Disability of School-age Children In Ontario

Vs. Rajasthan Shilpa Sharma

Prof. Stephine Gillingham
EDUC 23109
Feb 14,2019
 Image of
Disability In
Ontario
 Definition Of Disability In Ontario
A disability may have been present at birth, caused by an accident, or developed over time. Section 10
of the code defines disability as:
1. any degree of physical disability, infirmity, malformation or disfigurement that is caused by bodily
injury, birth deficient or illness and without limiting the generality of the foregoing, includes
diabetes mellitus, epilepsy, a brain injury, any degree of paralysis, amputation, lack of physical
reliance on a guide dog or other animals or a wheelchair or other remedial appliance or a device,
2. a condition of mental impairment or a developmental disability,
3. a learning disability, or a dysfunction in one or more of the processes involved in understanding or
using symbols or spoken language,
4. a mental disorder or
5. an injury or disability for which benefits were claimed or received under the insurance. (Ontario
Human Right Commission).
Image of Disability In Ontario
 1 in 7 people has a disability in Ontario. Today 15% of Ontario's population has a
disability. About 1.85 million people in Ontario have a disability. (Statistics Canada,2001).
 44% (68,000) of all Canadian children reporting disabilities lived in Ontario. (Statistics
Canada,2001).
 Approximately 2.0% of children in Ontario has a reported mild or moderate disability.
(Statistics Canada,2001).
 59% school age children with disability are in regular classes in Ontario.(Statistic
Canada,2001).
 Ontario showed the largest gap in literacy scores between cognitive/emotionally disabled
students and non-disabled students. However in Ontario, while literacy scores for children
with cognitive/emotional disabilities tended to be lower, they were not significantly
different from those in other provinces. .(Statistic Canada,2001).
 In Ontario’s publicly funded school system, in the fall of 2000, 12.5% of students (over
260,000 children) were receiving special education programs and services.( Ontario
Human Rights commission).
 The education advocacy organization says students deemed to have special needs and are
increasingly asked to stay home from school in Ontario rather then remain in class with
their peers.
Image of Disability In Ontario Cont’d
 The children with disability still experience inordinate barriers to accessing a meaningful
and social engagement in Ontario.(Community living Ontario,2018).
 Ontario’s commitment to equality, inclusion and full access to students with disabilities
remains far from realized.(Community living Ontario,2018).
 Children with disabilities experience educational barriers so significant that they are
unable to attend school.
 Statistics released by the ministry of education in 2015-2016 that 46.9% of all
suspensions and 48.4% of all expulsion involved a student with disability children.
 Despite relatively recent initiatives by the Ministry of Education to create a safe and
diverse space in the classroom, children with disability are bullied. This is often done by
the other students, parents and at times even school staff.
Ontario Government Support Program for children
with Disability

 Assistive Devices Program- Help paying for equipment and supplies for those
with long-term disabilities.
 Exceptional Access Program- Help paying for some drugs not covered by Ontario
Drug Benefit.
 Community Support Services- Services to help the people living with disabilities
live independently.
 Ontario Disability Support Program-Financial Help for individuals and families to
cover essential living expenses.
 The Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005 (AODA) became law
on June 13, 2005. Ontario is the first province in Canada to pass legislation that
will develop mandatory accessibility standards with the goal of identifying,
removing, and preventing barriers for people with disabilities in key areas of daily
living. The goal is to make Ontario accessible to people with disabilities by 2025.
 Image of
Disability In
Rajasthan
Definition Of Disability In Rajasthan
In Rajasthan, the broad definitions of different categories of disabilities have been adopted
in the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full
Participation) Act, 1995 as well as under the Rehabilitation Council of India Act, 1992.
 “Person with Disability” means a person suffering from not less than forty percent of
any disability certified by a medical authority.

 “Blindness” refers to a condition where a person suffers from any of the following
conditions, namely: Total absence of sight; or Visual acuity not exceeding 6/60 or
20/200 (Snellen) in the better eye even with correction lenses; or Limitation of the field
of vision subtending an angle of 20 degree or worse.

 “Hearing Impairment” as defined in the Act means loss of sixty decibels or more in the
better ear in the conventional range of frequencies.
 Definition Of Disability In Rajasthan
 “Locomotor Disability” as defined in the Act means disability of bones, joints or
muscles leading to substantial restriction of movement or any form of cerebral palsy.

 “Mental Retardation” as defined in the Act, means a condition of arrested or incomplete

