Essay about Effects of Labels in Special Education

The special education programs in the United States have been designed to help children with special needs learn easier and fit in better with the education program. Unfortunately, many minority students get caught up in the mix and don’t get the proper attention they deserve. Furthermore, minority students are seriously over-represented in the educational programs. Many minority students are misdiagnosed and put into special education programs when in fact; they do not have a learning disability. This has become a growing problem in this country because it is seen as the easy way out. Schools all over the U.S. are doing this in order to not have to properly test and evaluate students for learning problems.

Special education teachers no longer may identify themselves as teachers of just a specific category of students. Rather, they must identify themselves as teachers of all students and be willing to provide whatever support is needed to meet the varied needs of students. Likewise, students should not be identified as self-contained or resource, but as students needing specialized instruction and supports for specific skills/subject areas for specific amounts of time in either a special education setting or a general education setting.

In another article, “The Functionalist View of Special Education and Disability: Deconstructing the Conventional Knowledge Tradition,” it discusses how Special Education is problematic, due to professional models, practices, and tools that are created from functionalists assumptions and theories, which have been proven to be ineffective, and sometimes harmful (Skrtic, 2005). This article is a great framework for how society has created the stigma of individuals with health, and physical needs, to the term, disabilities. For example, Skrtic explains how, Special Education was founded in part, by students who were removed, and contained due to inefficient organizations and defective students (Skrtic, 2005). Those students who didn’t fit into societies norms, were considered to be deviant, and then labeled as having a disability, or worse, labeled

Over the course of this semester, I have come to the realization that above all, students with disabilities need to be treated with the respect and dignity that one would give any other child. This is why it is important to talk to and about people that have disabilities with “people first” language (Evans, Civil Rights Final Day, 9.17.16). This stems from the idea that a perceived disability is just one of a person’s many attributes. Students with disabilities are people that have individual abilities, interests, and needs. By using “people first” language, one emphasizes the importance of the individual over their diagnosed disability. According to The Arc, an organization that advocates for people with disabilities, “the language in a society used to refer to persons with disabilities shapes its beliefs and ideas about them” (The Arc, 2016). Using “people first” language not only ensures the person in question knows that they are valued, but it also helps set a precedent for the perception of people with disabilities in one’s environment. It also gives the student the opportunity to define his/herself, instead of being identified solely with their disability (The Arc, 2016).

Dunn argued that the identification and placement in special education of socioculturally deprived children with mild learning problems was of concern because of the nature of these settings, the questionable benefits of these placements and the detrimental effects of labeling. Since 1968, the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) has received and investigated complaints associated with placement of minority students for mental retardation and serious emotional disturbance; equal access of minority students to pre-referral programs, lack of access to minority students to general education programs and issues associated with students with limited English proficiency.

We must not label children due to their disability. It is important we look at their individual need first without focusing on their impairment. We should be realistic about their expectations and modify the curriculum to suit, give them extra support or their own SEN, depending on needs but also encouraging independence as much as possible.

Disproportionality, in special education, is the overrepresentation or under-representation of a particular population or demographic group relative to their presence in the overall student population (Ralabate, & Klotz, 2007). There are many factors thought to contribute to disproportionality: cultural differences, lack of appropriate assessment strategies, socioeconomic status, race, and gender (Kanaitsa, 2010).

Evaluation: In early 1970, children with learning disabilities were treated much differently than the peers that were at appropriate grade level. In this student’s case, the school system segregated the special needs students placing them in special classroom and labeled them as “slow learners”. With the teachers and school administration lack of knowledge on helping students with disabilities, students were at a disadvantage in receiving a fair education. Children felt as

In the late 1960’s and early 1970s, litigation began to establish the right to appropriate education services and placement bias protections for individuals ages 3 to 21 (Reschly, 2013). During this time, placement litigation, in particular, was focusing on the overrepresentation of racial minority students in educable mental retardation (EMR), or special education programs, with allegations of “inappropriate assessments, use of biased instruments, and excessive reliance on intelligence testing” (Reschly, 2013, p. 200).

Harry, B., & Klingner, J. K. (2006). Why are so many minority students in special education?: Understanding Race & Disability in Schools. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.

Disproportionate identification of minority students in special education is a major concern in schools today. This paper describes the issues in the assessment process with minority students and how we have arrived at a situation where minorities are being misdiagnosed into special education programs. Additionally, several legal cases are mentioned which show numerous actions and rulings that have tried to correct the disproportionate identification in special education. Some of the legal cases discussed include Larry P. v Riles, Diana v. State Board of Education, and Guadalupe v. Tempe Elementary School, which all significantly impacted special education today. Additionally, the Individual with Disabilities Education Act has enforced

Although in many cases teachers have the students’ best interest at heart and hope to benefit them from a referral for an evaluation, inappropriate labeling can bring serious consequences for pupils. As noted on Truth in labeling: disproportionality in special education (2007), once admitted into the special needs program, students tend to remain in special education classes, they are more likely to encounter less rigorous curriculum and lower expectations, they often face social stigma, and have less contact with academically able peers.

The idea of children with disabilities, whether they be mild or severe has been a very controversial and misunderstood topic. In the past inclusion has brought about huge changes for not only the students, but also the parents and families of these children, and staff at schools. Teachers and education professionals were the first to really feel the wrath and intimidation of this dramatic shift in education. There were several different factors that were coming about that made it very difficult for schools and teachers, the unorganized mandates were strict and didn’t allow much time for change. “President Gerald Ford signed the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (EAHCA) into law in 1975. Since the original passage of the EAHCA, the law has been amended four times and renamed the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)” (Conroy, Yell, Katsiyannis, & Collins, 2010, para.1).

The civil rights movement and the inclusion controversies run side by side, however the segregation factors are contrasting. Color of skin does not affect a human’s ability to learn, therefore segregation was overturned. Mental retardation, however, will affect their education and peers in the classroom.

Over the past twenty years, there has been a strong movement within schools around the United States to integrate students with disabilities in to general education classrooms. Schools have been making more efforts to increase educational opportunities for students with disabilities, and while there are many benefits to inclusion, there are also many challenges. Inclusion of special education students in a regular education classroom continues to be the center of debate amongst administrators and teachers. Everyone has their own ideas and attitudes towards inclusion, and research studies have revealed that there are many things that contribute to those positive or negative attitudes.