The author of this opinion piece provides what he believes to be a definition of the present special education system at it's worst. Special education is described as a team of professionals gathered to plan for the individual. They assess, interpret, break down deficiencies into categories and divide those deficiencies to distribute among a…

People often hold stereotypical notions about disability, assuming people with significant disabilities offer little in terms of friendship or contribution. Some are even repulsed by that person's physical appearance. Such responses, evident within the Christian community as well, fail to acknowledge the inherent worth of the person as created in…

The authors present a brief introduction to Americans of Arab descent and a brief overview of Arab culture. Then, culturally appropriate counseling considerations related to family, attitudes toward disability, religion, communication, acculturation, help-seeking behaviors, and stereotypes are highlighted. In the last section, the authors provide…

Background/Context: Tropes of dis/ability in the movies and master-narratives of Black males in education and society are typically treated in isolation. Furthermore, education research on Hollywood movies has typically focused on portrayals of schools, principals, and teachers even though education professionals are exposed to a broader range of…

This article discusses findings from an Economic and Social Research Council-funded study exploring non-disabled children's ideas about disability. This represents the first in-depth sociological investigation of children's ideas about disabled people as members of wider society. Data are presented from focus group discussions with children aged…

Picture books can influence how children perceive people of different backgrounds, including people with disabilities whose cultures differ from their own. Researchers have examined the portrayal of multicultural characters with disabilities in children's literature. However, few have specifically considered the portrayal of deaf characters,…

This article outlines the findings of a new study that explores the portrayal of disability within a sample of the primary-age children's literature most readily available to UK schools. The kind of literature to which children are exposed is likely to influence their general perceptions of social life. How disability is handled by authors is…

Three decades have passed since federal law mandated inclusion--ending, officially at least, a system that segregated students with disabilities from the rest of the student population. The publishing world has yet to catch up. In children's books, characters with disabilities often inhabit their own separate world, where disability is the only…

This article presents the results of a study of differences in orientation toward disability over the lifecourse. The study was based on an instrument developed by the authors, the Questionnaire on Disability Identity and Opportunity (QDIO). This instrument measures two dimensions of disability: participation and orientation. Orientation, in turn,…

North American children's authors have not been inclusive of characters with special needs when it comes to assigning the role of protagonist. While books with depictions of characters with identified exceptionalities have appeared on bookstore shelves and awards' lists, these characters have generally been relegated to subsidiary positions,…

This paper describes the different challenges faced by all members of the local community who are directly or indirectly responsible for the educational reform regarding the process of inclusion in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Yugoslavia education system is regulated in canton legislature. Each canton has its own law on preschool, elementary school,…

This paper revisits the 2007 Disability Studies in Education Conference plenary session, "Using Disability Art in Teaching About Disability: Riva Lehrer, David Mitchell, Sharon Snyder and Linda Ware". The plenary coincided with a group show at The Arts Club of Chicago that featured multimedia works by artists who figure disability experiences into…

The author discusses ways in which typical media treatment of persons with disabilities reinforces harmful social myths. (CL)

A random sample of prime time television programing during spring 1979 was analyzed to determine the visibility and image of characters portrayed as handicapped. Results suggested that handicapped persons are, overall, not highly visible and are more likely to appear in negative roles than positive ones. (Author)

The article examines the distorted ways in which handicapping conditions are portrayed in literature, ranging from portraying villains as handicapped to portraying handicapped people as heroic or overly good. Literature covered includes the Bible, Shakespeare, modern literature, drama, motion pictures, and children's classics. (DLS)