I think there have been real improvements within the last decade or two, in how 'accessibility' and 'inclusion' are understood. But there's still not enough comprehension and not enough action
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Generally speaking, at least in my experience with two dyslexic daughters, and relatives and friends with bigger issues, at least in the US its an issue of money. Everyone wants quality education for all, and no one wants to pay for it. This leaves teachers and especially administrators in the horrible position of having to perform educational triage. Also in the US, Federal Law can be very "open minded" for want of a better term, but they don't provide funding to meet goals or requirements. Which leaves parents and individual in the position of sometimes having to go to court to get what they are entitled to by law.
One of my part-time jobs is doing captions and transcription for Deaf students at a local private university. This is a business school, and their clientele is people who have already been working in business for several years and who now want to get an MBA or something similar.
The school only recently opened a disabilities office, and the faculty were absolutely terrified at having to deal with students who have disabilities. They currently have two Deaf students and a blind student. So far it sounds like it's been a real challenge for them to learn how to accommodate these students, but they're working on it.
I feel inclined to be judgemental about these people being prejudiced or ignorant, but I suppose everybody has to learn from the starting point they're at.
Last time I went to the Occupational Health department at my University, some of the staff got quite complicated about my need for wheelchair accessibility. One person actually offered to carry me down some steps to the clearly visible access ramp despite my explanation that I'd come up that same ramp an hour earlier, and entered the building quite easily on my wheels. It's as though people overreact - not wanting to exclude disabled people but sometimes making inclusion into a bigger and more hazardous drama than it needs to be.
I have actually been wondering how or if this school will be able to accommodate people in wheelchairs. It's built on the side of an extremely steep hill, and it's a former military college on the site of what was an actual castle built for a coal baron in the 19th century. Most of the site is heritage buildings, so they can't be modified with ramps or elevators. However, most of the courses are run on the Internet, so there's not a lot of need to be on campus in person.
I hope you'll let us know how this pans out over time. Perhaps disabled students will tend to use the online options instead of face-to-face learning, but that could be quite limiting couldn't it?
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Also in the US, Federal Law can be very "open minded" for want of a better term, but they don't provide funding to meet goals or requirements. Which leaves parents and individual in the position of sometimes having to go to court to get what they are entitled to by law.
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The school only recently opened a disabilities office, and the faculty were absolutely terrified at having to deal with students who have disabilities. They currently have two Deaf students and a blind student. So far it sounds like it's been a real challenge for them to learn how to accommodate these students, but they're working on it.
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Last time I went to the Occupational Health department at my University, some of the staff got quite complicated about my need for wheelchair accessibility. One person actually offered to carry me down some steps to the clearly visible access ramp despite my explanation that I'd come up that same ramp an hour earlier, and entered the building quite easily on my wheels. It's as though people overreact - not wanting to exclude disabled people but sometimes making inclusion into a bigger and more hazardous drama than it needs to be.
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