Social justice is an ambiguous and contested term that is evoked in order to address issues of enhancing participation and eliminating discrimination across various markers of difference linked to race, social class, and so on. Historically, disability has been excluded from these analyses because it has been cast in the sphere of abnormality and…

The Equality Act 2010 further enshrines the duties on organisations set out in the Disability Discrimination Act 2005 to safeguard the rights of vulnerable children. However, disability is a complex phenomenon, which makes the collection of data, and the subsequent identification of children who might be classed as disabled, problematic. This…

The UK coalition Government's call to end the "bias" towards inclusion represents a shift in "policy speak" as the new administration attempts to re-narrate special education by putting forward a "reasonable and sensible" solution to the "problem of inclusion". However, implicit in the call is the assumption…

Great Britain's teachers with disabilities face discrimination in obtaining and retaining employment. To achieve disability equality and integration, a campaign is needed to change regulations for medical fitness to teach, develop an equality perspective across the whole curriculum, and force the government to allocate money to include disabled…

This article explores key differences between special education legislation in England and Scotland and their implications for delivering consistent anti-discrimination policies. It is argued that close monitoring of the implementation of Part 4 of the Disability Discrimination Act in English and Scottish schools is necessary. (Contains…

Noting that the British General Election of 1992 ended the possibility of passing the Civil Rights (Disabled Persons) Bill this year, this article stresses the need for a renewed effort to eliminate discrimination in education and employment. (DB)

This article describes an Irish video program that prepares mainstream students to meet incoming peers with severe, profound, and multiple disabilities, finding that students reacted positively to the video and found it helped relieve their anxieties at the prospect of contact. Implications for further development of structured contact sessions in…

An educator criticizes the appeals process provided for in the 1981 British Education Act for parents of children with special educational needs. Noted are discriminatory features of the provision, a common lack of independence by the hearing committee, and the limited authority of the Independent Panel of Special Education Experts. (DB)

A study investigated the attitudes of 400 primary school teachers in Zimbabwe toward the inclusion of children who are blind in regular classes. The majority had a negative attitude toward the inclusion of children who are blind and male and female teachers were equally rejecting of the idea. (Contains references.) (Author/CR)