Disability by Xiao Qing and Faith

  Some may argue that by integrating children with disabilities into mainstream education, they can not only have a chance to learn like any other normal child, but also have a good influence on other peers. It is inevitable for these disabled children to face difficulties in normal schools. However, this will allow them to cope and adapt to the people and environment, and at the same time they might learn better. As Mr Jaieden Shen, Minds' head of job placement and job support programme said, "Once you give them a structured routine, the quality of work is awesome...some might be a little slower, but they pay so much attention and are detailed in their work." This shows that the one's disabilities are not a big hindrance to his/her proficiency, so they should be given the chance to have the same education. It is true that they might be ostracized by peers because of their difference, but they will turn out to be a motivation to them when the peers see the great effort they put in to do well in class. Hence, children with disabilities should be integrated into mainstream education.

  However i believe that children with disabilities would have difficulty integrating into the mainstream education, and would only further hamper other students. Children with disabilities would require a longer time and more effort to fit in with others of their age. With their possible mental disabilities, they would struggle to catch up with lessons and would fall behind. This would require teachers to slow down the lesson and teach at a slower pace or go over the same content repeatedly for them to understand, which would inconvenient the other students as they would have to be taught at a slower pace as well. A normal student may require only 1/2 hr to understand a topic but children with mental disabilities would require up to more than twice the amount of time to understand it, slowing down the whole class. Hence, though children with disabilities should have the right to study mainstream education, they would only hamper and slow down the learning process of the other students in the process.

Disability by Kan Wu and Jia Xian

Some may argue that by letting the students with disabilities to be integrated into the mainstream education will allow them to live a normal life like all the other students. When these students are integrated into the mainstream education, they will be able to get to know and make friends with students whom do not suffer from the learning disabilities, hence mixing around with them and their friends may help them to overcome their disabilities and hence, they can get to learn like a normal student. As Mr Jaieden Shen, Minds’ head of job placement and job support programme said,"Once you give them a structured routine, the quality of work is awesome … some might be a little slower, but they pay so much attention and are detailed in their work.” This tells us that if the students with disabilities are being integrated into the mainstream, they will learn like all other normal students  and though they may learn slower, they are still learning like all normal students , and they may even be better then them, hence allowing the students with disabilities to lead a normal life when being integrated into the mainstream.

However, I feel that by doing so, these students with disabilities may be left out or looked down by the rest of the students. For example, as these students have a learning disability, they will tend to act differently from all the other students and they might get bullied. Hence with all these negative impacts on them, they will not be able to lead a normal life and hence will be ostracized instead.

Disabilities teckweng and yile

Some say that allowing students with disabilities to study in regular classrooms will bring about great benefits for the child. By exposing disabled children to many different of subjects taught in regular curriculums, the child would be able to bring out the best in him. Instead of restricting the disabled, by givinf them opportunities, they may be able to contribute to society in their own ways. John McDonnell, the chairman of the Department of Special Education in the Graduate School of Education at the University of Utah, stated that his data suggests that inclusion in general education classes, especially in vocational education courses, is associated with improved post-school outcomes.

However, I feel that they should not be integrated into our mainstream education system as they may be ostracized by their classmates and therefore affecting their education in school. The disabled may behave differently from other children and may get ridiculed for their disabilities. As the comments grow to be more harsh, they start being unable to focus on their studies and lose confidence in themselves. Therefore, they may feel more frustrated which can lead to the worsening of their condition. A study done by Dyslexia Help showed that dyslexic children may be physically and socially immature in comparison to their peers, this can lead to a poor self-image and less peer acceptance. Hence, students with disabilities should not be integrated in the mainstream school but be in a school of special needs, so that the students can focus on studying without feeling different from others.

Disability by Ari and Shawn

Some may argue that integrating children with disabilities into the main stream education system would let them live more like a normal person. By letting these children enter the mainstream education system, they would make friends with many children who do not have disabilities. Through this, they can learn and interact with normal kids and lead a more normal live. Children with disabilities should not be categorized as "different" and should have the right to live like a normal children.  Mr Jaieden Shen, Minds’ head of job placement and job support programme said,"Once you give them a structured routine, the quality of work is awesome … some might be a little slower, but they pay so much attention and are detailed in their work.” This shows that although children with disabilities may work slower, they might have more potential than the normal children and the quality of work they produce might be even better than theirs. We cannot look down on them just because they are disabled.

However, I feel that they should not be integrated into our mainstream education system as they may be ostracized by their classmates and therefore affecting their education in school. As children with mental or physical disability, they behave differently from average children and therefore their classmates may ridicule them for their disability they have. These children are unable to lead a normal school life for the nasty comments they receive daily from their friends. Therefore, they may feel more frustrated which can lead to the worsening of their condition. A study done by Dyslexia Help showed that dyslexic children may be physically and socially immature in comparison to their peers, this can lead to a poor self-image and less peer acceptance. Thus, as children with disabilities, it is better if these children go to special school where they can fit in better with their peers. Hence, i feel that they should not be integrated into our mainstream education system as they may be ostracized by their classmates and therefore affecting their education in school.

