Kids in the Middle Book

Chapter 1

Question 4: What is your ideal comprehensive belief about the education of children with disabilities in the twenty-first century? 

Regarding my belief about the education of children with disabilities in the twenty-first century, I would recommend that disability should not create problems for diverse equality conceptions in accessing education. Rather, it would be crucial to focus on strengthening the prevailing objections to make sure that kids with disabilities gain access to quality education in the same manner as their nondisabled colleagues. The education system should be created in such a manner that it ensures fair rivalry when it comes to jobs to make sure kids with disabilities experience equal opportunities of competing for jobs. Additionally, I feel that the education system should offer equal prospects for children with equal natural talents and ambitions. For some children with disabilities, they lack similar talents with those vying for similar opportunities, even though education can play a critical role in terms of compensating for the existing differences. Furthermore, ensuring that kids with disabilities have access to similar education opportunities allows them to feel appreciated in the society, thereby making it possible for them to unleash their inborn potential. When it comes to children with cognitive disabilities, they experience challenges in accessing educational opportunities, even though this kind of state should not hinder them from accessing educational opportunities. Rather, they should be offered opportunities that would allow them to can allow them to unleash their potential to ensure that they become productive members of the society rather than be subjected to various kinds of stereotypes. In my case, therefore, I feel that offering kids with disabilities with adequate educational opportunities during the 21st century would play a vital role in terms of allowing them to make positive contribution to the society. This way, it would be able to create an equal society, which recognizes the rights of all people despite the disabilities that they might portray.

Chapter 2

Question 2: Would you be comfortable being examined and treated by a doctor with cerebral palsy? Why or why not? 

In my case, I would not be comfortable when being examined and treated by a doctor with cerebral palsy. Experts argue that for people with cerebral palsy, they usually have a permanent neurological impairment. This form of impairment affects their balance, motor function, and mobility. During the work life, therefore, such kinds of people would be incapable of standing for extended durations. They also become tired easily while at the same time experience challenges when undertaking certain tasks. Based on the severity of a person’s cerebral palsy, the nature of work, it would be crucial for the workplace to institute certain accommodations. In my perspective, therefore, I would not trust a person with cerebral palsy to examine or treat me because the complications associated with the condition might lead the person to complicate my condition. Nevertheless, it is crucial to note that in the event of people having cerebral palsy, their body does not serve as the one that holds them back, but rather their mindset as well as that of their employer. They experience stereotypes and stigma, which leads them to experience challenges when pursuing their duties. In this case, they experience challenges when it comes to securing a job, but once they secure it, they usually embark on going an extra mile to allow them prove their worth, despite their healthy status affecting their long-term wellbeing. However, even while such kinds of individuals might be determined to prove their worth in the workplace, I would still not feel comfortable when being examined and treated by a person with cerebral palsy. Their neurological condition might lead them to perform mistakes when assessing a patient. Thus, I would recommend that healthcare institutions ensure to offer certain accommodations in the workplace while making sure that they are in the company of another expert to avoid making huge mistakes when offering care to patients. 

Chapter 3

Question 1: What were the legal precedents for courts granting equal educational opportunity for rights to children with disabilities? 

Initially, children with disabilities used to be treated as second-class citizens during most of United States’ history. The leaners who needed special instructions or accommodations were excluded from the educational process. Starting the 19th century, special classes, and schools emerged to address the educational needs of the children with various forms of disabilities. Nonetheless, charitable or private institutions operated most of these institutions, while the government did not fund them. In this case, a large number of children failed to receive similar educational opportunities that their peers received. As such, a need arose for developing schools that supported the need for children with disabilities to receive education opportunities similar to ones of their peers. Thus, for courts to grant equal educational opportunity for rights to children with disabilities, certain legal precedents prevailed. For instance, starting the mid-20th century, federal courts started asserting the rights of the language, ethnic, and racial minorities. These led to congressional civil rights enactment aimed at safeguarding the rights of these kinds of people. These initiatives set the state for parents as well as other advocates to seek similar rights in the event of children with disabilities. With the ruling of several state and federal courts supporting equal educational opportunity rights to kids having disabilities, state legislatures as well as the Congress passed a legislation that required a free and public education for all disabled children. For these laws, they have continued to be refined via court decisions and amendments to make sure that the rights of children with disabilities are enforced and followed. These efforts have made it possible for children with different kinds of disabilities to securer education opportunities, a move that have created a level playing ground for all children in terms of accessing relevant education.

Chapter 4

Question 3: How has Congress’s failure to fully fund the IDEA impacted the quality of education that students with disabilities receive? 

