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Stories: Head start levels the playing field

For school principal, a specialized early program for students with disabilities is best guarantee for inclusion later on

Linda LaRocque recognizes that her current role as principal of a school for children with disabilities seems a bit of a contradiction.

“I spent years as superintendent for special education in the Toronto board and was a huge proponent of inclusion in the public schools,” says the principal of Bloorview School Authority, the on-site school of Bloorview Kids Rehab. “But I learned that true inclusion is so much more than putting a child with disabilities in a class with regular kids. That’s a simplistic notion that almost guarantees the child with disabilities inequity of opportunity.”

Real inclusion takes careful planning and preparation, Linda says, and is at the heart of the early primary program she runs for about 65 children with disabilities aged four to six at Canada’s largest children’s rehabilitation hospital.

Most of the school’s students have complex issues that include physical disability and communication problems and spend one to three years in the program before moving to their community schools.

“We integrate a rigorous, full-day curriculum with occupational and physical therapy and language and communication intervention so that when students leave for community schools they have a package of academic and life skills that will give them an equal kick at the can,” Linda says. “We want them to take strong leadership positions in school as opposed to the unfortunate stereotype that children with special needs are passive recipients of education and followers.”

Therapy is integrated into the classroom and the program’s success relies on the ability of staff – both educational and therapeutic – to work as a team. “They have to establish common goals for a child, identify blocks in learning and revise their plans together,” Linda says. A child’s team may include an educational assistant, teacher, therapists in speech, occupational and physical therapy, as well as professionals in the use of communication and writing technologies and the hospital’s feeding and seating clinics.

Much of the learning revolves around structured play and social interaction, Linda says. Students also benefit from their shared experiences with disability. “It can’t help but be reassuring for them to know that they’re not alone, that they’re not unique or different in a negative way.”

A planned part of the curriculum includes disability awareness. “Throughout their time here they come to have an understanding of their disability, their strengths and skills in coping with it and talking about it, and gain a solid grounding in self-esteem,” Linda says.

During their last year of school, the children participate in a specific unit on self-advocacy. “They anticipate the questions they may receive when they go out to their community schools and practise their responses,” Linda says. “You can’t underestimate how important this is, because the truth is that most people still have a measure of discomfort when they see someone who is clearly disabled. People tend to avoid them or be overly sincere. Few are able to be unequivocally ‘normal’ and respond as they would when meeting anyone else. Our students might be on their way to finally eradicating that stigma, because of the self-esteem and confidence they’ll have internalized during their time here. They’re not going to see themselves as less than. They’ll be so clearly comfortable with themselves that that stigma will just end.”

To be connected with expert sources, contact:

Louise Kinross, Manager, Communications
Tel: 416-424-3866
Pager: 416-589-8826
E-mail: media at bloorview dot ca

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