Does Your Professional Learning Support Educators With Disabilities?

EQUITY & IMPROVEMENT

Does your professional learning support educators with disabilities?

By Val Brown

Categories: Equity, Implementation, Learning designs

Most educators have worked with 504 plans or Individualized Education Programs (IEP) to support students will disabilities and specific learning needs. But do we have similar supports and structures for adult learners? Recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2023) estimates one in four adults has a visible or invisible disability, yet we rarely talk about supporting educators with disabilities in professional learning. Fifty years ago, the U.S. government passed the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, a precursor to the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act (IDEA) and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act prohibits discrimination based on disability. Before this legislation, it was legal to exclude disabled students from formal schooling or equitable instruction. With the

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References

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2023, May 15). Disability impacts all of us. www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/disabilityandhealth/infographic-disability-impacts-all.html

Heumann J.E. & Joiner, K. (2020). Being Heumann: An unrepentant memoir of a disability rights activist. Beacon Press.