For the Congress, it has failed to live up to its expectations of financing its share of the costs associated with deploying IDEA. In this case, the burden attributed to the provision of special education initiatives has fallen mostly to local school districts together with states. The absence of sufficient funding, especially when it comes to an era where a large number of programs rival for insufficient finances, this has thwarted efforts of offering disabled students with programs that have the ability of meeting their requirements fully. Additionally, even while IDEA has failed to offer parentally placed private learning institutions to students, most of the students having disabilities whose parents have opted to direct them to private schools fail to access education that has the ability of addressing their needs fully. Furthermore, whereas IDEA’s due process resolution together with dispute resolution measures have allowed parents to advocate for their kids, the limitations that prevail when it comes to recouping legal costs hinders them from accessing the process fully, while parents are incapable of realizing sufficient victory during such situations. As such, parents have been required to invest their insufficient funds in hiring legal counsel to receive appropriate education. Therefore, parents have been forced to require the help of assistance of experts to allow them counter testimony of the experts in school boards. At the present, the costs of the witness end up costing tremendous amount of money, which the parents bear. Thus, the failure by the Congress to fully fund the IDEA has impacted the level of education quality that children with disabilities receive. Parents end up spending considerable amounts of money while seeking legal counsel, which would allow their children with disabilities to receive quality education, although the efforts have not been fruitful.

Chapter 5

Question 5: How do your school and district regulate and manage the funding and operations of education for children with disabilities, now and into the future, to ensure that all children reach their fullest potential in school and in community life? 

To facilitate regulating and managing the funding and operations of education for children with disabilities, now and into the future, my school and district emphasize on diagnosing students earlier while at the same time retaining them to make sure that they are able to catch up with other students. They support the idea that early diagnosis and treatment will lead to fewer learners being considered as children with disabilities, thus ending up saving the costly as well as long-term costs associated with special education. Through these initiatives, my school and district are able to minimize the high number of kids with special education where probable. Additionally, they ensure to offer the kids in kindergarten, first, as well as second grades additional time, assistance, as well as services, which reduce the number of children regarded as having disabilities. This makes it possible for the students to catch up early hence eliminating the need for classifying or retaining them. As a result, the school and district has managed to reduce costs as well as the number of kids with disabilities. In this manner, it has been possible to increase the chances of keeping the children in regular classes or ensuring that they are referred to assessments in a timely manner. When looking at the efforts that my school and district have employed in minimizing costs while at the same time managing the funds of children with disabilities, it has become possible to reduce the number of kids requiring special attention. Furthermore, they have been able to ensure that the students are able to catch up in the educational setting, thereby allowing them to excel at school in line with having productive contribution in the society. Thus, if other schools and districts follow a similar model, it will be possible to minimize overall countrywide costs associated with handling children with disabilities while ensuring that the funds are managed effectively.

Chapter 6

Question 5: What policy changes would you recommend to the board of education of the Madison County Public School District?

Concerning the board of education of Madison County Public School District, the major recommendation I would offer is for the institution to focus on devising ways of eradicating miscommunication together with unproductive behavior within the institution to ensure that they are able to focus on the needs of the kids with disabilities in an effective manner. The changes should target making sure that issues related to cooperation and communication among the board members and kids with disabilities as well as their representatives are dealt with. In this case, I would advocate for the need by the board to focus on facilitating contextual and cultural border crossings in while emphasizing on the need for pre-service education, policy changes within the board, as well as sensitivity training. In addition, the board should ensure that the educators of the institution meet on a regular basis to focus on the changes that they should consider implementing to streamline the planning process, hence make sure that the needs of the learners are addressed in an effective manner while at the same time ensuring that the changes deployed are ethical. Here, adopting a spirit of discussion and inclusion would play an essential role in bringing the stakeholders together to emphasize on common interests rather than embarking on litigation, which would end up imposing additional costs of offering education to children with special needs. When the board of education of Madison County Public School District follows these recommendations in policy changes, it would be possible to ensure that the requirements of the educators and children are addressed effectively, thereby making sure that the quality of education offered is effective. In this manner, the children would be able to emerge successful in their educational endeavors and make positive contribution to the community.

Chapter 7

Question 1: Why might inclusion be viewed as a simple concept that can be complicated to implement 

Inclusion can be viewed as a simple concept, which can be complicated to implement. In simple terms, inclusion of the youth and children with disabilities alongside regular peers in the area of general education is simple. Nonetheless, the idea becomes complicated when it keeps evoking broad ranges of responses from diverse stakeholders, while most of them are at odds with one another. Here, the simple concept leads to complicated issues, which influence some values, such where a question arises in a democracy concerning which individuals have the right of deciding about the issue of schooling other people. In this case, it challenges emerge when it comes to understanding the civil rights of young individuals based on the kind of schooling that they receive and what constitutes quality education access among all students. Also, a question arises as to what ways being separate, in a paradoxical manner, perceived as promoting equality among citizens. The initial question in this case is attributed to the most contested and complicated areas within the society, which entails the ideal means of making sure that all children receive the best education. Since the world is realizing tremendous changes mostly because of the rivalry that prevails among citizens, while no sufficient resources prevail, and education is regarded as the force behind excelling in life, the parties opposing or supporting inclusion understand that various issues are at stake. Here, the major things that lead the concept of inclusion to become complicated are attributed to sustaining inclusive schools, mostly because of the various laws, court cases, rights, opinions, belief systems, policies, and traditions, , which end up confusing educators and families concerning inclusion.