Disability by Kar Wai and Ying Jia

Some may think that if children with disabilities integrate into our mainstream education system, they are forced to adapt and thus they may be able to mix with the rest of the students. For instance, there are about 13,000 students, or about 2.7 per cent of the total student population, with learning difficulties or mild special educational needs at mainstream schools, said a Ministry of Education (MOE) spokesperson. This show that having them in mainstream school is possible and that when people are forced to adapt to certain lifestyles, they will change. Likewise, children with disabilities will need to adapt to school life as they have no choice. Therefore to make the children with disabilities mixed into the society, it is essential to send them into mainstream education system. However, being forced to adapt to the society may not change most of the children with disabilities, and instead create a negative effect as they may get look down and starts to distance themselves from the rest as they think that they are abnormal, thus avoiding others. For instance, a 45-year-old homemaker, who wished to be known as Ms Hui, spoke of the challenges she had faced since her son, now 14, was diagnosed with dyslexia seven years ago. He was labelled as “slow and stupid” by classmates and teachers, she said. For example, a parent, who wanted to be known as Mrs Tan, has a 12-year-old son who has auditory processing disorder. She recalled his struggles in primary school. “Some teachers try to be helpful, but don’t understand (his condition) ... They will complain he is not paying attention,” said Mrs Tan, 45, a graphic designer.  These comments of people cause children with disabilities to feel sad and think they are inferior from others, thus starts to avoid people. This may leave an impact on them and they will not socialize and become anti-social. When they need enter workforce, they will not like it and instead hates it. They will therefore have no social relationships as they are probably surrounded by people who they may think are more superior than them. Without social links, work life will be hard for them. If they are enroll into a special school, they will not get look down and will not create a fear for socializing. Thus, it is not essential to send them to mainstream education system. 

Disability by Yan Yang and Alvina

Some people may argue that disabled students should be integrated into mainstream schools, as they will do better there. Studies have shown that at the end of primary school, children on the autistic spectrum who attend mainstream schools are 23 times more likely to do well than children in special schools. Since the disabled students are able to do better in mainstream schools as compared to special schools, therefore, they should integrate into mainstream schools.

However, we believe that disabled students should not be integrated into mainstream schools as they may not be able to to cope and face difficulties. Studies have shown that disabled students do much better in a self-contained atmosphere. The traditional classroom setting is not conducive to meeting the needs of these disabled students. Hence it is highly stressful for them, as well as their teachers when put in mainstream schools as they require special attention to aid in their learning. The article also states that there is 2.7 per cent of the total student population with learning difficulties or mild special educational needs at mainstream schools, said a Ministry of Education (MOE) spokesperson. This shows that they are unable to keep up in mainstream schools and require special attention to enhance their learning. Hence, they should not be integrated into mainstream schools as it will only be more difficult for them to cope and even hinders their learning.

Disability by Jun Ren and Han Yu

 Some people state that it is not essential for children with disabilities to be integrated into our mainstream education system as these schools are unable to provide the resources needed to educate the students with special needs. Students with disabilities, such as dyslexia, are unable to learn at the same rate as those students with no disabilities. This might cause them to be ridiculed by their peers and lower their self esteem, and eventually, cause affect their studies. For instance, Ms Hui's Son, who is labelled as "slow and stupid" by students and Teachers. Studies have found that seeing negative words would release dozens of stress-producing hormones and neurotransmitters. These chemicals immediately interrupt the normal functioning of your brain, impairing logic, reason, language processing, and communication. All of that just by seeing words. Should the students, especially disabled students, be criticised, it might impede their education.
However, I feel that the disabled children should be given an equal chance like the majority to be allowed to attend mainstream schools for education. This is because it provides them a platform to learn efficiently and benefit more as compared to special schools. With more resources such as allied educators, these students will be able to learn more comfortably and quickly as before, especially since they will be able to have help from their peers. Having learnt the same content in school as the others, it also means that all students have an equal chance to bring out themselves in order to excel and succeed. Furthermore, the integration of these disabled children into mainstream schools allows them to overcome their learning barriers, such as communication skills or boosting of confidence. In the long run, it prepares them for the workforce as they will mostly be able to cope and work comfortably with the different people. For example, there are about 3,000 trained teachers to meet their special needs. They are trained to plan, adapt and differentiate the curriculum to meet the learning needs of students, thus enabling them to catch up to the pace of the other students. Another example would be Loh Jia Wei, who is a student with physical disability but had achieved a top score of 278 for PSLE and received bursary awards. This proves that students with disabilities are still able to succeed and therefore they should be included in the education system in mainstream schools.