The Elephant in the Classroom: Invisible Disabilities in the Mainstream

'Special Needs' is an umbrella term for an extremely wide spectrum of disabilities and conditions. Therefore at the very outset let me narrow the focus of my paper to those conditions or disorders which are confined to mainstream schools, and those which more specifically, are invisible. "An invisible disability is a physical, mental or neurological condition that is not visible from the outside, yet can limit or challenge a person’s movements, senses, or activities."(Invisible Disabilities Association) In mainstream schools we will find Children With Special Needs (CWSN) who have specific learning disorders, autism spectrum disorders, mild intellectual disabilities, hearing impairments, speech or language disorders and emotional disturbances, which are some of the categories we commonly come across.

Children with such invisible disabilities or special needs are often much harder to spot or identify since their challenges are not very obvious and noticeable. Moreover, it is also possible for them to hide and attempt to mask their difficulties, often very successfully. From my long years of schooling in the Indian education system, I have come to the conclusion, both from personal experience and from observing some of my peers, that schools and classrooms can be a stressful and unaccommodating environment for children with special needs. 

Real life examples

I would like to begin by relating a few real life stories of children I grew up with in school. There was a girl called Sara* in primary school, who although a bit quiet and introverted, seemed normal and well-adjusted. However she was always in trouble for failing most of her exams and doing poorly in academics. What I remember most about Sara was that she was frequently scolded for being completely inaudible when asked to read aloud in class. In spite of countless attempts by teachers to get her to read loudly, she would mumble so softly that even the student sitting next to her found it impossible to hear a word. I found this strange and incomprehensible since she talked in a normal voice in other situations. Finally in 8th grade, one of my classmates informed me that it was because Sara had difficulty reading. Looking back, it is obvious that the girl was dyslexic and was terrified of betraying the fact that she could not read like the rest of her peers. But in school, she was only accused of being lazy, obstinate and disobedient. 

Another boy I knew was named Sam* and he was a wonderful artist and an avid reader. However, he was constantly in trouble for failing academics, especially language papers, and for disrupting the class. Sam had no friends and many of the boys often teased him mercilessly because he did not seem to understand the unspoken rules of socializing and normal behavior. I usually saw him playing by himself, in his own self-created fictional world. I perceived from the start that Sam had special challenges, but he too was ostracized and labeled as a difficult and slow child. I never witnessed him receiving any of the support or accommodations that he desperately needed. 

I was perhaps unusually attuned to the challenges of those of my peers who were different from the rest because I had a speech problem, and I was familiar with the obstacles and difficulties that any sort of condition can bring to your daily life. For as long as I can remember I was desperate to hide the fact that I had a stammer because every single experience of disfluency and the reactions of my listeners left me feeling mortified and inadequate. So any situation that might force me to stammer overtly, brought me a tremendous amount of anxiety and stress. For example, I was terrified of new teachers because they would ask me my name; I hated going to school because of the daily ordeal of attendance when I worried about calling out my number in time; When we were asked to take turns to read in class, the anticipation would fill me with a sense of deepening dread. For some time, I made a habit of pretending not to know the answers to any questions that my teachers asked me. Once out of desperation, I tried telling a teacher that I knew the answer but couldn't say it. I saw the spark of realization in her eyes, but she tried to make light of it and shut me down immediately: "You don't really have a problem, just don't think about it." I cited this instance in order to reveal the shroud of secrecy and avoidance that surrounded my problem. Just as I had observed with my other peers who had challenges, nobody attempted to understand or help me deal with the numerous anxiety-provoking situations that I was exposed to on a daily basis in school.

These experiences and memories of the classroom are not isolated or unique. I merely used them so that my readers might gain an insider's perspective on the experience of being different. In my research on the subject, while going through articles, literature and studies, I have discovered that these are the routine and universal experiences of children with special needs in mainstream classrooms– ignorance, denial, shame, avoidance and fear. 

In her first hand account of being a dyslexic child in a mainstream classroom, Eliza Blasi who is now an ambassador for spreading awareness about learning disabilities says that no one explained to her why she learnt differently from her peers. Although her difficulty in reading and writing was apparent to her and a huge source of frustration, she was continually fed the narrative that 'she was no different than anyone else'. She was thus left to make her own conclusions about her learning differences and finally decided that her learning disability was something to hide and to be embarrassed about. (Blasi)

Extracts from a children's book on dyslexia

The children's novel 'Fish in a Tree' (2015), a New York Times bestseller, delves deeply and intimately into the experience of being different in a classroom full of normal children. It is told from the perspective of a bright young girl with dyslexia called Ally, who struggles to keep up at school. These extracts from the book, said by Ally, might serve to familiarize my readers with the anxiety and stress that such CWSN often undergo:

"I wonder what it would be like to be able to relax at school and not have to worry every second of every minute."