Chapter 8

Question 1: What assumptions about services for children with severe and chronic disabilities did you bring to your reading of this chapter? How have your understandings and assumptions changed as a result of the reading? 

By reading this chapter, I brought several assumptions concerning children with severe and chronic disabilities. For instance, I assume that kids with severe and chronic disabilities do not receive sufficient services, while they are usually subjected to various forms of discrimination as opposed to the case of children with other kinds of disabilities. While in school, they are segregated from their peers who do not have or those with mild disability. They are also situated in les segregated or more mainstreamed settings, which do not cater for their requirements adequately. Furthermore, various attempts have been made over the years whereby the children are excluded from IDEA services. Their description has changed while numerous court issues prevail, which fail to support funding of the needs of the children with severe and chronic disabilities. In this perspective, such kids are unable to meet their educational requirements while no sufficient prevails to foster understanding regarding the manner in which severe and chronic disabilities relate to service delivery and equity in the educational setting. After the reading, my understandings and assumptions have changed. For example, I used to think that children with severe and chronic disabilities received significant attention with the goal of meeting their academic needs. However, the reading has led me to realize that such kinds of children are among the most neglected in the educational setting while no sufficient effort has been made to ensure that their requirements are catered for. In this case, I would propose that diverse stakeholders ensure to focus on the needs of these kinds of children to ensure that they live productive lives while at the same time making notable contribution to the society. Such measures would facilitate in leading toward a society characterized by equality and justice without any form of injustices being directed toward children with severe and chronic disabilities.

Chapter 9

Question 3: How do the IDEA mandates support families of and children with disabilities? What are the limitations of the IDEA as seen in these three scenarios? 

For the mandates by the IDEA, they support families of and children with disabilities in various ways. The mandates require that all students with disabilities follow a course of study that aligns with the general curriculum and education while at the same time taking assessments that reflect in data of learning institutions in which they attend. The mandates also hold schools accountable for the educational success of the students as the assessments and graduation rates define. Furthermore, the children with disabilities should be placed in institutions that offer least restrictive environment. In this case, the mandates support the families of the children with disabilities by making sure that they do not need to send their children to costly schools, especially those coming from poor backgrounds. Additionally, the mandates support the needs of disabled children in such a manner that they are able to receive quality educational content in the same manner as their less disabled or non-disabled children. In this vein, the mandates make sure to offer a learning environment characterized by equality and justice, ensuring that all students gain access to quality and relevant education. Nonetheless, the mandates by IDEA also pose certain drawbacks. For instance, when children with disabilities are placed in normal class, schools experience certain challenges when it comes to tailoring education to meet the needs of the students requiring special education services, which might not match with the learning requirements of typical students. Here, it is crucial to consider making certain accommodations on behalf of children with disabilities, while paying special attention to their unique educational requirements. This way, it would be possible to ensure that the students with special needs are able to realize benefits from the kind of education offered to them.

Chapter 10

Question 4: What are the foundational causes of the issues encountered in these stories? Write an anecdotal listing of at least five.

Concerning the issues encountered in the stories within the chapter, certain causes are attributed to them. For instance, certain school professionals are usually ignorant and intolerant to an extent that they do not assist children with special needs. In certain situations, they even hinder learning conditions. This is especially the case when it comes to educators who usually have preconceived notions, thereby leading the students to be inadequate and have reduced level of intelligence due to their disabilities. Furthermore, certain schools usually fail to offer ideal learning environment to an extent that the students with without any form of disability usually tease and torment those with disabilities, hence hindering their ability in acquiring ideal education. Moreover, school districts usually fail to offer early diagnosis to kids during their early education while at the same time fail to provide them with the required programs, associated accommodations, and services to assist them in emerging successful. This affects them negatively, mostly because they feel that the learning environment threatens them emotionally and physically. Since some of the learning institutions fails to offer self-confidence to the students, they end up engaging in other outside activities to allow them develop it. In addition, the students with disabilities usually feel disregarded in their learning institutions by their peers and educators, which lead them to experience sadness and hurt because of being different. The sadness and hurt also affects the parents of the children with disabilities because this usually serves as a family affair. From the stories encountered in the chapters, it is true that a myriad of issues lead children with disabilities to experience problems while in school. Addressing these kinds of issues would play an essential role in ensuring that the children receive quality education and be able to grow themselves academically and during life.

