DEAN NEVER told his mother Marcia about the day his grade six teacher and classmates laughed at him because he couldn't read.
There were some teachers who had tried to help him to read before his traumatic laughing experience, but to no avail. Dean says he was passed up (promoted to the next grade) after a year of being put "one side to follow in the book while the rest of the class read." That suited him just fine. Dean has got pride and would rather go unnoticed than be laughed at in front of the whole class, anyway.
Many students like Dean who are struggling in the mainstream school system end up lost or just being overlooked, says Stephanie McFarlane, assistant chief education officer responsible for special education in the Ministry of Education.
"The teacher might not know what to do and so passes the child on. Sometimes teachers might not be aware that the child is having a problem either," explains Mrs. McFarlane.
There are also times when children try to mask a learning disability by misbehaving or acting out, says the education officer. Therefore, the teacher who is not trained to pick up on these signs might very well write the child off as "slow, dunce or plain rude," she adds.
These children are none of the above says Mrs. McFarlane. "The students are not just rude or lazy, they may have a learning disability. It's really a complex situation," she says.
Growing awareness worldwide and in Jamaica has lead to students with learning challenges being categorised as 'exceptional'. Exceptionality may be a physical, mental, or emotional condition, including gifted/talented abilities that require individual instruction and/or other educational support such as those being offered to Dean at the Oxford Remedial School.
Measures to deal with exceptional children have increased dramatically through public education and a concentrated effort on the part of the government. As a result, since 1998, all teachers in training have had to do a module in exceptionality (special education), regardless of their specialisation. This means that students in mainstream schools with exceptionalities can be more easily identified and treated accordingly, says Mrs. McFarlane.
CALLS FOR HELP
There are about 35 remedial arrangements in schools islandwide where either a teacher trained in dealing with exceptionalities act as a resource teacher or supervises an entire class of exceptional students.
Schools -- primary and secondary -- without these privileges, explains Mrs. McFarlane, have also been calling the Ministry to conduct assessments. "The schools are becoming more sensitive. They are making more demands for assessment."
This sensitised approach towards exceptionalities has also gone beyond the schools, says Angelita Arnold a representative of the MICO College Child Assessment and Research in Education (CARE) centre.
There has been a significant increase in the number of persons seeking professional help due to public awareness. "Forty per cent of cases referred to the MICO CARE centre are identified by parents," she says.
"Parents are making very intelligent decisions based on awareness," she adds. A decade ago 100 per cent of the referrals for assessment of children came from professionals like teachers and doctors.
There is now a high demand for the services of the MICO CARE Centre and other such agencies like the Jamaica Association for Children with Learning Disabilities (JACLD) where the cost of assessment is minimal due to heavy government subsidy.
"Parents who are unemployed pay nothing," says Mrs. Arnold. "No person pays more than $1,500 for a battery of assessments. There are some who would be asked to pay the $1,500 but the majority of persons benefiting from the services of the MICO CARE centre pay between $300 and $500."
Private assessments, however, can be costly. The psychological assessment that comes as a part of the battery of tests offered by the CARE centre can cost between $5,000 and up.
"The demand on our services is very great but it is not difficult to get in."
The programme operates on a first come first serve basis, however, Mrs. Arnold notes that persons like Marcia have complained about the waiting period. She adds that although the assessment is time consuming due to the intricacies involved, no person, if the application procedure is followed, should wait more than six months to be dealt with.
She notes that people often submit incomplete applications which further delays the process. "Sometimes people are on the list and they drop off the waiting list because they have not completed the necessary paperwork. If you don't bring them in we can't start your file.
In the last 30 years of Jamaica's history, says Mrs. Arnold, special education has undergone a revolution. "There are special schools now and there is more support from the Ministry of Education. There is also more co-operation between the Health and Education sectors and the courts," she says.
"Our children are not learning as we expect them to be. There is a lot of developmental problems.
"Sometimes it's an emotional problem stemming from emotional and economic problems. The child is not seeing or hearing. You have to really spend time. And that is what we are here for."
Names changed
- L.B.
