SPED 507/Special Education in India vs.

the United States/Isola

SPECIAL EDUCATION IN INDIA VS. THE UNITED STATES

KRUTHI ISOLA
THE UNIVERSITY OF LAVERNE-BAKERSFIELD
SPED 507/Special Education in India vs. the United States/Isola

Abstract:
There has been a lot of research conducted regarding the policies and procedures

in place regarding Special Education in both the US and India. This research suggests

that there is still a lot to be done regarding the enforcement of laws, and access to

services in both countries. This paper will discuss the impact of these aspects on the

whole Special Education system in both the US and India, and how it needs to change to

better serve the needs of their students.

Introduction:

It is important to begin our understanding of each system. In the US, Special

Educators are currently actively trying to remove the stigma that surrounds students with

Special Education. There is a great deal of effort being put into “normalizing” the idea of

students who have special needs. This includes emphasizing differences within students

through awareness days and other activities to bring these differences to light. By doing

so, educators hope to make these disabilities more socially acceptable. By increasing the

social acceptance, the hope is that the social construct around these disabilities will

slowly dissipate.

The Disability Studies perspective would say that the way to help these ideas

dissipate is to mainstream all students together into one classroom (with supports as

needed.) However, the reality is that this cannot be done all at once. Due to the current

social construction of the education system, the dismantling of these ideas needs to

happen very slowly. Right now, the system is working on mainstreaming everyone into

classrooms that are equipped with appropriate supports to assist all students. The change

needs to begin with teachers. There are currently many teachers who believe that special

needs students would be better suited within a Special Education classroom with a
SPED 507/Special Education in India vs. the United States/Isola

teacher who has been ‘specially’ trained to assist them and attend to their needs. This is

what many older educators believe. They tend to automatically reject any type of

mainstreaming, since they do not think that they will be able to cope with these students’

needs as well as teach them appropriately.

This is the exact perspective that Disabilities Studies is looking to change.

Disability Studies tells us that we need to change the social construct to successfully

change the entire system. To begin this, we need to start with general education teachers.

Special Education teachers already know that it is important that their students receive

sufficient time in the general education classroom. However, general education teachers

are more reluctant to include them.

Examining the history of Special Education, we can see that this mindset has been

the norm since even before the establishment of the Special Education system. There

have been many instances of students being removed from class simply due to poor

performance or for ‘being distracting’ to the teacher or others. For example, “…the

Wisconsin Court denied education to a student with cerebral palsy because he

‘produce[d] a depressing and nauseating effect upon the teachers and school children’”

(Smith 2004). This kind of mindset is what has caused special education students to be

overlooked or completely dismissed in favor of “typically developing” students who are

seen as having more potential for success. This is also evident in the fact that “As late as

1975, up to half of the estimated 8 million children with disabilities in the US were either

being inappropriately educated or fully excluded from the public school setting” (Esteves,

Rao, 2008, Pulliam & Van Patten, 2006). It was only after the establishment of the All

Handicapped Children Act (now called IDEA) that students with special needs were even
SPED 507/Special Education in India vs. the United States/Isola

allowed access to an education. Even though special needs students were allowed into

classrooms, the law still did not define the degree to which they were allowed to be

included (Esteves, Rao, 2008). This issue was later addressed in the Supreme Court case

Brown vs. Board of Education, in which it was determined that racial segregation

violated equal opportunity education (Esteves, Rao, 2008). Based on this landmark case,

it was henceforth established that all students, regardless of race, disability, or gender

have a right to an education (Esteves, Rao, 2008). Over time, however, the US slowly

began moving towards a more inclusive education system. Today, many US school

systems are slowly moving towards an inclusive classroom.

According to a study, in India, 70% of general education teachers feel that they

are not prepared to teach students with special needs. In the same study, 87% of teachers

stated that they did not have access to any type of support (Das, Desai, Kuyini, 2013).

These statistics show that there is a big issue when it comes to support in India. This is

mainly based off of the fact that the first law, The Persons with Disabilities Act was

passed in 1995, which means before that, there was no way to get any services for any

child who needed them (Das, Desai, Kuyini, 2013). This law clarified many aspects of

special education, including removing barriers and including all children with disabilities.