Chapter 11

Question 2: What information do parents need to understand and participate in their child’s education? Develop a script to educate parents about special education using lay language parents can understand: no jargon, acronyms, or legal terms. 

To ensure that parents understand and participate in the education of their children, they should be offered certain information. For instance, they should be made to understand that attending meetings that focus on the education of their children might present mixed results, whereby they might run smoothly while at other times feel unsupported. In this case, parents should be provided with information on where they can seek reliable lawyers or advocates who would allow them to understand the rights of their children. Furthermore, parents should ensure that the people they choose to represent their children are welcoming and appreciate their requests while at the same time explaining their rights in an understandable manner. Additionally, parents need information on how they can fight to ensure that their children receive appropriate placement as well as have information concerning where they can seek appropriate placement for their children. Also, in the event that parents feel that they cannot trust the administration or teachers, they should seek for people who can inform them about their rights and ways in which they can make sure that their kids receive early diagnoses. This is because children do not serve as commodities that should be bargained with, but are people whose rights also need respecting. Moreover, it is crucial to teach the parents about how they can persevere with the condition of their children while at the same time offer them information about where they can seek appropriate educational services for their children. With this kind of information, parents would have the ability of fighting for their children’s rights while at the same time making sure that their kids with disabilities receive quality education without any form of discrimination. In this manner, parents would be able to have peace of mind knowing that the rights of their children are respected.

Chapter 12

Question 2: Why do you think the viewpoints expressed by administrators differ from the viewpoints of the children, parents, and advocates? 

In my case, I believe that the viewpoints expressed by administrators differ from the ones of children, parents, and advocates in that administrators regard the special education process in their areas of operation operate in a smooth manner for a considerable part. However, in the case of the other stakeholders, including parents, children and advocates, they believe that the system still demands significant amount of work. For parents and advocates, for instance, they believe that meetings aimed at planning for IEP are not undertaken in an appropriate manner. The same case applies even for certain educators in special education. For the parents who attend these kinds of meetings, they regarded them as being adversarial thereby leading them to distrust the committee members and the process in ensuring effectiveness of collaboration between the different stakeholders. When it comes to the special education process, it is usually sophisticated while minor things might result to numerous problems while they can have tremendous negative influence on the lives and education of the students. In the event of the students, they mostly enter school believing they will be accepted and accorded fair treatment, leading their level of trust in the system to increase. However, special education often kills those kinds of feelings, since it might be insidious hence eroding the self-confidence of the children slowly, thereby making them to feel increasingly isolated. Some children are able to escape this kind of treatment although most of them face such kinds of challenges, which lead special education to be unfair to many children associated with certain forms of disabilities. In this perspective, therefore, it is evident that the viewpoints that parents, advocates, and children do not perceive special education in the similar manner. Whereas most administrators regard the system as operating in an efficient manner, most advocates, parents, and children feel that more needs to be done to make sure that the system operates in an effective manner.

Chapter 13

Question 2: Do you believe in full inclusion for children with disabilities? Why or why not? 

Full inclusion entails educating all kids together in the same setting where the learning environment offers all related accommodations and services. This would be especially possible in the coming years. Here, even while around 1 percent of children might not have the ability of attending the same classroom physically with other children due to incarceration, extreme violent behavior, or the dangers they pose to themselves and others, they would have the ability of attending similar classrooms via distance learning. The technology would provide them with the ability of accessing similar academic programs as other kids. Some parents might decide to keep their children from these kinds of classes. However, IDEA would be able to realize full inclusion in the future. It should embark on due process, which would provide the public and parents with an avenue for removing the placement of their kids in full inclusion. Nevertheless, inclusion implies considering an avenue for exclusion. Different options prevail for education children with disabilities. Deploying an ideal opportunity where children with severe and chronic disabilities can be fully included would require consumers, educators, as well as other stakeholders to come together and utilize a reconciliation model in different controversy levels to establish shared implementations of already prevailing programs. Parents would be required to make sure that organize with interested parties to drive state, federal, and local social policy with the goal of establishing full human capital for all kids. For instance, early and ideal diagnoses would be critical in ensuring that children develop the capacity to learn. Also, it would be essential to categorize disability from mild to severe to determine the kinds of accommodations that should be made for every child. Demarcating the academic functioning of the students would facilitate in identifying the strong academic areas of the children with special needs. Following these requirements would facilitate in realizing full inclusion of the children with severe and chronic disability in the classroom environment.