Special Education Law Blog

Sex Ed is About Safety By Amanda Windom

One of the most controversial topics we face in schools today is sex education.  Schools in Illinois vary greatly in the curriculum they offer ranging from none at all to abstinence-only to comprehensive sex education. Putting aside the moral, religious and other debates, the main issue here is safety.  Regardless of our personal feelings about the topic the fact remains that children and teens must be educated about sex in a meaningful way, and if they are not educated at school or by parents they will develop ideas based on things they learn from friends or in the media, often to their detriment.

Children and adolescents with disabilities are often left out when it comes to sex education, although they are at a higher risk for sexual abuse than their typically developing peers.  Statistics show that children with developmental disabilities are 4-10 times more likely to be victims of sexual abuse.  So why aren't children who have disabilities receiving meaningful sex education?

Aside from the fact that sex education is a constant item of debate in the standard curriculum, there are many reasons.  People who are disabled are often seen as uninterested or incapable of sexual activity, or on the other hand they are seen as sexually deviant.   Regardless of common stereotypes all people need to be educated on this vital topic, that can have mortal and significant health consequences.

A Survival Guide to High School for Students with (and Without) Disabilities By David A. Kuriniec [Part 2]

Below is the second part of the essay and observations by David Kuriniec, who is a young adult with a disability who attends a 4 year University.

A Survival Guide to High School for Students with (and Without) Disabilities By David A. Kuriniec [Part 1]

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
-Robert Frost, “The Road Not Taken,” 1916, lines 18-20

I am a young adult with a disability. I atttend a 4 year university and have an enoromous amount of experience to share regarding survival both in High School and in life. At six months old, I was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy ("CP").   The only limitations resulting from my CP are physical.  Nevertheless, those limitations required the district to provide an aide whose tasks were to take notes and assist in any other essential daily functions.  With the role of the aide came the immediate suspicion on the part of my peers that he or she was the one completing assignments and not me.  I was, despite the aforementioned fact, the talk of the town; you see, I had a motorized scooter, and everyone’s day was made if he or she had a ride on its back at recess.  But as junior high school came, cliques began to form; in other words, students realized that I was different and began leaving me out of activities and sometimes acted as if my existence was not a reality.  That forced me to ask the painful question: “why me?”  Suicide did cross my mind.  But I hung on and found other pursuits, mainly intellectual in nature, to keep my mind stimulated and numb the emotional pain.

Things changed as I entered high school.  In the first semester, because I had a love for baseball, (and still do—Let’s go White Sox!) I wanted to be a sports broadcaster; a position in that arena would allow me to travel the country and experience the game I love.  But then, I sat at home one day and watched ESPN; on the screen, the anchor was detailing the Supreme Court’s holding in PGA Tour Inc v. Martin 532 U.S. 661 (2001).  This case helped to spur my passion for advocacy and catapulted my life in a truly unexpected direction.  It was after hearing about the case that I wrote Congressman Mark Kirk, who has since been a great ally and voice in Congress, supporting initiatives that help to make society more open and accessible to people with disabilities.  But a full explanation of my activism is beyond the scope of this piece; what is important here is that socialization became even harder in high school, because students who I believed were my friends ostracized me because they thought that what I was doing was “gay.”  I realized, after quite a bit of deep thought, that their ad hominem attacks were immature and that they did not truly comprehend the reasons for my actions or its positive impact on the community.

It was because of my struggles and challenges in high school that I began to consider at length the concept of inclusion. I had first considered inclusion in an article I had begun writing for a journalism class. In that class I had detailed the experiences and opinions relative to inclusion of two other students with disabilities and various teachers at school.  Following the completion of the article, I sat down and thought about all the things teachers had done over the course of my entire educational career to ensure that I was truly included.  As I examined the list, I realized that my inclusion was successful because I too had done everything discussed below.  So, without further introduction, here is the list, supplemented with short anecdotes and/or supporting arguments. Students should: 

Real Inclusion A Result of School Leadership

At a High School prom in Southern California , an openly homosexual senior was voted prom king and his prom queen was a senior girl who has Downs syndrome and a condition that causes baldness. [For another view of prom click here.] Both students  have been very popular with their peers over the years.  The school has actively cultivated an enviroment of mutual understanding and has embraced diversity in more than just mere words.  Inclusion can work with the leadership of staff and adminstration and a commitment of resources. Nice to be able to report on meaningful success.

Kevin Bartol Here are Some Words of Apology

Thanks to the creativity of Liz Ditz who writes the blog I Speak of Dreams, the following is a suggested public apology for Kevin Bartol. Now if he would only be smart enough to actually adopt her statement,  he can then rejoin the ranks of thinking  people everywhere.

To the parents and students in Baraboo and other districts around the
nation:

I was elected to the Baraboo school board, but I didn't study for the
job.  I was shamefully ignorant of federal legislation under the
Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA) and Section 504 of the
Rehabilitation act of 1973.  I didn't even try to learn about the
realities some of the students in my district face, those with mental
and physical disabilities that hinder their ability to learn.

Students, when you don't study for a test, your ignorance only hurts
you.  My  failure to study  hurt a lot of people.  I am truly sorry.  I
will try to master the law, and I will try to understand the challenges
facing students with mental and physical disabilities.  I know my job
is to make decisions that affect all students in the Baraboo district,
and I pledge to understand the opportunities and constraints the
district faces.

Sincerely,

Kevin Bartol

A Chasm in School Mission Statements

In almost all schools they have a mission statement for the district or at least for that building. The mission statement is usually engraved or painted near the entrance to the school and reiterated in the school handbook.  The mission statements differ to some degree but they tend to state something like the following:

Inclusion of Students in School Governance

The National School Board's Association ("NSBA") has noted  a recent trend that students are being included  on school boards.  In at least one school district, Davenport, Iowa, at least one student who is on the school board is required to be a student with an IEP.  On the whole it appears that most student who are allowed a role in school governance are based upon popular vote or other criteria that generally will not favor a student with special needs being included on the local board of education. For instance, in Tennessee, 4 students are to be included on the board two each from the "college track" and  "technology track." Download School Governance.pdf

Analyzing the Role of Paraprofessionals

Paraprofessionals play an essential role for many children with disabilities under IDEA. Personally, my son has had a great paraprofessional for many years. She has had just the right balance of being supportive and backing off. She has been an advocate for him and a team player (in the non-negative sense) with the other school personnel. In a word she has been a crucial and wonderful part of my son's education.

However, the question is to what extent do schools overuse paraprofessionals as a quick and inexpensive "fix" instead of providing a certified teacher to teach students.  This question is addressed in a set of guidelines and worksheets from the University of Vermont's Center on Disability and Community Inclusion as part of Project Evolve.

The Final Lesson of Inclusion

Inclusion has many rationales. At its most basic, inclusion is based upon the mutual benefits, exchanges and learning that go on between children with disabilities and non-disabled peers.  To me inclusion is a collision of two worlds. The world of people with disabilities and that of people without disabilities. While  there is no compelling reason why there should be two separate worlds, historically that has been the reality.  Over the decades, IDEA incrementally has fused these two worlds. This fusion has in my experience resulted in some meaningful and life changing lessons for both the disabled and the non-disabled.

Pennsylvania Adopts Commencement Law for Student with IEPs

Pennsylvania recently adopted a commencement law which sounds similar to Brittany's law in Illinois which was a subject of an earlier post. Under the new Pennsylvania law, students with IEPs who have completed 4 years of high school but have not accomplished their IEP can participate in graduation ceremonies with their peers and receive a certificate of attendance.  This allow allows for a normative social experience which is an important part of inclusion.