What would you do if you were a parent of a student with a disability? Would you sit back and let others make schooling decisions regarding your child? Would you fight day and night for your child’s rights? Would you educate yourself on the disability? Would you follow the advice of “experts” and take them at their word? What would you do? What if your child’s school disagreed with your suggestions or with what you thought was best for your child? What would you do then?
The reason I ask these questions is because I had to become more familiar with the Rowley v Hendrick Hudson BOE (1982) court case. Without getting into too much detail, this case was about a deaf little girl with deaf parents. Total communication was used in the home but in the school setting, the school determined Amy did not need a sign language interpreter (whom the parents wanted in school with Amy). The courts ruled that when schools provide a Free and Appropriate Public Education (FAPE), the schools are able to provide just enough services to be of benefit to the child with a disability. So, since Amy was able to use some residual hearing and speechread and made good grades, the school decided that a sign language interpreter was not necessary.
This case made me wonder…how does a school determine what is “just enough” in terms of educational benefit. Shouldn’t the school make every effort to provide an education that is equivalent to what a child without a disability would receive by making education as accessible as possible? How would someone feel going to the gas station to fill up the tank of the car but instead of giving a full tank of gas, the attendant pumped ¼ of the tank’s worth of gas. The attendant gave enough gas for the car to go from the gas station to point A but what about later when the car attempts to go to point B? Would the same argument of providing just enough hold true then?
On the other hand, if more time, money, manpower, and effort is going to be spent on accommodating to a child with a disability to help that child achieve all he or she is able to within the school, then what about the average student without a disability. The child is not entitled to receive any services because there is no disability but he or she may benefit from accommodations just the same. How is it fair to the child without a disability to make satisfactory performance when he could be doing better with some assistance?
Regardless of how you feel about the provision of services to students with disabilities in schools, I highly recommend you learn more about the Rowley v Hendrick Hudson BOE (1982) case. Even though it is over 25 years old, it still proves very relevant in today’s schools. Many cases since 1982, have referred to Rowley v Hendrick Hudson BOE (1982) to act as a guide or benchmark in determining court decisions. If you’re interested in reading about this case in more depth, I stumbled upon this book that I think would make for a fascinating read! I might have to add it to my wish list!
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