Articles on Children with disability

Displaying 1 - 20 of 80 articles

It is essential that teachers have a solid foundation of confidence, knowledge and skills to support students with disabilities from the moment they receive teacher certification. (Ahmet Kurt/Unsplash)

Why teacher training is the overlooked route to a stronger special education system

While investing more money could play a hand in improving Ontario’s special education, improvements should begin with a critical look at teacher training.
Chronic absenteeism refers to 10 per cent of missed instructional days in the year. A classroom in Ottawa, in December 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang

Will attendance‑based grading improve school absenteeism?

Systemic barriers, mental-health issues and insufficient school supports for students with disabilities are among the factors that affect absenteeism rates.
Placing a student in seclusion is meant to be used as an emergency response to dangerous behavior, but it happens in other circumstances, too. EyeEm Mobile GmbH/iStock Getty Images Plus

Schools are supposed to limit using restraint and seclusion to discipline kids – but parents I spoke with say the practice is wildly misused

Interviews with parents of students with disabilities show that children were often physically restrained and secluded at school for nonviolent offenses.
Education systems must confront ableist processes, attitudes and practices if all children, including those with dyslexia, are able to realize the right to read. The exterior of the Manitoba legislature in Winnipeg in November 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/John Woods

Dyslexic students have the right to read — and Manitoba has joined other provinces to address this

The Manitoba Human Rights Commission released the first phase of their report exploring students’ rights to access evidence-based reading interventions in Manitoba’s public education system.
Recognizing children’s agency and giving them more control over their learning helps foster inclusive classrooms. A notebook seen in a class on the first day back to school at a school in Montréal, Aug. 29, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christinne Muschi

How alternative teaching models can foster inclusive classrooms

Inclusive education doesn’t just mean placing disabled children with their non-disabled peers, but re-organizing teaching and learning in the classroom.
More humane practices will keep schools safer for everyone, including teachers and all students. A hallway is seen in an elementary school in Longueuil, Que., in March 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christinne Muschi

Seclusion rooms don’t make schools safe, and Ontario needs a policy

Evidence-based de-escalation strategies, along with adequate staff support and trauma-informed training, can help schools reduce or eliminate the need to seclude students.
Educators can help kids understand the difference between using power negatively and positively, and encourage its positive use to build respectful environments. (Allison Shelley/The Verbatim Agency for EDUimages)

Too many kids face bullying rooted in social power imbalances — and educators can help prevent this

Being bullied because of some aspect of who a person is — known as identity-based or bias-based bullying — is extremely harmful to kids’ sense of belonging at school.
New research shows that young children with disabilities have markedly low levels of physical activity, which means they are missing out on the numerous benefits of engaging in physical activity. (Shutterstock)

Young children with disabilities are excluded from national physical activity monitoring. That needs to change.

Given the physical, social and economic prioritization of physical activity in our society, why are young children with disabilities missed from physical activity monitoring and reporting?

Top contributors

More