At the ripe ages of 3, 4, and 5, children around the world are beginning to enter the school system: a system that is stressed in many ways, yet a prime place for learning, caring, and growth.
I am a School Psychologist and Board Certified Behavior Analyst working within both the private and public school sectors with children on the Autism Spectrum. In 2009, I had a unique opportunity to do work in Durban, South Africa with a child I had once worked with in the United States prior to their move. The education system in South Africa does not operate the same way as the education system in the United States.
In the United States, you are guaranteed Special Education Rights- 35 pages of rights, to be exact, on what legal rights the parents and child have and how to appeal if they experience injustice. The Americans with Disability Act, enacted in 1990 in the United States, demonstrated profound changes in society’s view of disabilities 10 years later. Public Law 94-142 (Education for All Handicapped Children’s Act- EHA) on special education in the United States was enacted in 1975 and then became The Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA) in 1997; it was reauthorized several times. IDEA supports a free and appropriate education for all students, individualized education plans, the least restrictive environment learning conditions, and federal funding support. I found myself asking about the rights of South African children with disabilities, and the answer was vague or grim. In Durban (3 year ago), there were mainstream schools, private schools, and….. “special schools.” The “special schools” were for students with disabilities, and what appeared to me to be more, in particular, children with significant physical and/or cognitive handicaps. As a parent who has a child who is extremely bright (above average IQ) but also has social difficulties, what are you to do? You fight!
In 1996, the South African Constitution was created, and put into action in 1997. Chapter 2, Bill of Rights 29 states that “everyone has a right to a basic education.” In 1996, South Africa enacted the National Commission on Special Needs and Training and the National Committee on Education Support Services. In 2001, the inaugural White Paper 6 (http://www.info.gov.za/whitepapers/2001/educ6.pdf) addressed some of the concerns and implications of education for students of special needs and to begin the process of full-service schools and college inclusion. To my surprise, it addressed the continued segregation within “special schools” of race and disability; little mention of mainstream schools and also stated the “children with disabilities experienced the greatest difficulty in gaining access to education” (p. 12). Upon my arrival in 2009, it appeared still that the most tenacious education was funded through independent educational facilities. Parents of a child with a disability had to be very persistent to get their child into a private institution and walk a balance beam to keep their child there- an act of encouraging the school to continue with a parent’s support and educating the system about their child without ruffling feathers and having their child dismissed.
Even here in the United States, I don’t call myself an inclusion advocate, nor am I against inclusion. I fall slightly somewhere in the middle promoting “functional inclusion.” Dr. Ron Leaf, points out some of the mishaps or “delusions of inclusion” in his book “Sense and Nonsense.” The last thing I want is for a child to learn how to sit quietly and compliantly in the back of a classroom for hours with curriculum that is far removed from their needs where the social dynamics at play don’t positively involve the child (for example, the child is becoming a point of ridicule, bullying, teasing). Here in the United States, inclusion is a very controversial issue, soon (if not already) to be the same in South Africa. Inclusion may not always be best for EVERY child on the autism spectrum but at the same time…. It can be the BEST thing for SOME children on the autism spectrum. Nonetheless I feel, social interaction with typically developing peers is important and has demonstrated support in the research literature. To find the right balance you need to task analyze and determine for EACH INDIVIDUAL child what is best.
So how will South Africa move forward? It will be a long struggle but I am hopeful about the end result. My experiences, working with this private school in particular, were positive. The teacher wanted support; she also wanted the child with ASD to be in her classroom. She felt he had a lot to teach the other children as well (mind you, this child had an extraordinarily high IQ. I’m not 100% sure I could be sitting here making the same claim if this child had been nonverbal and displaying aggressive behaviors)! Stating candidly, the classroom was more open and conducive to interventions (that not only helped this particular child with ASD but other students as well) than many of the classrooms or schools I find myself trying to navigate here stateside. The classroom wasn’t as rigid as many I experience here, and by that I mean not as traditional. Learning took place while the children were standing, singing, playing, and dancing. Instruction occurred all the time, with mixed and varied demands (what every behavior analyst likes to see), versus the sit and lecture component of many western based school systems. The duration of different instructional methods was varied and the classroom functioned much more on a system of positive praise and celebration then discipline and removal! Mind you, this was the homeroom classroom, and not all classrooms were created equal. Elective classes, to my surprise, appeared to be much different, there was much more of the common “traditional” practices and/or the child was allowed to meander about the room, disengaged, just as long as it wasn’t disrupting the learning of others. My conclusion was that the classroom experience depended on the teacher and his/her ability to instruction, manage, understand, be compassionate, and utilize principles of reinforcement for effective behavior change. It is to be said though, that parents in South Africa do typically pay for a “facilitator” for their child. This facilitator acts similarly to the roll of a paraprofessional in the school districts in the United States. Facilitators in South Africa are not employed by the school but by the parents of the child with ASD. Although this helps the school, it places yet another financial burden on the family.
My one perspective is skewed. In meeting with parents, speech-pathologists, psychologists, occupational therapists, school teachers, this isn’t the typical paradigm. Choices are limited to expensive private school with additional private adult support, mainstream public school with little expectations, home school your child, or facility specializing education for students with ASD, or institutionalize. Psychologists and doctors are hesitant to diagnose at an early age because the supports appear to be lacking and the outcomes presented by professionals there are bleak. Yet, there is significant research to support early intervention for improved outcomes. This is going to fall on school systems. Schools are going to face struggles specifically in differentiating instruction for students with ASD, dealing with behavioral difficulties, teaching a social curriculum and teaching in a consistent manner versus the “eclectic” approach. Many parents struggle and are left feeling overwhelmed and run-down. White Paper 6 provides some hope by stating that students with average to above average IQ are entitled to attend mainstream schools; yet approximately 30% of children with ASD demonstrate average IQ and approximately 3% demonstrate above average IQs (IQ in Children with ASD: data from the Special Needs & Autism Project – SNAP). Where does this leave the other 70%? Nevertheless, the groups that are serious about making a difference will continue to influence the powers that be and provide leadership in the direction of inclusion and full-service schools for ALL children.
Heather Enos-Matheny, Ed.S., BCBA
School Psychologist, NCSP
Board Certified Behavior Analyst
