VOICE ONE:
Welcome to THIS IS AMERICA. I'm Steve Ember.
VOICE TWO:
And I'm Faith Lapidus. Today we begin a series of reports about living with a
disability in America.
VOICE ONE:
Our series will explore a number of subjects. These include laws that are
meant to give people with disabilities the same chances that able-bodied people
have to succeed.
We will talk about employment and about technologies designed to assist
people living with disabilities.
VOICE TWO:
But first we look at special education programs for children with
disabilities.
(MUSIC)
VOICE ONE:
Years ago, children with mental or physical disabilities were usually kept at
home or in a hospital. Mental hospitals especially were often dirty, horrible
places. Early reforms demanded better care for the people who had to live in
them.
By the second half of the twentieth century, however, these laws were not
enough. There was a movement to demand not just better care but human rights for
people with disabilities. All they wanted, people said, was fair treatment and
an equal chance to succeed.
VOICE TWO:
These efforts continue. On December 13, the United Nations
General Assembly approved a treaty, the Convention on the Rights of Persons
with Disabilities. This is the first treaty designed to protect the rights of the
world's estimated 650 million disabled.
It includes rights to education, health care, work and other protections. For
example, it says people with disabilities have the right to free expression. It
says they have a right to privacy and justice, to live independently and to take
part in sports and daily social life.
The treaty calls on nations to pass laws and other measures to improve
disability rights. It also urges them to end any legislation or customs that
discriminate against persons with disabilities.
The treaty will be open for signing beginning March thirtieth. It will come
into force after twenty countries have approved it.
VOICE ONE:
For a long time, many schools in the United States refused
to admit children who were blind, deaf or mentally delayed. In nineteen seventy,
only twenty percent of American children with disabilities attended public
school.
It was 1975 before the nation had a law to require a free
and appropriate public education for all children with disabilities.
The words "free and appropriate public education" have become very important
in American education. Appropriate means that the education is designed to meet
the needs of an individual student.
VOICE TWO:
The law is now called the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, or
I.D.E.A. New versions are approved by Congress every few years.
The newest version of the law requires schools to increase the number of
students with disabilities who receive a diploma. This shows that a student has
successfully completed high school. Schools must also increase the number of
students with disabilities who take and pass the same examinations all other
students take.
(MUSIC)
VOICE ONE:
Today more than six million children in the United States receive special
education services from public schools. These services are available from birth
to age 21.
Schools also provide testing services to help parents decide if their
children need special education.
Susan is a young woman who lives in the state of Maryland. She was not
talking very much by the time she was two years old. Tests showed that her
hearing was fine, but her ability to speak was delayed. So she attended a
special private school when she was three and four years old. Her family did not
have to pay for it.
At the school, Susan learned to communicate with her hands, using sign
language the way deaf people do. But remember, she could hear just fine. Little
by little, she learned to use her voice and not her hands to communicate.
VOICE TWO:
When Susan was five years old, she started going to the same public school as
her brother and the other children in her community. Susan spent part of each
day with a teacher who was trained to work with children with delayed speech.
And she spent another part of the day with children who were developing
normally.
Educators call this "inclusion" -- having disabled and non-disabled children
study and play together.
Many educators and parents believe inclusion is important. At Susan's school,
music teacher Teri Burdette directed a group of hearing children and deaf
children. All the children sang with their voices and with their hands.
(MUSIC)
TERI BURDETTE: "When I am hearing this body of sound that is quite normal
hearing sound, and then I'll recognize this high floating voice either above all
the rest or below all the rest, and I recognize that voice to be some of our
deaf voices and that gives me goose bumps."
(MUSIC)
VOICE ONE:
Susan, the young woman in Maryland, had more tests as she got older. These
tests found that some of her mental abilities were also delayed. She could not
think very clearly.
Sometimes she was taught only with students who had delays like hers. Other
times, she was with groups of children of different ability levels. In these
groups, the teachers sometimes asked Susan to do work that was different from
what other students had to do.
For example, while some children wrote a paper about a book they had read,
Susan would complete an art project. This way she could show that she, too,
understood some parts of the book.
Susan received special education services from the time she was two years old
until she was 19.
Now she goes to a small college in her community. All of the students in her
classes share something in common -- they all have disabilities like hers. They
are learning simple mathematics. They are also learning better reading skills,
and how to find a job.
(MUSIC)
VOICE TWO:
Schoolchildren who need special services have what is called an individual
education plan, or I.E.P. It describes what the child needs to learn during the
school year.
For example, with children who have severe disabilities, the goal could be to
help them learn to feed themselves or hold a pencil. For other children, the
plan could require that the student receive extra help in reading or math.
Creating an individual education plan for each child who needs one takes time
and effort. Parents and educators do not always agree about the services that a
child needs. Parents can go to school officials to try to settle a disagreement.
They also have a right to go to court. Some special education cases have gone
all the way to the United States Supreme Court.
VOICE ONE:
It costs a lot for schools to provide special education services. The
teachers usually work with a much smaller number of students than teachers
normally do. Schools must also provide services like transportation for students
in wheelchairs.
American public schools currently spend an average of almost 8,000
dollars a year to educate one student. But the cost for a special education
student can be thousands of dollars more -- especially if it includes placement
in a private school.
VOICE TWO:
Over the years, the federal government has promised to pay 40
percent of the costs of special education. But the National Education
Association, a teachers union, says that by 2004, the government was paying less
than twenty percent.
As a result, state governments and local schools must find billions of
dollars to pay for the services that the federal government requires. This can
create disagreements in communities. Schools may find they have to cut regular
education services so they can have enough money to pay for special education.
VOICE ONE:
But these programs have enabled many more young people with disabilities to
attend college, find jobs and live life more independently.
(MUSIC)
VOICE TWO:
Jobs will be the subject next month in the second part of our series on
living with a disability in America.
VOICE ONE:
Our program was written by Karen Leggett and produced by Caty Weaver. I'm
Steve Ember.
VOICE TWO:
And I'm Faith Lapidus. Join us again next week for THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special
English.
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