This applies to children in private, public, religious schools, mobile children (i.e. migrant, homeless, nomadic, rural, street children, working children), and children suspected of having a disability and are in need of special education
Identification: Child Find Method
Child Find should also include practical method of determining whether children are currently receiving needed special education and related services, and what types of special education and related services needed
Evaluation
A full and individual evaluation of the child’s educational needs must be conducted by qualified professionals to determine:
- Whether the child has a disability
- The present levels of performance and educational needs
- Whether the child needs special education and related services
- Whether additions or modifications are needed to enable the child to meet the measurable educational goals
Assessment
The child must be assessed in all areas related to the suspected disability
- no single criterion can be used to determine whether the child has a disability
- Tests must be "accessible",relevant, standardized, non-discriminatory and used to gather a variety of developmental and functional information
Disability Types
- Types of Impairments
- Autism
- Blindness
- Deafness
- Deafness-Blindness
- Emotional Disturbance
- Hearing Impairment
- Learning Disabilities
- Mental retardation
- Orthopedic Impairment
- Speech and Language Impairment
- Traumatic Brain Injury
- Visual Impairment
Criteria
- Criteria for each type of disability is needed to help identify the presence and degree of the disability and determine the best responses and the special educational needs.
- What type of disability
- What are the criteria that identify the disability
- What the needs of the child who has that disability
Universality
- Global consensus is that education for some is no longer acceptable in any country & in any system
- The universal right is recognized in international & regional instruments
- Yet children and people with disabilities remain excluded from education, even in some industrialized countries
EFA Frameworks
- EFA Frameworks for Asia-Pacific, for Africa, for Sub-Sahara, for the Arab region all included disability as an indicator for assessing EFA targets
- But there are still no universal indicators, measures, criteria to assess and evaluate inclusion, integration and full participation of children with disabilities in education at all levels
No child left behind
Moving from slogan to implementable reality requires:
- Consensus on definitions
- Consensus on indicators
- Universal instruments of measurement
- Universal guidelines for intervention that can be tailored to the realities of the community, country, region, as well as the family, the educational institution
No child left behind
Participation, collaboration of governments, international organizations, educational institutions, educators, DPOs, families of persons with disabilities, users and producers of statistical data and information
In the absence of these there can be no sound policies for the full integration of persons with disabilities in all aspects of life