Disability
What is disability?
According to the Disability Discrimination Act, 'a person has a disability if he or she 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.' Physical or mental impairments can include sensory impairments and learning difficulties. The definition also covers medical conditions when they have long-term and substantial effects on pupils' everyday lives.
Help and support
The challenge of raising a child with a special need or disability can seem
overwhelming at times. There are often so many issues involved, such as finding
the best health care, therapy or specialist; supporting your child at school
and in the community; investigating the services and opportunities available;
and arranging for special equipment that may be needed - all in addition to the
often exhausting job of simply caring for your child.
Fortunately, there are networks of support and resources to help parents deal
with these issues:
- The
'Disabled
people'
[External Site]
section on Directgov has information about an
individual's rights as a disabled person in the UK. Directgov also
provides more specific information in their 'Caring for a disabled child'
section
-
Contact
a Family
[External Site] is a national charity that provides support and advice to
parents whose children have special needs or disabilities, regardless of their
particular medical condition. Their website has a directory of specific
conditions and rare syndromes and they specialise in putting families in touch
with each other
What schools must do
New laws mean schools, colleges and universities cannot treat disabled students 'less favourably' than non-disabled students.
And they must make 'reasonable adjustments' to ensure disabled students are not disadvantaged compared to non-disabled peers.
The new laws cover school admissions, exclusions and education and associated services, including school trips and after-school clubs and activities.
Schools and local authorities must now also draw up strategic plans to make it easier over time for disabled pupils to be taught in mainstream schools, which will cover:
- Improving physical access to buildings with ramps, handrails and lifts
- Making lessons more accessible through staff training and class organisation
- Helping make information more easily available through handouts and timetables in large print, Braille or audio tape
LA plans cover major capital programmes across all schools, while individual school plans deal with what they can do within their own budgets.
