An anti-bias approach to ability does not focus on a 'deficit model' where there is some kind of 'norm' to which people with a disability, physical impairment, disfigurement, learning difficulty or any other special need do not conform. We are all more able than some people at some things, and less able than others. Some of us face considerably more challenges than others, however, and discrimination continues to exist, making life even more of a challenge.
The Disability Discrimination Act 2005 places a duty on all public authorities to promote equality for people with disabilities. The Act defines a disabled person as 'someone who has a physical or mental impairment that has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on his or her ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities.'
Legislation is vitally important, but discrimination towards people with disabilities has a long history and, just as we have seen with all aspects of equality and diversity, there is still a lot of work to be done to address longstanding attitudes and stereotypes. In the past, physical differences were mocked and stigmatised, and children with disabilities were hidden away as shameful, often living out their lives in institutions.
Until the 1980s, it was usual to focus on a child's disability in medical terms. This was known as a 'medical model' of disability, where emphasis was placed on the impairment or condition and the way in which it made a person different from the perceived 'normal' way of being. Think about the word 'invalid' - literally in-valid, meaning someone who is not acceptable or of worth!
This historical view has quite rightly been challenged by disabled people and their families. We now have an alternative 'social model' of disability that allows us to focus on people with disabilities as individuals whose lives shouldn't be driven by the label of their disability. It recognises that discrimination is created by society. By emphasising their rights to an independent life and the same opportunities as everyone else, this model seeks to empower people and challenge society to think and behave more inclusively.
INCLUSIVE EDUCATION
Inclusion is relevant to all areas of equality and diversity, but is most commonly associated with issues of disability. The way in which children with disabilities were educated in the past was directly influenced by the medical model. A child who didn't meet the perceived 'standards' for education was seen as a problem and segregated.
As with all forms of bias, this had an adverse effect on everyone. Expectations of children with disabilities were low and they were prevented from reaching their full potential. Just as significantly, children (and adults) in mainstream schools didn't come into contact with children whose needs were different, and so ignorance and stereotypes continued.
In Supporting Special Needs - Understanding Inclusion in the Early Years, Penny Tassoni writes: 'The concept of inclusive education signals a significant mind shift. Instead of expecting children to "come up to standard" or otherwise be segregated, the emphasis is on schools and settings to adapt and be flexible enough to accommodate each and every child.'
There is still a great deal of emphasis, however, on ability levelling, which is reinforced by testing and grouping by ability. Interestingly, we no longer use the word 'dim' to categorise children, but many people wouldn't think twice about labelling a child as 'bright'.
Some children arrive in settings already very experienced in the kinds of learning that are highly valued and easily assessed, such as literacy, numeracy and verbal expression. Children who appear to lack these 'abilities' at an early stage may simply be lacking experience in these areas, because they haven't yet had opportunities to develop and consolidate their ability.
They may, however, be skilled in agility (running and climbing), hand-eye co-ordination (playing video games), resourcefulness and resilience (caring for younger siblings), or spatial awareness (playing out in the street) - because these are the things of which they have had lots of experience. These abilities are rarely assessed and valued. But, given time and plentiful opportunities for positive experiences, and as long as their positive dispositions for learning have not been stifled or damaged by negative judgements, these skills are likely to be a springboard for a great deal of learning in other areas.
Considering the 'whole' child in this way is just as important with regard to children assessed as being particularly 'able'. A child may be particularly skilled in numeracy, but lack experience in social or self-help skills. Responsive practitioners who know a child really well are best placed to provide not only the challenge they need to stretch their talents, but also the support they need to ensure their all-round development.
SPECIAL NEEDS
The terms 'special needs' and special educational needs/SEN are often used when referring to children with disabilities and are a legal definition as outlined in the SEN code of practice. They were a response to the need to challenge all the previous labels that came with negative connotations. But there are some serious concerns about their appropriateness, especially from organisations campaigning for inclusive education.
As Sue Griffin points out in Inclusion, Equality and Diversity in Working with Children, it is unhelpful to imply that the needs of disabled children are in some way special. Their 'needs are the same as other children's needs - although they may have different requirements about how those needs are met.'
This does not mean that we ignore children's impairments. Responding to 'the Unique Child' demands we know as much as possible about a child's individual needs. A 'label' or diagnosis can be a starting point for finding out valuable information (and for accessing funding and resources). But it does not provide the defining characteristics of any child.
Knowing our children really well prompts us to adjust and extend our practice so we can meet their individual needs. The legislation on disability discrimination directs that 'reasonable adjustments' are made to policies and practice as well as physical environments.
Some aspects of this are more readily understood - for example, adapting a physical space to meet the needs of a child who uses a wheelchair. However, it can be harder for settings to adapt policies and practice in response to needs that aren't so visible. This is particularly true with regard to emotional or behavioural needs. It's unlikely that a child who uses a hearing aid would be told off for not hearing well. However, a child with concentration difficulties might well find themselves being chastised for being unable to sit still and not concentrating!
Settings and schools often mistakenly believe that to be inclusive, you must treat everyone the same. This is a huge misunderstanding. It is only fair when everyone has what they need - and children need different things and at different times.
Rigid policies and rules make it difficult to meet everyone's needs and people become uncomfortable about making exceptions. However, a good inclusive behaviour policy will acknowledge that children's needs at various times will demand different responses to their behaviour. This encourages and supports a sensitive and flexible approach to children's varying behavioural skills, in exactly the same way that we differentiate for other aspects of children's development.
