11:45 a.m.
Something for all you smart people to contend with…we have been writing about the United
Nations CRPD which is trickling into the US literature- for those interested in cross
cultural issues- this issue of what is universal and what is particular is a bit deal
here. Without universals- there is no such thing as a human right (which is the
traditional Enlightenment view from the 1700s- that universals exist).
Since the 1970s, we have moved to particulars, especially on cultural and identity issues,
hardened by anti-modernist views. One way to think about it, is to go through each article
and ask- is that something that should be cross cultural in nature, and if so, how?
Article 24 is the one on education and inclusion of disabilities.
https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/convention-ri...
There is a lot to like about the CRPD but a couple of sour pickles. The US is a signee but
did not ratify…in part, over “particulars.” The basis is one of full inclusion…which is
causing some countries (Italy, Spain, etc.) to dismantle their existing special education
systems. It has been an issue in the US since at least the 1980s, to what extent can
inclusion of students with disabilites be pushed through modification of general
curriculum (today the accommodation/modification discussion has been replaced by one of
Universal Design for Learning and differentiated instruction. I think Dr. Sanchez brought
it up as an issue where in Texas at a recent meeting on “pull out” programs for direct
skill teaching are replaced by “push in” programs in the general classroom.
For the bilingual focused folks- the discussion extends to you as well. There are groups
that would also see bilingual education as one of segregation and exclusion, and argue
that it should be collapsed into the regular education setting as well through UDL for
language and those resources be redistributed to support all students for equity
purposes.
Most of the discussion on language is around blind, deaf, or deaf-blind issues.
1. Ensuring that the education of persons, and in particular children, who are blind,
deaf or deafblind, is delivered in the most appropriate languages and modes and means of
communication for the individual, and in environments which maximize academic and social
development.
Theresia Degener who was the UNCRPD chair and from Protestant University of Applied
Sciences in Bochum, Germany who was impacted by Thalidomide poisoning, a sleeping aide
that caused birth defects.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theresia_Degener
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thalidomide_scandal
This one is interesting on her views of the Human Rights model of disability. I haven’t
read the second- but the idea looks like this is the replacement for the social model. For
background, former President Obama had pledged to signed the treaty as senator- actually
surprised he didn’t while he was in office, but the US is protective over sovereignty
issues and that might be the reason. And, you see there are important aspects of the view
but some concerns…even though it is always hard to go against people on the other side of
an issue with a disability themselves or a family with a child with one.
https://www.mdpi.com/2075-471X/5/3/35
https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-43790-3_2
A couple of interviews- one from Berkley where she graduated with her law degree in the
US. Judith Heumann is on it as well who was a well-known disability rights activist in the
US…I think she might have recently passed away.
https://www.law.berkeley.edu/research/berkeley-center-on-comparative-equa...
MDB