It also stated that special education should not be seen as a separate branch of education

(as it is in the US), but rather as another part of general education. The ideal is there,

however, the actual enactment of this law is where all the issues arise. This can be seen,

as in the exact same study, they discuss an update to the law that was passed in 2012 to

update teacher-training standards for current teachers: “Other studies show that teachers

who have received training are still concerned about implementing inclusion (Das, Desai,
SPED 507/Special Education in India vs. the United States/Isola

Kuyini, 2013, Sharma & Desai, 2012). This shows that there are still teachers who

believe that Special Education should be a separate placement.

“Anecdotal evidence suggested that teachers found it difficult to accept the

notion that social skills and peer relationships were equally important as academic

subjects in a school relationship” (Das, Desai, Kuyini, 2013). This is clearly an issue in

both US and Indian schools.

The placement of students in the Special Education system in India has been very

arbitrary. Usually when students are placed in classes, this is done without any type of

assessment or testing to determine placement. It is usually discovered later on, rather than

earlier. There is also no structure set up for early intervention either. (Das, Desai, Kuyini,

2013). In the US, we have a multi-tiered early intervention and identification system.

This makes is easier for students to be identified early on, and get the services they need”

(Esteves, Rao, 2008). If those in India were able to see how the US has an early

identification system, they could see that it is important to be identified early. This is an

idea that has not taken root in the Indian education system as of yet. The population as a

whole tends to put these types of issues off until they cannot be ignored any longer. This

is why the system has never had an identification system in place. This happens to be an

effect of the great impact societal pressure and outside opinions have on the people. They

tend to take others’ opinions of them very seriously and stick to the status quo as a result.

Cultural perceptions make up a very large portion of societal expectations in

India. There is an expectation from Indian parents that their children will go to school,

get good grades, and land successful jobs as doctors, lawyers or engineers. If their

children do not live up to these expectations, they are considered failures. This idea is so
SPED 507/Special Education in India vs. the United States/Isola

deeply ingrained in the culture that parents do not know what to do when faced with a

child with special needs. Their dreams of having a child with a bright future are suddenly

shattered. Due to societal pressure, they feel the need to somehow “hide” the child and

this is where they begin to ignore any “issues” they see with the child. It is clear that the

social construction within Indian society is very rigid and also steeped heavily in the

medical model of disability.

This heavy reliance on the medical model bleeds into the teachers’ perspectives as

well, causing heavy biases in the teachers themselves. These teachers automatically

believe that any students with special needs are not worth the trouble of working with

them because they will never live up to what is typically expected. Even though these are

educators, they are still heavily influenced by society.

This influence is show in that many times the teachers are expected to teach

students everything. If they are unable to teach students at the expected level, they are

blamed for it. Teachers want to be considered successful, to do so, they need to be seen as

being ‘able’ to teach children. And to be ‘able’ to teach children, those children must

become successful doctors, lawyers, etc. This shows exactly to what depths these social

constructs pervade Indian society, affecting even the teachers of the system and their

perception in society. Some very frustrating patterns of this practice include: “Parents

were also frustrated by the negative attitudes they encountered from professionals,

ranging from unhelpfulness to disapproval at parents’ noncompliance.” (Kalyanpur,

Gowramma, 2007). Examples of this “unhelpfulness” given by parents were: “…services

agencies that refused admission to their children on various grounds, including

SPED 507/Special Education in India vs. the United States/Isola

ineducability relating to severity of disability, or age in terms of the child being too

young to benefit from intervention…” (Kalyanpur, Gowramma, 2007). These types of

Due to this desire for personal success, and in order to avoid the blame, teachers

tend to write off special education students almost immediately, claiming that the only

way to help them is to send them away to specialized schools to receive the services they

need. These schools exist, and they do provide services, but they are usually far away,

only located in large cities like Mumbai or Delhi. This means that students have to go far

away from their parents. At these schools, the reality is that the teachers can do whatever

they want in the name of education, because parents are not watching. As can be seen

from these excerpts, even at these specialized schools, professors take advantage of the

fact that parents have no idea what their rights are (or that they even have any). They feel

entitled to treat parents this way, since they are providing them with the opportunity to

send their child to their school, which they should be grateful for, since the child has

special needs.

