Accessibility is a major concern of people living with and parents of children with disabilities. Disability can take many forms, both mental and physical, and having proper accommodations to assist individuals on this wide spectrum can help grow inclusion and make daily life easier for millions of Americans. To understand this issue, let’s take a look at the current problems facing the disabled community, as well as what can be done to improve accessibility.
General Statistics
Firstly, let’s start by taking a look at the range of disabilities and how many people they impact.
- Over 74.6 million people in the United States have some form of physical disability.
- Two to three out of every 1,000 children that are born in the U.S. have some detectable level of hearing loss in one or both ears.
- Vision loss ranks ninth on the top 10 disabilities that affect Americans, with vision loss and blindness impacting over 3.4 million people over the age of 40.
- One in five 46.6 million adults are currently living with a mental illness.
- 10% of children are affected by learning disabilities such as autism, dyslexia, and dyscalculia.
- One in every 59 children are diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder, while 14.5 to 43.5 million children and adults are estimated to have dyslexia.
This is only a brief look at a couple of the most significant disabilities that impact the need for accessibility. Each come with their unique challenges that can make daily life challenging without the appropriate accommodations.
Current Struggles
While adults also benefit from additional accessibility, parents of disabled children are often faced with the difficulty of navigating tricky insurance policies and appropriate child care while also balancing work and other responsibilities. These issues are also compounded by the additional resources that children may need to be able to excel in school.
Children with physical disabilities may need additional resources to help them get dressed, brush their teeth, and attend classes. Since 51 million school hours are lost every year due to dental-related illnesses, making sure that children with limited mobility can perform actions like this is doubly important.
Likewise, children with mental illnesses and learning disabilities may need additional guidance and help to get through their daily routines. Children with autism for example often benefit from language and behavior therapies that help them make sense of the world around them. ABA therapy near me is helping local families to discover effective autism therapy options for their loved ones. Assistance benefits like this can be difficult to access if your insurance isn’t able or willing to pay for the therapy.
Furthermore, many parents struggle to find child care programs or schools that are capable of giving the level of accessibility and care that children with disabilities may need. This can not only make daily activities more difficult but it may even put the child in danger if steps aren’t taken to provide the necessary accommodations.
Improvements Needed in Schools
Many children can be benefited from key changes in schools. A couple of the most significant changes that can be made include:
Accessibility
- Increased access within the physical environment to ensure that all students can get to necessary areas. Improvements here can be made via the addition of ramps and elevators, or first-floor classrooms if elevators aren’t available.
- Likewise, transport to and from school should be accessible for all students. This includes making sure vehicles are available with wheelchairs lifts and restraints.
Physical Improvements
- Lighting should be tailored, along with paint schemes, to help aid children who have visual impairments.
- Similarly, carpeting and acoustic tiling can also be used to help students who have hearing impairments.
Curriculum changes should also be appropriately made depending on the needs of students. For example, while print books are still considered the most popular reading format with 67% of Americans have read a book within the past year, for those with visual or learning disabilities, reading can be difficult. To combat this, materials should be available in Braille, large print, and audio varieties. This provides accessibility for everyone and allows that everyone has access to the necessary learning materials.
Some classrooms can also benefit from the addition of interactive whiteboards, Braille translation software, iPad apps, and word to picture software, depending on the needs of current students. Investing in products like this gives educators the tools they need to properly teach students with a wider range of disabilities.
Furthermore, attendance policies should be tweaked to take into consideration doctor visits or days when children aren’t feeling well enough to attend. Children and adults in college living with disabilities should have a measure of leeway when it comes to attendance. Similarly, some schools hold strict tardiness policies which can negatively impact disabled students. If a student in a wheelchair isn’t able to get to classes on time due to their mobility limitations, this is not something they should be punished for.
Overall, with school being a necessity, steps need to be taken to ensure that all students can receive the education they deserve. By improving access to both buildings and education materials educators can help children with disabilities excel in school and beyond.
Everyday Adjustments
Both children and adults living with disabilities deserve additional accessibility outside of educational institutions. Restaurants, stores, libraries, theaters, and all public centers should be equipt with ramps and elevators that allow those with physical disabilities to access them with ease.
However, accessibility, as mentioned above, is often talked about, with other important facets falling by the wayside. For example, as the U.S. apparel market is projected to grow to a value of $385 billion by 2025, steps should be taken for the manufacturing of clothing for those with limited mobility and sensory issues. While restricted mobility clothing is available, it is nowhere near as accessible or as widely available as needed. Likewise, sensory sensitivities often experienced by autistic individuals is something to consider as standard clothes can feel agitating to wear. Compression tees, shorts, and socks can be beneficial for children and adults on the spectrum, as can weighted vests which can help keep individuals calm and grounded.
Items that help individuals perform daily activities are something else to consider. Eating utensils, dressing aids, and more accessible hygiene options need to be made more readily available for the disabled community. Similarly, stim toys, sensory aids, and speaking devices can benefit those living with autism.
While items like this can be found online and in specialty stores, to truly accommodate the disabled community, these things must become as commonplace as everything able-bodied individuals use every day.
Improving Accessibility
Disabilities both mental and physical affect people of all ages and difficulties in accessibility need to be addressed to foster inclusion. Beginning at the school level, making changes can ensure that all children can receive access to classrooms and materials that are suitable for them. Additionally, tools and aids need to be easier to buy so that disabled individuals can carry out daily activities with less difficulty.
While accessibility has improved in recent decades, there is still a long way to go until universal access is achieved. Until then, it’s important to speak up if you find locations that aren’t meeting accessibility standards. By doing this, you can help make a difference and foster inclusion in your local area.
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