Students with Disabilities Must Have Access to Education at all Levels

Students with Disabilities Must Have Access to Education at all Levels

By Christine Hines, MSW, MS

Growing up, my family and doctors did not know how much I could achieve; however, through resources and supports, I was able to dash everyone’s concerns and prove my capabilities.

May 7 was National Barrier Awareness Day, a day dedicated to removing barriers to education for people with disabilities. As a person born with disabilities, this cause is very close to my heart. It is crucial that children with disabilities are able to access services available to them, so they are able to learn, excel, and thrive. Social workers are crucial in this process as advocates for parents and children to receive the resources they need. I have achieved much in my life, despite the systemic barriers my family and I faced, and others with disabilities deserve this chance, as well.

I was born with a condition called Congenital Rubella Syndrome (CRS), which occurs when a pregnant woman contracts German Measles. While the illness is mild for the mother, the baby can potentially be born with a range of disabilities and medical conditions, such as cataracts, hearing loss, heart defects and, in some cases, intellectual disabilities. While some babies have severe effects, my effects were comparatively mild. I am visually impaired (due to not receiving lens implants post cataract removal) and hard of hearing. Additionally, I live with sensory processing issues, mild learning disabilities, and anxiety.

From an early age, I have faced challenges and barriers in school. Not wanting me to stay home, my parents fought to find an appropriate placement for me when I was little. I was originally placed in a deaf-blind program; when that didn’t work out, they found a school for the “communications handicapped,” which I attended during nursery school and kindergarten. I also attended a summer camp run by the New Jersey Commission for the Blind. It was in these early years that issues beyond my sensory impairments came to light. For example, I engaged in self-stimulation behaviors, such as rocking and moving my hands in front of my eyes as I looked at a light source and threw a tantrum if told to stop. I also often discouraged interaction from others, preferring to be alone.

Starting in first grade, I was placed in the regular public school system with my time split between regular and special education classrooms. My psychoeducational testing (as part of Individualized Education Plan [IEP] development) showed that my academic skills were excellent, sometimes above grade level. However, my social and behavioral issues continued to make the classroom very uncomfortable for me. Many of my classmates took advantage of my extreme distractibility and taunted me by making tapping and clicking noises to which

I reacted with anger, often causing significant classroom disruptions. This was during a time when special education was relatively new and there wasn’t much guidance on how to design appropriate IEPs for children with social-emotional disabilities. A few years ago, I came across my mom’s journal entries from that period and I recall how much my heart hurt reading about what my parents went through because of my behavior.

When I reached junior and senior high school, I was mainstreamed with Resource Room support once a day for assistance with schoolwork and to decompress. The higher academic and social demands took some adjustment, which was reflected in my grades, especially in junior high school. As I gained confidence, my grades improved.

During my senior year of high school, I was accepted into Georgian Court College (now University), which my family and I selected for its specialized program for students with learning disabilities. The program included meeting with a learning specialist at least once a week for academic advising and assistance with adjusting to the academic and social demands of college. I was also provided with accommodations, such as peer notetakers and the opportunity to take tests and exams at the disability office. With this additional support, I felt more comfortable and confident in the classroom, which allowed me to focus on my studies and to excel. I graduated Magna Cum Laude in 1995 with a B. A. in Psychology and received several awards for my extracurricular activities.

After graduation, I worked in various volunteer and paid positions doing clerical work. However, my lived experiences inspired a passion for working in the disability field. After taking a couple of graduate-level courses on a non-credit basis, I formally applied to and was accepted into Rutgers University’s Master of Social Work (MSW) program in 2003. I enjoyed many of my classes and found them intellectually stimulating. My high grades and high regard for my work from professors gave me the confidence that I could indeed handle advanced study. I credit the support I had from the Office of Students with Disabilities and from my professors for implementing the accommodations I needed, such as materials in large print and permission to record class lectures.

In one of my proudest moments, one of my professors told me that a paper I’d written on Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) was publishable. In October 2006, my paper was incorporated into a Rutgers faculty’s poster presentation about improving quality of life for people with TBI. When I graduated in 2007, I was selected as one of only six MSW’s (out of 305) to represent the School of Social Work in the university-wide commencement.

Several years after receiving my MSW, I developed an interest in supporting students with disabilities in higher education, largely inspired by my own experiences with disability services. I earned an Advanced Certificate in Disability Studies in 2016 and a Master of Science in Disability Services in Higher Education in 2022.

Growing up, my family and doctors did not know how much I could achieve; they doubted I would be able to handle college or even complete high school. However, through resources and supports, I was able to dash everyone’s concerns and prove my capabilities. Students with disabilities must have access to education at all levels. This means they should be provided with effective tools and support so that they can reach their full potential. I believe that some of the issues I had in K-12 might’ve been minimized had my vision and hearing impairments been appropriately accommodated. With the right technologies and therapies, I might’ve been better able to handle the classroom and, thus, able to show my capabilities. Also, K-12 schools and postsecondary institutions need to stay abreast of evolving technologies as well as understand the impacts of ableism and work to eliminate it. This will allow students with disabilities to have the opportunity to pursue their chosen field of study which, in turn, can lead to fulfilling and successful careers.

About the Author:

Christine Hines, MSW, MS, currently works as an instructor for the New Jersey Commission for the Blind & Visually Impaired, Joseph Kohn Training Center. She recently earned a second Masters, an MS in Disability Services in Higher Education from the City University of New York. She is particularly passionate about inclusion for students with sensory disabilities.

(Originally published in NASW-NJ FOCUS, Summer 2023 issue)