Confronting Ableism

Hehir, Thomas. “Confronting Ableism.” Educational Leadership 64.5 (2007): 8-14.

In “Confronting Ableism,” Thomas Hehir examines instruction for students with learning needs. He asserts that ableism, a term he defines as “society’s pervasive negative attitude about disability,” makes the world inaccessible for those with learning disabilities, and slows their development. He argues that too much of the focus in special education is spent trying to “cure” the disability, when the main focus should be on catering to special need students to help them learn the academic material. The purpose of special education, according to Hehir, is “minimizing the impact of disability and maximizing the opportunities for students with disabilities to participate in schooling and the community.” He claims while major strides have been made in the current system, educators will need to recognize and challenge ableist assumptions for the system to continue to progress.

I think Hehir frames the purpose of special education quite well. Special education is about accurately and thoroughly identifying the disability, then minimizing the impact of the disability so that the individual can live as full and rich of a life as possible. There is, however, truth to ableist assumptions. I don’t think anyone (able or disabled) would deny the fact that it is preferable to be healthy and fully functional. Ableism is not the problem. The problem arises when the response to ableism is to focus all attention on curing the disability, rather than making the best of the disability and allowing students to focus on the relevant academic material.levant material.