development of mind of persons which is specially characterized by sub-normality of
intelligence.
Image of Disability In Rajasthan
 As per census 2011the number of disabled population in Rajasthan was recorded at 15.6
lakh which is 5.83% of the disabled population of India. Among them 8.5 lakh are
males and 7.1 lakh are females.
 Rajasthan also has 6.45% of the total disabled population in India, the sixth largest in
the country.
 While 89% are enrolled in primary school, that number drops to 8.5% in secondary
school. Only 2.3% of special needs children reach higher secondary (11th and 12th).
 At all India level, 54.52% of the disabled persons are Literates. However in Rajasthan
only 40.16% fall under this category.
 Literacy among disable females is lower than males.
 A majority of children with special needs do not receive any formal education, in spite
of the practice of inclusive education in some schools. This is because children with
disabilities and learning deficiencies are segregated from mainstream schools and other
regular routines and social activities of normal children.
Image of Disability In Rajasthan
 Emotional and behavioural disorders are poorly understood in Rajasthan. Many
children suffering from these are simply brushed off as ‘badly behaved.
 Disability is perceived either as punishment for misdeeds in the past lives of the person,
or the wrongdoings of their parents.
 Society is still not ready to accept children with disabilities and consider that these
children are dangerous for other normal children.
 Disability represents divine justice and disability is always or almost always a curse of
God. At a more mundane level, people with disabilities are traditionally perceived as
somehow inauspicious.
 Children with disabilities rarely attend the social and religious functions.
Rajasthan Government Support program for
Children with Disability.
Rajasthan state schemes for persons with disabilities by directorate of Social Justice and
Empowerment-
 State Disability Pension- The Government of Rajasthan is providing the disability
pension which is called as Social Security.
 Educational Scholarship-There is no separate scholarship made available for people
with disabilities. They can apply for the post metric scholarship within the General
Category which is open for all students.
 Bus Concession-Free travelling is provided in the state to people with disabilities.
 The department of Social Justice and Empowerment sanctioned Rs. 25000 as
incentive/grants in order to assist the people with disability to lead a happy married life.
 Role of
family In
Ontario
Role of Family In Ontario
Parents who have children with exceptional needs are experiencing emotional distress that
what will happen to their children after they are gone? The families with disable children
are viewed as victims. Despite of all these problems families are very supportive to their
children.
 Parents in Ontario have positive attitude towards including their children into main
stream schools.
 Parents are taking care of their children at home. Some of them left their jobs just to
take care their children with exceptional needs.
 Parents help the children to become more independent so, that in later life they do not
become dependent on others.
 Parents are continuously learning special skills to meet the individual needs of their
children.
 They teach their children more adaptive skills to manage the behavior.
 Parents enjoy and feel excited about what their children are learning day by day.
Role of Family In Ontario cont’d
 Parents are the advocate of their children and understand the legal rights of their
children and knows the channel from where to seek the help.
 Parents provide them security and they fulfil the basic needs of the children like food,
clothing, shelter even though they are adults.
 Parents tried to make them emotionally strong.
 Understand that their children deserve the same dignity as other children.
 They know what is good and wrong for their children and are confident to say “No”
what is wrong.
 Parents visits the school and participate in the meetings and communicate with the
teachers to know about the development of their children.
 Develop a partnership with the school and share relevant information about their child's
education and development.
 Monitor their child's progress and periodically ask for a report. If their child is not
progressing, discuss this with the teacher and determine whether the program should be
modified.
 Role of
Family In
Rajasthan
Role of Family In Rajasthan
 Parents are responsible for the basic needs of their children like food, shelter and clothing.
 Parents have left their jobs to take care of their children.
 Parents tried hard to make their children independent.
 Parents in Rajasthan are not aware about the legal rights of their children and do not know
from where to get help.
 Parents in Rajasthan believe that disability is not a medical condition but caused by some
spiritual reason. Instead of seeking the help of some specialist they go to the spiritual
Gurus for their cure and treatment.
 They feel that this disorder will go away with the treatment of spiritual Guru.
 They start saving money for their children since the day they came to know about the
disability of their children so that they become financially independent.
 Parents keep their children at homes do not take them out for social occasion because they
feel embarrassed.
 Children go to segregated schools because parents do not have awareness about Inclusion
in main stream schools.
 Role Of
Educator In
Ontario
Role Of Educator In Ontario
 The teacher: carries out duties as outlined in the Education Act, regulations, and policy
documents, including policy/program memoranda; follows board policies and
procedures regarding special education.

 Assess students’ skills to determine their needs and to develop teaching plans.

 Adapt lessons to meet the needs of students.

 The main role of the teacher is to provide instruction and support which facilitates the
participation of students with disabilities in the regular classroom.

 Serve as case managers and be responsible for the development, implementation, and
evaluation of students’ IEPs.(individualized Education Plan).
Role Of Educator In Ontario Cont’d
 May team teach lessons, either small group or whole class (Boyer & Mainzer, 2003).

 Complete and maintain all assigned student’s records (i.e., IEP, ESYP, documentation,
progress report, behavior plan, etc.).

 Develop schedules and supervise plans for paraeducators.

 Plan, organize, and assign activities that are specific to each student’s abilities.

 Discuss student’s progress with parents, teachers, counsellors, and administrators.

 Teach and mentor students as a class, in small groups, and one-on-one.

Role Of
Educator In
Rajasthan
Role Of Educator In Rajasthan
Concept of Inclusion is just introduced in Rajasthan and it is still on papers and not
implemented in the state. So, Unfortunately children with disabilities attend special Education
schools and not the normal schools. There is one school “Umang” for special education in
Rajasthan which has many branches through out the state. Where teachers are working hard to
make the children with disability independent.

 Teacher enables the child to overcome his disability and make him a productive citizen.

 Assess students’ skills to determine their needs and to develop teaching plans.

 Teacher use concrete materials to teach the children.

 Adapt lessons to meet the needs of students.

 Prepare and help students transition from grade to grade and after graduation.
Role Of Educator In Rajasthan Cont’d

 Teach and mentor students as a class, in small groups, and one-on-one.

 Working with students with special needs and different abilities can be difficult. Special
education teachers are very patient with each student, as some may need the instruction
given aloud, at a slower pace, or in writing.

 Teachers help students with severe disabilities develop basic life skills, such as how to
respond to questions and how to follow directions.

 Teachers make the use of special devices and technologies to teach the children with
disability.
Reference

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1171456325808/Chapter02.pdf

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rajasthan-second-lowest-in-the-country/articleshow/57280450.cms

Retrieved from-https://www.thehindu.com/2004/08/17/stories/2004081711760500.htm

Retrieved from-http://www.projectidealonline.org/v/specific-roles-special-educators/

Retrieved from-http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/general/elemsec/speced/shared.pdf#page=45
Retrieved from-http://www.readingrockets.org/article/rights-and-responsibilities-parents-
children-disabilities

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needs/

Retrieved from-http://www.eyeway.org/?q=rajasthan-state-schemes-persons-disabilities-
directorate-social-justice-and-empowerment

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