Nancy Ormond, the president of the Vance County chapter of the Arc of North Carolina opened Monday’s presentation by introducing Ellen Russell, the Director of Advocacy for the state organization.
The Arc of North Carolina is an advocacy group for people with physical and intellectual disabilities. The National Arc organization has been influential in the development of major federal laws regarding the education of the disabled, including the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and the Rehabilitation Act.
Only approximately ten people showed for the forum. Audience members included Patty Kennedy, the Vance County Schools Director of Exceptional Children, who was present for the first hour of the meeting. (The Vance County Board of Education was scheduled to meet at 7:00 p.m. the same day.) North Carolina Rep. Michael Wray arrived soon after the forum began, but slipped out a few minutes later.
The non-profit was founded over 50 years ago as a support group. It soon morphed into an advocacy group.
NC Arc has 35 state chapters and 5,000 members state-wide.
According to Russell, Monday’s forum in the conference room of the H. Leslie Perry Memorial Library in Henderson was the last of fourteen scheduled forums. Russell said that her organization has been getting increased numbers of calls in recent years, many having to do with inquiries about home schooling or private schooling of disabled students.
Russell asked why parents are moving away from public education. She also wondered if there are problems that can be changed through advocacy.
Stating that her purpose was not to “bash the school system”, Russell enumerated several issues, some of which she speculated might be changed through policy shifts.
Russell questioned why disabled students were not achieving outcomes from school like job skills, obtaining real-world jobs, having post-secondary education options, learning skills for living and participating in the community, and having self-advocacy skills.
At the same time, she noted that in recent years there has been a trend of increased suspensions of the disabled for disciplinary reasons as well as an increased drop-out rate.
The advocate claimed that low expectations, and a lack of emphasis on literacy skills, among other factors, contributed to the lack of [positive] outcomes.
Russell called for increased training of teachers and a need to teach the North Carolina Standard Course of Study in a way that is relevant to students with disabilities. She said that universities should better prepare general education teachers for the needs of disabled students in the classroom.
Learn more about the Arc of North Carolina here.