In the US, many parents are deeply involved in their child’s education. They want

to know the details of every project, test and presentation. Many parents of special

education students are even more actively involved in their child’s education. Yes, this is

not true for every parent of a special needs child, but many of them are aware of their

rights as a parent and their child’s rights to services.

This type of awareness is just not present in India. A study done on cultural

barriers to education states: “…unfamiliarity with the educational system…results in a

lack of knowledge about service availability or legal rights” (Kalyanpur, Gowramma,

2007). Since parents do not have any idea about their legal rights it is easier to take
SPED 507/Special Education in India vs. the United States/Isola

advantage of this. These parents send their children to these schools, hoping to secure a

more stable life for them, but have no idea what is actually happening at the school.

The study states: “A common concern was the difficulty of accessing information

on services in a culture that continues to hold traditional negative perceptions of

disability and lacks the infrastructure for dissemination of information” (Kalyanpur,

Gowramma, 2007). It goes on to say that “Familial attitudes towards disability were a

primary barrier, as parents struggled to overcome negative responses to atypical behavior

and development” (Kalyanpur, Gowramma, 2007). This shows that even though the

parents themselves are willing to look for services and find ways to help their child

succeed, Indian society itself has such a strong repulsion towards anything deemed

‘atypical’ that others can actually make it physically impossible to get help or

information. Kalyanpur and Gowramma even address these issues, stating: “Many of the

parents lived with the knowledge that their child was an embarrassment to their families,

particularly if the child demonstrated cognitive impairments or socially inappropriate

behaviors” (Kalyanpur, Gowramma, 2007).

These concerns are also echoed directly by the concerned parents: “When guests

came to our home, my in-laws warned me not to come outside with my child” and “They

scolded me and accused me for everything he does.” They claim: “‘He is mad”

(Kalyanpur, Gowramma, 2007). These types of comments and attitudes lead to parental

reactions such as: “Sometimes when I heard such complaints from my in-laws, I thought

about committing suicide” (Kalyanpur, Gowramma, 2007). For a mother to have such an

extreme reaction to these comments truly shows the true depth that these societal

expectations reach for parents. No matter how hard they try to escape them, there is some
SPED 507/Special Education in India vs. the United States/Isola

way in which they come back to haunt parents. The article goes on to say, “Support came

more easily when the family could believe that the child would eventually “become

normal”. (Kalyanpur, Gowramma, 2007). This is a clear reflection of the influence of the

medical model in society. Obviously, something is “wrong” with the child, and the only

way to be accepted is to “fix” it, which is the textbook definition of medical model ideas.

Many Indian families are joint families, meaning that grandparents, parents, aunts,

uncles and children all live together under the same roof. This is very helpful for families

to have help raising children. However, it causes many problems in how the children are

raised. Every person in the home feels they have a right to express what they believe to

be best for the child, and they will do so very freely. They also may treat the child

differently from other children in the home. This type of treatment is also accepted.

Examples of preferential treatment include: giving their ‘typically developing’

children more time and attention (because they are considered to be a better use of their

time), allowing them more privileges or free time, among other obvious signs. For

example, “…his parents insisted that the mother leave her older son with them and move

to the city to seek services for her preschool son” and the mother was concerned that, “…

if the boy failed to show adequate improvement, her in-laws might refuse to have her

husband’s remittance pay for these services” (Kalyanpur, Gowramma, 2007). Here it is

clear that these families feel that their opinions have the most value, since they ‘know

what is best’ as they feel they can control over what their adult child’s salary will pay for,

and they feel they can hold that over their daughter-in-law’s head as a way to control her

as well.
SPED 507/Special Education in India vs. the United States/Isola

This causes many parents to feel helpless in the way of decision making for their

child. They may feel that even though they make a choice that they think is best for their

child, it will be rejected or they will be convinced or forced to change their choice based

on what their family feels is best.

Educators also believe they influence parents’ decisions, as parents are not seen as

being any sort of “professional” in the field. “Among these Indian mothers, there was an

implicit understanding that a parent could not be a professional….this is illustrated by

their frequent self-deprecatory comment that “after all, we are only the parents”

(Kalyanpur, Gowramma, 2007). Also, the study stated that the parents’ “...initial

assumption [is] that the purpose of the focus group interview was for them to listen and

learn while the professionals talked and led the meeting” (Kalyanpur, Gowramma, 2007).

