Acknowledgement: Presenter - Verity Pennisi7th Conference on Contemporary Issues in Education

There is “a lack of uniformity across Australia in the way in which students with disabilities are

identified.”(Students with Disabilities Working Group, 2010, p. 5).

The Department of Education and Training in Queensland recognises the following six disability categories: •Autism Spectrum Disorder•Hearing Impairment•Intellectual Impairment•Physical Impairment•Speech-Language Impairment•Vision Impairment (Queensland Government, 2012b).

Autism Spectrum Disorder

Hearing Impaired

Intellectually Impaired

Physical Impairment

Speech-Language Impairment

Vision Impairment

Gifted and Talented

ESL Students

Indigenous Students

Social/Emotional

Difficulties

Learning Difficulties

Other Health Issues

Behavioural Difficulties

Ongoing Professional Development

Assistive Technology

Time

Differentiation in Planning

Funding

Specialist Assistance

Diverse Student Needs

Support

Adequate Pre-

ServiceTraining

Physical and

MentalDemands

Unrealistic expectations Human and PhysicalResources

Class sizes

Teacher Attitude

Type of Barriers Of Type of Barriers Of Inclusive EducationInclusive Education

Need of Intervention I Curriculum Modification:

Curriculum modification is essential in Teacher Education so that their knowledge may be enhanced in respect of Children with Special Needs and positive attitude towards Children with Special Needs may also be developed.

Need of Intervention II Pre- Service Teachers’ Training: Training

teachers in teaching methods that include students of all ability levels, as well as spreading awareness to teachers about the importance and benefits of inclusion, is one of the most important parts of implementing a system of inclusive education, because the teachers are the people on-the-ground who are going to accommodate the students. (Kohama, 2012)

Need of Intervention III• Need of Special Educator as Teacher Educator: Education of the disabled children is the most important issue in the rehabilitation process of the child. Teaching a disabled child, other than Locomotor disability, needs a specific kind of training. (Sharma, 2009)

Need of Intervention IIIFor the effective implementation of

inclusive education for all types of disabled children, general classroom teachers need training on understanding the educational and emotional needs of these children. It is ideal to teach about special needs children in the pre-service teacher preparation course itself. Till the time, all general education teachers are capable of serving children with special needs; presence of specialist teacher for a cluster of schools is inevitable. (Singh, 2006)

Final Note Finally, the greatest challenge for the

State Government is the achievement of, accessicibility inclusion and empowerment of Children with Special

. Needs The Government alone cannot “ accomplish this task of making the Right

”. Real It can be concluded that these types of gaps can only be fulfilled with the help of collaboration to all the stake holders like Universities / Teacher Education Institute etc.