Hello all,
Following the rallying call from Colin, Micheline and Richard, we
just wanted to let you know that Critical Disability Studies @ MMU
(Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, UK) have just put in
applications to the Economic and Social Research Council to host two
events during the Festival of Social Science Week to discuss these
issues. Indeed, one of the proposed events is titled 'Time to end the
bias towards inclusive education?'. The momentum for the events was
generated by the children/young people, parents/carers, activists and
academics who attended the end of project conference for 'Does Every
Child Matter, post-Blair? The interconnections of disabled childhoods'.
We look forward to working with colleagues to fight for the rights of
disabled children and young people to inclusive education.
Katherine Runswick-Cole
Research Fellow in Disability Studies and Psychology, Manchester
Metropolitan University
[log in to unmask]
On 3 Jun 2011, at 10:43, Colin Barnes wrote:
> FYI
>
> Colin
>
> CALLING ALL DISABLED PEOPLE AND ALLIES
>
>
> David Cameron has acted on his threat to “Reverse the bias towards
> inclusion” for disabled children and other children who need extra
> help at school. The Governments green paper ‘Support and
> Aspiration: A New Approach to Special Educational Needs and
> Disability” is based entirely on the medical model of disability and
> will push back all the progress for which disabled people have
> struggled over the last 20 years. These proposals include:
>
>
> * Creating many more special school places
> * Removing the right of children to a legally enforceable
> ‘Statement of Special Educational Needs’
> * Re-introducing the infamous caveats in the law which allow local
> authorities to forcibly segregate disabled children
> * Allow many more schools to opt out of local authority control
> (and centralised services which support inclusion)
> * Put parents in control of their children’s financial resources
> until they are 25 years old
>
> This is in the context of a massive cut back in the rights and
> resources being made available to disabled people and all the poor
> and disadvantaged families who constitute the group most vulnerable
> to these proposals, including changes to Housing Benefit, Income
> Support, DLA, Personal Budgets, rights to legal aid, Sure Start
> Schemes, Youth Work and so on.
>
> WE MUST FIGHT BACK
> PLEASE COME TO THE EVENT ON WEDNESDAY JUNE 29th, AND DEMONSTRATE OUR
> RESISTANCE TO THESE PROPOSALS
> Meet at 11AM, on WESTMINSTER BRIDGE in front of St Thomas’s Hospital.
>
> Disabled people and our allies are organising the ‘Reverse the bias
> Towards Segregation Campaign’ and we need as much help as we can get
> otherwise yet another generation of disabled children will have
> their life chances severely compromised and young people in general
> will have their stated wish to be educated in inclusive schools
> where they can learn about real people be denied. June the 29th is
> the last day of the public consultation of these proposals made in
> the green paper.
>
> For more details contact
> [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> or [log in to unmask]
> <mailto:[log in to unmask]>
>
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