This comes from the long-accepted idea that women cannot have both a

professional life and take care of their children properly. Educators then go on to blame

parents for what they believe to be an uncaring attitude or neglect. Parents recounted that:

“…they often had to deal with professional disapproval that they had “delayed” bringing

their child to the clinic, despite obvious indications of impairment, seeing it as an

implication that somehow the families were to blame” (Kalyanpur, Gowramma, 2007).

This is clearly demonstrated in the way a mother was yelled at by a professional,

“Already you had your first son. Why didn’t you compare his development with your

other son? Up to nine months, you have not bothered to do anything” (Kalyanpur,

Gowramma, 2007).

Through this interaction, we can see a clear paradox: professionals throw blame

on the parents for not doing anything, while at the same time assuming the parents do not
SPED 507/Special Education in India vs. the United States/Isola

know enough to do anything. This is thrown in their faces, as if it is the parents’ fault for

having a child with special needs, and therefore their fault that the child isn’t developing

properly, and up to them to monitor this. At the same time, the alleged “professionals”

assume that the parents know nothing, and therefore must take all of their suggestions as

gospel to be followed to the letter.

In this way, we see that these educators take responsibility without actually

having to take any real responsibility for their students. They can somehow use the

parents as a scapegoat for their own failures as educators.

Compared to the US system, the Indian system does not seem to take any

responsibility. US educators are truly dedicated to their students and truly would like

them to succeed. Due to the enforcement of IDEA and accommodations within IEPs or

504 Plans, within the US, teachers are more concerned with making sure that each

student receives the services they need.

This whole difference comes down to the enforcement of the laws. In the US,

IDEA and its update, IDEIA, make sure that students receive the services listed in their

plans. Also, because of these plans, all of their services are clearly listed and everything

that was discussed about the child is written explicitly in a report. Also, these IEPs and

504 plans are updated every one to three years, to keep up with the child’s development.

All of these steps ensure that students develop at the skills they need to advance in

school. Also, teachers, particularly those in Special Education, are taught that no student

is beyond help. This is also a belief that teachers in general have in the US that is not

present in India. There have not been any attempts to really change the social construct of

schools in India.
SPED 507/Special Education in India vs. the United States/Isola

In regards to the educational system in India, Disability Studies would say that

India needs to begin by changing the basis of their whole system. They need to abandon

their medical model way of thinking, and see that disability is not something to be

frowned upon, but rather something that can be fixed through a change in perspective.

The only way this can happen is if it is easier to access information regarding services.

The study found that “the more educated the mother, the more likely she was to work

outside the home, facilitating her access and ability to seek out information and

community resources” (Kalyanpur, Gowramma, 2007).

This is the exact problem with the Indian education system. Parents are

considered to be uneducated, and therefore are not given access to any information, or are

treated as if they will not understand information if it is presented to them. Experts in

Disability Studies would say that the Indian Educational system needs to re-evaluate the

way that they use educational information.

Previously it has been stated that 70% of educators believe they are not

sufficiently trained, and 87% say they do not have adequate support (Das, Desai, Kuyini,

2013). Disability Studies would encourage India to focus on these two aspects of the

current educational system. Improving teacher training would help re-educate teachers

about how to view students with disabilities. Since social construct is so deeply rooted in

Indian society, it is key that we target this issue first. We need to help educators

dismantle the idea that students’ disability resides within them, and show them that it is

actually society itself and its values that blocks these students from being able to

participate fully.
SPED 507/Special Education in India vs. the United States/Isola

Parents themselves are clearly more aware than educators. Within this scope of

re-education of teachers, we should show teachers and medical professionals that it is

important to listen to parents and their concerns. Parents also have their children’s best

interests at heart. However, they may not have enough information or even any to make

an informed decision for their child’s future. Professionals need to understand that

parents come to them for help, and that they need to take their role in a child’s education

seriously. Professionals need to view the dissemination of information as a way to

improve their own profession, rather than as if they are the keepers of some secret

information only available to a select few. The more information parents have regarding

their child’s condition, the better prepared they will be for future decision making and

understanding their child’s progress over their academic lives. This will eventually lead

to brighter futures and more student success within Special Education.

