Current Edition : April, 2004

Reason to Hope:

Ameeta - I refuse

Inclusion is getting people from all walks of life to work together and live together. Disability is a very misused term, my personal feeling is that it is not as serious as it is made out to be….. I look at disability as a slight incapacity to function and this little difference does not give anybody the authority or the right to discriminate ….. I refuse to be segregated on the basis of this slight disability…..

In the pre-inclusion years we were given excuses for being segregated, excuses like they can't cope with the studies, they cannot sit or stand like the others etc, my school had selected me as an inclusive candidate but it was turned down because of visual difficulties and the fact that I could not walk, I was upset but today I have overcome these small rejections of life and grown in my mind, moreover today with inclusion the teachers from the special schools are themselves approaching regular schools and advocating mainstreaming. This is really heartening……..

I am on the verge on a major transition in my life. I am about to leave my school and join the outside world, a different world, a real world….

Right now I am going through mixed feelings. I feel concerned that my new environment may not be accepting, that I will be made to feel different and segregated.

But I am hopeful as well…. I do have a few suggestions as well, which I would like to share with you today; a child with disability should not be made to feel lesser in the class, they should be given equal opportunities.

More awareness programs for teachers from non-inclusive schools should be had. We should be allowed to interact with our peers as others and not be made to feel left out or out of place for having the same needs as others.

Given that the overall aim of the governments policy is Education for all I would like to say that All Includes Me, and I am as excited as any other 16 year old to begin my college life.

I will work harder than I ever have, I will be stronger than I ever have and I will be a success story. This is my aim, this is my ambition.