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.