In the same way, true inclusion means having a flexible approach to routines and procedures and finding creative ways of ensuring that children feel included, even if they are doing something different.
Inclusive approaches also help us to understand that not every disability can be 'fixed'. This, in turn, reinforces the understanding that there is no such thing as 'normal'. Linked to this are our attitudes towards appearance and the way that society reinforces such a narrow view of what is acceptable about the way people look.
As with all areas of bias, it is not someone's difference that makes their life difficult, but the way society and our institutions are organised and the attitudes and stereotypes that are unwittingly reinforced. Anxieties about difference, which are rooted in fear and feelings of threat, interfere with our ability to empathise and think rationally.
Empathy is much more useful than sympathy. Making the effort to relate to someone's experience of disability and difference is more effective than feeling sorry for them. And this is where practitioners have the great potential - and professional responsibility - to help. Just as with any other area of bias, children absorb and mimic the attitudes of those around them. By exploring our own experience, understanding and attitudes towards ability, and being open to challenging ourselves to think and respond another way, we are better able to challenge and support children to do the same.
ASK YOURSELF
... about your attitudes to ability and appearance
- What personal experience do you have of disability? Are there aspects of your appearance or emotional or physical health that can limit your day-to-day life? How can you use these experiences to inform your attitudes and develop empathy towards others? What does your setting do to ensure you feel included and valued?
- How comfortable are you around people with disfigurements or mental and physical disabilities? What support do you need to reduce your anxiety and build your confidence?
- How do you ensure that you get appropriate training to support specific needs and inclusive practice in general?
- What do you need to know and understand about a child's special needs or abilities to be able to work well with them and their family? What questions do you need to ask parents, and how do you ask them in a positive way?
- How well do you get to know children (and adults) with differing abilities as individuals, making sure that you look beyond abilities, labels and stereotypes?
- How do you make sure that all staff members have relevant information, while ensuring confidentiality and dignity for individual children and families? Do you think it acceptable to post information about allergies, emotional needs or medical conditions, for example, in public view?
- How would you prepare children in your setting for the arrival of a child with a disability, disfigurement or medical condition? How do you encourage them to understand that there are infinite ways of 'being' and that all are equally valuable?
- What do you understand by 'reasonable adjustments' and how well are you able to adapt and adjust your practice to ensure that all children feel included?
- Are your policies flexible enough to allow you to respond to individual needs and the circumstances of children and families?
- How well do you recognise 'hidden' disability? What is your understanding of the link between early experiences, brain development and behavioural difficulties? How do you ensure that children with emotional and behavioural needs feel included and that their difficulties are validated?
- How do you support parents and carers with disabilities to feel welcome and valued in your setting? Have a look at your notices and letters sent home. What alternatives are there for people with reading or writing difficulties?
- How do you think children feel when we ask them to order themselves by height, or group themselves according to hair or eye colour? What messages might we be unwittingly passing on?
- How do you help children have a positive self-image and appreciate the physical characteristics that are unique to them?
- How do you respond to children's curiosity about other people, their physical features and abilities? Think about this as a team and help each other to build confidence in responding to tricky questions.
- How do you respond to children's negative comments about appearance or ability in ways that open up discussion and increase understanding?
- How do you challenge and support children to not accept a narrow view of what constitutes physical attractiveness?
- How do you assess children's experience rather than ability levels? How do you ensure all children are given the time to build up positive experiences?
- Are some abilities more valued than others? How do you recognise and foster a child's talents while supporting their all-round development?
- How do you build children's self-esteem and resilience so they do not feel the need to diminish others, and have the resilience to withstand any bias towards themselves?
THINK ABOUT
... your enabling environment
- Do you assess your environment regularly to ensure it is suitable for your children's emotional and physical needs?
- Do you reflect on how such changes as rearranging furniture might affect a child with a physical impairment or emotional anxiety about change?
- Are people with disabilities included in your workforce? Are there ways you can welcome disabled people into your setting to build positive familiarity?
- Do you provide good-quality books and resources that reflect a range of ability and physical characteristics?
- Do you engage with and support children reading books and playing with unfamiliar resources that reflect disability (such as small-world figures) so that you can respond to their curiosity and role model appropriate comments?
- Do you use Persona dolls (supported by training) to explore issues relating to ability and appearance?
- Not all toys and resources may be suitable for children with differing abilities, but many designed for specific special needs will be perfect for all - and, therefore, truly inclusive. Do you make this a priority when buying resources?
MORE INFORMATION
- - www.direct.gov.uk/en/DisabledPeople/ RightsAndObligations/DisabilityRights/DG_4001069
- - www.allfie.org.uk Alliance for Inclusive Education
- - www.changingfaces.org.uk
- - www.earlyyearsequality.org
- - www.persona-doll-training.org
- - Nutbrown, Cathy and Clough, Peter, Inclusion in the Early Years (2006). SAGE
- - Tassoni, Penny (2003) Supporting Special Needs - Understanding Inclusion in the Early Years. Heinemann
- - Griffin, Sue (2008) Inclusion, Equality and Diversity in Working with Children. Heinemann
See also 'More information', Equality & Diversity, Part 1, 24 September 2009
