Removing barriers to education
6 Main Barriers
Inadequate funding is the number one reason for delayed or diminished services at elementary/ secondary levels.
Physical inaccessibility such as a lack of ramps, inaccessible washroom facilities or transportation to and from school.
Accommodation process is often slow or insufficient or non-existent.
Lack of individualization because elementary/ secondary schools are relying on non-specific types of accommodations
Ineffective dispute resolution mechanisms cause loss of time in school for the students and end up at OHRC as complaints.
Negative attitudes are caused by a lack of sensitivity to those with disabilities.
from K-12 for people with disabilities in Ontario
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Removing Barriers as an Educator
Avoid assumptions about students with disabilities capabilities and respect the privacy of students with disabilities.
Try to ensure new developments/ process/curriculums are designed inclusively.
Allow students to sit where it is needed in classrooms that are not fully accessible.
Make any course information accessible and electronically available to your students.
Make any course information accessible and electronically available to students.
Educate yourself how to make accessible lectures and documents.
Percentage of students with disabilities that attend school:
- 15 to 16 year old's - 93%
- 17 to 20 year old's - 55%
- 21 to 24 year old's - 27%
50% of students with disabilities need at least one form of accommodation to follow their courses.
Over 50% of students with severe disabilities say their condition influenced their career choices.
Experiences of Students with Disabilities in the Education System in Canada
(Educational experiences of youth with disabilities, 2019)
The following are the top 4 accommodations needed by students with disabilities
- 43% of students with disabilities need extended time on evaluations
- 28% of students need an IEP
- 24% of students need technology with specialized adaptations
- 22% of students need modified course curriculum
42% of students with disabilities experience bullying because of their condition.
62% of those children have more severe disabilities.
Experiences of Students with Disabilities in the Education System in Canada
(Educational experiences of youth with disabilities, 2019)
The Ontario Human Rights Code
The Ontario Human Rights Code principle states everyone should feel like a part of the community and be able to contribute to the development of the community/province.
It guarantees equal rights to education, without discrimination on the grounds of disability.
Guarantees equal rights to education, without discrimination on the grounds of disability.
(The opportunity to succeed: Achieving barrier-free education for students with disabilities)
Education Accessibility Standard of the AODA
The idea of the AODA was to pass a law that would reduce the need for people with disabilities to have to do that
The Charter and the OHRC guarantee important equality rights but leave it to individuals with disabilities to have to fight barriers one at a time through individual court or tribunal applications.
AODA requires Ontario to become accessible to people with disabilities (it's programs, services, buildings, and facilities) by 2025 (twenty years after the law was past).
In Ontario, upwards of 2.6 million people have disabilities.
In our publicly funded education system, there are 2 million students and a third of a million of them or more have disabilities (at least 1/6 of the kids).
Additionally, there has never been a top to bottom review of our K-12 education system here in Ontario.
Roadmap to Barrier Free Educations for Those with Disabilities
(Blueprint to Make Ontario K-12 Education Barrier-Free & Accessible for Students with Disabilities, 2022)