Identity-First: The Global Special Education Initiative


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The Scoop on Identity-First Language

We all do it. When talking about individuals within our society, we have a habit of framing them within a defining characteristic. Our behaviors, whether intentional or unintentional, may actually be pushing forward stereotypes and associations that impede our efforts to make diversity awareness a pillar in our society. Identify-first language is when we see a person as an individual before we see their attributes. For example, if we see a girl and she has brown hair, we wouldn't call her the brown-haired girl. We would say, in identity-first language, the girl with brown hair. The former implies that the girl is a part of her hair, but the latter makes the girl the focus of our attention and we can identify her attributes. When it comes to individuals with disabilities, the same protocol should be followed, as their status as human beings is primary to their disability category. Here are a few examples: YES : Boy with autism    NO : Autistic boy YES : Baby with Down Syndrome 
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The Reality of School Closures for Students with Disabilities

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W ith school closures around the world, administrators, teachers, and students have been thrust into a situation for which they were not prepared. While home learning has begun to settle into more of a routine, although imperfect, for many students, that is not necessarily the case for students with disabilities. What we have learned is that special education is often considered a system somewhat separate from the general curriculum classroom. In the second month of school closures, there are still students with special needs who have not received even the bare minimum of support from their academic communities, putting parents in a seemingly helpless situation. There have been comments made that parents of SPED students should stop complaining and start learning how to teach their children. Such comments underscore the pervasive disdain for special education and the belief that students with disabilities are a burden rather than children entitled to an education. Parenting a child
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Questions Remain Regarding Online Learning for Students with IEPs

When Covid-19 promoted the closure of schools across the United States, there were many questions about how teaching and learning would be managed with so many obstacles in place, not the least of which being students without technology, families without access to WiFi, students who depended on schools for their meals, and the provision of services for students with disabilities. As the country began planning for tech-based learning, the Secretary of Education was scrambling to determine the extent to which districts would be required to provide special education services for one of its most vulnerable populations. In fairness, this was un-chartered territory without a blueprint in place to guide decision-making. In the end, it was decided that districts should provide some sort of supportive services for children with Individualized Education Plans (IEPs), but even now, there are questions as to what that directive really means. Special education has an likely always will be a ver
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