New York Hotline: Special Ed #304, excerpt 2
Date: Feb 26, 1996
Caption: A student called in to a local New York City news show to ask why students in special education are treated differently in school. Their question prompted a discussion among a Board of Education official, a parent advocate, and an attorney who represents Disabled students and students labeled with disabilities.
Disabled students have always attended New York City schools, whether they were identified as disabled or not. Unfortunately, almost all of the ways New York City schools have tried to support Disabled students have involved students’ being separated from their peers. Students have attended separate schools, separate classrooms within schools, or have been pulled out of classrooms for part of the day. They have faced barriers to their full participation – like architectural barriers, or a lack of accommodations or teacher support. As a result, many students have felt that they were being treated differently – and less well than – their peers without disability labels.
Categories: community activism, special education, K-12 organizing, student activism
This item is part of "Tests, Labels, and Segregation in New York City" in "Seeking Equity for Disabled Students"
Item Details
Date: Feb 26, 1996
Creator: New York Hotline, WNYC
Source: Municipal Archives of the City of New York Digital Collections
Copyright: Under copyright. Used with permission. Courtesy of the Municipal Archives of the City of New York.
How to cite: “New York Hotline: Special Ed #304, excerpt 2,” New York Hotline, WNYC, in New York City Civil Rights History Project, Accessed: [Month Day, Year], https://nyccivilrightshistory.org/gallery/ny-hotline-special-ed-2.
Questions to Consider
- Do you agree with the student who called in that students in special education are treated differently in school today?
- Why do you think that is? How would you respond to the student’s questions, based on your observations or experiences in school today?
- During the conversation, Waldemar Rojas, who was a special education official working at the Board of Education, said that the student should know that “she’s as valuable to every one of us as any other child.” What does it take for you to feel valuable in your school? What can schools do to make students feel that they are valued?
- How do your ideas compare to the suggestions made by another speaker on the panel, Diana Autin? Are the changes she suggested – like smaller class size and more support for students’ different needs – enough to create schools where “everyone accepts people’s differences and respects people because or despite their differences”?
- In historical records, it is difficult to find and hear the voices of Disabled students. Why do you think that is? What happens when we try to understand the history of disability and special ed without their voices?
References
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