Disability Studies would say teachers cannot blame parents for lack of knowledge

and at the same time deprive them of access to the same knowledge. They need to

understand that knowledge is something that teachers have been given, but that does not

mean they control the access to that information.

In terms of legal structure, Disability Studies would advise that India begin to

enforce its laws more strictly. Even though these laws have been in place since 1995,

with provisions to include those with special needs within general education, if they more

strictly enforce these laws, that would make sure that parents get access to sorely needed

information, thereby also granting access of services to students. One of the biggest

weaknesses of the Indian educational system is the lack of enforcement of the law. Since

the law is going unchecked, teachers have been able to convince parents that they are the
SPED 507/Special Education in India vs. the United States/Isola

foremost experts in their field, knowingly taking advantage of parents’ lack of

knowledge. Education should be a joint effort between teachers and parents to discover

what is best for the student, and work together to help the child achieve those goals. This

is not a case of parents versus teachers. As in the US educational system, Indian parents

should be allowed to raise concerns about their child. Before this can happen, information

should be distributed about what signs to look for regarding certain conditions, so that

they can be reported and evaluated as needed for the child. It is unfair of the system to

expect parents to report issues when they do not even know what developmental issues

can occur. It is the job of the medical professional and the educator to inform the parent

of these signs so that they will look for them, and begin identification much earlier than is

happening currently.

It is only through re-education of teachers, parents and other professionals that we

can rid the system of the social construct that disability is a “problem” that needs to be

“dealt with”. Once we are able to remove this idea from society as a whole, we will be

able to slowly improve the level of services and access to those services that is available

to parents.

It seems that parents are actually more willing to change their way of thinking

than teachers. Since parents are more flexible in this regard, we should use parents as a

source to help spread of correct information to families. It seems that parents go to their

families for information, and it is exactly this chain of events that is causing so much

misinformation to be spread. This is what needs to be changed. Teachers and other

professionals need to understand that they are a team working towards the success of a

child, rather than enemies trying to prove who is more knowledgeable about a subject.
SPED 507/Special Education in India vs. the United States/Isola

Rather than using their knowledge as a means of boasting about their intelligence, and

then brandishing that knowledge as something that makes them ‘superior’ to the ‘lowly

parent’ with no knowledge, educational professionals should instead use this to help

others understand what special education services would entail.

Disability Studies would say that one way to do this would be to start a campaign

to spread this information across the country, and make more people aware of their rights

and how educational laws work. Another aspect would be to have more oversight of the

enforcement of these laws, such as a committee that would circulate, assessing schools,

so that students do actually receive an appropriate education. In terms of assessments, an

assessment system should be implemented that would help with early detection of certain

conditions, as well as signs to look out for in the future.

It is due to the enforcement of all these aspects that parents in the United States

are more aware of their rights and are able to fight for those rights on behalf of their

students. The fact that Indian parents are not even aware that there are laws that govern

Special Education, let alone that they have rights under these laws, and that their child is

entitled to be a part of a general education classroom is the main cause behind lack of

services being provided.

Furthermore, since there is no current system in place to check on what is being

provided, many schools are simply able to get away with either providing fewer services,

or none at all, because “Who will come to check on me?” They believe they are the end

source, and the lack of accountability is only creating a bigger problem. If India

established some sort of legal accountability system, there would be an easier way to
SPED 507/Special Education in India vs. the United States/Isola

make sure that student were receiving sorely needed services, and it would also make

schools more inclined to follow the law and be held accountable for their actions.

By implementing identification systems, and increasing awareness of Special

Education and available services, India will be able to serve its population of special

needs students more efficiently, as well as make everyone aware that special needs are

not something to be shunned, but rather something to be embraced and accepted by their

peers.

Overall, Disability Studies would call for an overhaul of the current Indian

system, beginning with the social construct of disability so that it becomes more accepted

in society and then parents will not feel ashamed to request services. They will also be

able to receive appropriate information at the appropriate time and understand where to

go if they need more assistance, rather than being pushed out or forced to accept

whatever the professionals tell them.

If India is able to implement all of these changes, they will slowly move closer to

having a society where special needs are not only served but also embraced and

considered a part of a regular, functioning society, rather than the inconvieniece they are

viewed as today.
SPED 507/Special Education in India vs. the United States/Isola

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