The afternoon of day 2 was focused on Inclusive Education. Diane Richler did her usually brilliant job of explaining why inclusive education, especially in the developing world, was not only a good strategy for students with disabilities, but how it makes sense from a resource perspective. In places where not all children are yet in school, developing a separate special education system is both unrealistic and not a good use of resources. Human Rights Watch staffer MukundaHariDahal, from Nepal, presented on how the system in evolving. But such a long way to go. 95% of children with disabilities in Nepal do not complete primary education. And those with intellectual disabilities have little offered to them. Ines Escallon presented on what the CRPD has to say about inclusive education-a lot- and how having just the laws is not enough to assure that children with disabilities get the education promised by the CRPD.
The closing panel included discussions by Nagase Osamu from Japan. He is a great speaker, and spoke about how we can learn from good practices, even when we start small. Ralph Jones the General Secretary of Inclusion International gave a spot-on talk about why Inclusion International, and the movement of parents and self advocates is so important, not just for people with disabilities but for countries and their advancement. Ciara Evans, a self-advocate from the UK listed three things for people to consider: 1) Parents need to listen to the voices of self-advocates who speak and understand the feelings of those who do not speak; 2) Ways parents can help the dreams and aspirations of people with disabilities and 3) Why it is important to know the dreams and aspirations of people with disabilities.
The take away saying from the day: Family organizations need to be good roles models! I remember working at The Arc and having some say that families and people with disabilities did not need to be a strong presence on chapter boards. Seems that people at this conference disagree-they want, perhaps demand, a strong presence.
The closing panel included discussions by Nagase Osamu from Japan. He is a great speaker, and spoke about how we can learn from good practices, even when we start small. Ralph Jones the General Secretary of Inclusion International gave a spot-on talk about why Inclusion International, and the movement of parents and self advocates is so important, not just for people with disabilities but for countries and their advancement. Ciara Evans, a self-advocate from the UK listed three things for people to consider: 1) Parents need to listen to the voices of self-advocates who speak and understand the feelings of those who do not speak; 2) Ways parents can help the dreams and aspirations of people with disabilities and 3) Why it is important to know the dreams and aspirations of people with disabilities.
The take away saying from the day: Family organizations need to be good roles models! I remember working at The Arc and having some say that families and people with disabilities did not need to be a strong presence on chapter boards. Seems that people at this conference disagree-they want, perhaps demand, a strong presence.
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