Feature

Disabled are
gaining rights

Merritt Beattie, a 13-year-old
with cerebral palsy, had attended
his neighborhood school forfour
years when a visiting inspector
insisted he be removed from the
regular classroom and placed tn a
separate school for defectives.

His parents’ court appeal
against Merritt’ s expulsion ended
with a ruling that no child has the
right to attend public school if the
child’s presence is harmful to the
best interests of the school.

The court conceded the boy had
normal intelligence and was able
to keep up with his classmates.

However, due to Merritt's
uncontrolled movements, slow
speech and tendency to. drool, the
school board claimed “his physi-
cal condition and ailment pro-
duces a depressing and nauseat-
ing effect upon the teachers and
school children;...he takes up an
undue portion of the teacher's
time and attention, distracts the
attention of other pupils and inter-
feres generally with the discipline
and progress of the school.”

The argument was accepted by
the Supreme Court of Wisconsin
and Merritt was removed from the
public school system as a result of
that judgment, given on April 29,
1919.

Almost 70 years later, the par-
ents of Luke Elwood initiated legal
action under the Canadian Char-
ter of Rights against the Halifax
County-Bedford School Board in
Nova Scotia.

Their goal? To keep their men-
tally handicapped son integrated
into his neighborhood school, a
goal which was reached with a
court-ordered negotiated settle-
ment on June 1, 1987.

The Elwoods’ legal team,
including Dalhousie law professor
Wayne MacKay, argued that place-
ment of a child in a special

segregated class was discrimina- _

tion based on mental ability.

“This idea that integration of
the disabled is the norm and that
special placement must be justi-
fied as a reasonable limit on
rights, ts incorporated into the
Elwood agreement,” McKay sum-
marized.

Between those two decisions
was a shift in society's values,
spurred by the civil rights move-
ment’s dream of equality for all.

“The mentality that stood in the
way of fulfillment of that dream 1S
the same mentality that for centur-
ies had made handicapped people
the object of ridicule, pity and
rejection, says Dr. Shirley
McBride, provincial director of
special education for the Ministry
of Education.

“This was the same mentality
that said blacks could only sit at
the back of the bus and could not
eat in PESTER where white
people ate,’ McBride added.

Changes in attitude, human
rights and increased technology
have integrated more and more
disabled people into schools and
into society.

“Integration is a process of
social change and like any social
change, not all people are in favor
of it,’ McBride said.

The front line troops in imple-
menting integration of special
needs children are the teachers —
and theyre going into battle
unarmed, says Saanich Teachers’
Association president Vincenza
Cameron.

“There is nothing in our training

that prepares us for dealing with
the needs of handicapped people,”
Cameron said. ‘“‘People who
choose to become teachers did not
choose to become nurses.”
- She cites one incident where
three handicapped children were
simultaneously integrated into one
class and the teacher only given
training after the children were
already in the classroom.

Yet training all teachers to pre-
pare for possible integration is too
expensive, Cameron said.

Teacher Sonia Trescher recalls
feeling apprehensive when she
first learned a non-verbal child
with cerebral palsy, Melanie
Maxwell, would be joining her
Grade 4-5 class at Keating Ele-
mentary almost two years ago.

“At the start we were all won-
dering if it was a good idea at all,
if it was good for her and good for
the other children.”

Trescher wondered how she
would communicate with Melanie,
while dealing with the other 28
children in the class.

“Not having exposure to special
needs children before, I questioned
whether integration was a good
idea.”

At the start there were many
meetings involving a long list of
people: Melanie’s parents Robert
and Janice Maxwell, aide Leah
Robertson, a speech therapist,
physiotherapist, psychologist,

learming assistance teacher, eye
specialist, occupational therapist
and school principal.

~I remember at one poimt I sat
down with one other teacher and
said the time and effort I put into
the rest of the class and the time
and effort I put into Melanie was
50-50. I was trying 10 learn every-
thing.”

Most teachers do have to learn
everything when first dealing with
special needs students, Cameron
noted. “In the past, we have been
putting children away who weren’t

_ pleasant to deal with.”

Teachers have many concerns
about integration, Cameron said.

Teachers face pressure from the
parents of disabled children, who
may be so focused on the needs of
their own child that they do not see
the needs of other children in the
class.

They wonder how to weigh the
rights of typical children ina
classroom against the nghts of the
special needs child? For example,
if the class plans an activity in
which the special needs child
cannot participate, should that
activity be canceled?

They wonder how to plan les-
sons for a special needs child and
how to evaluate the student’s
work.

They wonder about placement.
Should a mentally handicapped
child be placed with his or her
physical or mental peers?

“Who ultimately decides the
extent to which this need for
integration must be met?” Cam-
eron asked.

Full integration may not be
appropriate for every student,
Cameron said, adding “Give peo-

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Local teachers unarmed for inte

ple the dignity of allowing them
their handicap. Accept that they
cannot do everything.”

In the most recent contract, the
teachers’ association negotiated
smaller class sizes for classes
containing special needs children,
a limit of two special needs chil-
dren per class and funding to
establish school-based teams to
support the classroom teacher.

Safety is another issue.

“A lot of injuries are starting to
occur among teachers and aides
who haven’t been trained in how
to lift these handicapped chil-
dren,’ Cameron said.

“None of us have the ultimate
answer. You don’t want to set up
the system for failure and you
don’t want to stress out the people

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who carry the system through —
and that’s the teachers.”

Trescher, having worked with a
special needs child for almost two
years, Said “it’s not as scary as it
seems.** The pressure she felt at
first eased as details of Melanie’s
school program were finalized.

The other students in the class
have benefited, Trescher added.
~ Just for the understanding they
have of special needs people, that
theyre not something really scary
or weird that you'need to stare at
or be apprehensive about.

“I feel integration is very worth-
while. Mel is a great little person
and I’d hate to see her off in a
segregated classroom somewhere.
Why not have her here? She’s
grown and we’ve grown.”

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