"Words. I can never get away from them. I think back to second grade when my teacher wrote a whole lot of letters down and asked me what they said. I had no idea. But I was used to that. “That spells your name, Ally. Ally Nickerson.” Who knew a second grader could understand what being humiliated feels like! Tears begin to come, but I swallow them… I worry so much about them knowing my secret that my stomach feels like I’ve been kicked in the guts." 

“I think it would be easier to be invisible.”

"I can’t help thinking about the girl on the train and how she feels— like she wants to do so much but she’s held back, and it makes her feel heavy and angry. Like she’s dragging a concrete block around all of the time. I’d like to help her break free from that."

“Imagine if every single time you got on your bike, you had to worry that the wheels would come off. And every time you ride, they do. But you still have to ride. Every day. And then you have to watch everyone watch you as the bike goes to pieces underneath you. With everyone thinking that it’s your fault and you’re the worst bike rider in the world.”

Studies show that children with special needs are often at greater risk of developing psychological difficulties such as anxiety, depression, loneliness, low self-esteem and behavioural problems. For example, in a study conducted on 77 children with dyslexia, psychological comorbidity was found in 66.2%. (Bäcker and Neuhäuser). And these issues are in grave danger of persisting into adulthood. Considering the unreasonable demands placed on such children, the persistent anxiety and stress, and the negative responses of peers and teachers, this prognosis is not surprising. 

The Elephant in the Room

Now that I have hopefully succeeded in illustrating that there IS a problem that needs to be addressed, let me proceed to the flaws in our perceptions and attitudes towards special needs in the mainstream classroom. You might have noticed that all the stories I related have some common elements or threads weaved into them, and one of these is the refusal or reluctance to acknowledge the difficulties that a child with a special need faces in the classroom. Eliza Blasi talks about the hesitancy and embarrassment that she noticed in adults who tried to talk to her about her challenges. Left to figure out her problem on her own, she began to feel that she was not as capable or smart as her peers (Blasi). 

A child naturally internalizes the attitudes of those around her and much of the negative feelings that children have towards their conditions are a result of the discomfort that they perceive in adults. This in turn is what gives birth to 'the elephant in the room'-- denying it does not nullify its existence and the metaphorical elephant becomes suffocating and oppressive to the child. We are fooled by the false belief that denying the existence of her difficulty to the child and dismissing it as minor and irrelevant is the best way to approach all mainstream special needs. But unfortunately this does very little good. 

When adults seem reluctant to talk about something, the child only begins to feel that the problem is so terrible that it should not be discussed. And anything that is not brought out into the open is doomed to fester beneath the surface and affect a person's well-being. I am reminded of a friend in higher secondary who I knew was dyslexic since she often struggled to read fluently in class, but her difficulty was never once talked about. One day I tried to broach the subject with her and though she was defensive at first, she slowly opened up about her feelings surrounding her learning disability. She confessed feelings of inadequacy and embarrassment, especially at having to go to the Special Ed room. She had lived her entire life in an aura of stigma and avoidance with regard to her condition. 

The Iceberg Theory

We often assume that a child's difficulties are limited to what is observable and immediately apparent on the outside. For example, a dyslexic child might have obvious problems with learning and will need special education to remedy his difficulties with reading and writing. But other more intense and deeply rooted aspects of the problem might not be easily visible. We are not privy to the shame, anxiety and frustration that clouds every negative experience that a special need brings. 

For instance, the dyslexic child might experience extreme fear and anxiety whenever his turn for reading aloud approaches in class, and further feel embarrassed when he struggles to read fluently. Or to draw from my own experience, I remember that when I attended speech therapy the focus was always on teaching me techniques that could hide my speech difficulties from other people, and so the inner feelings and experiences that lay underneath my overt problems were never properly addressed. 

Since our focus is limited to the overt behaviors and problems that a child exhibits, all our attitudes and efforts are concentrated on overcoming a child's condition or on eliminating it completely rather than on helping him navigate the challenges and underlying emotions that it might bring, in a healthy way. I believe the root cause of the problem is that we are so obsessed with the idea of being 'normal', of being just like everybody else that we find it incredibly difficult and even traumatic to explore or accept the possibility of difference and uniqueness. 

Awareness

During my conversation with the dyslexic friend in 12th grade, the most saddening revelation was that nobody had explained to her that a learning disability did not affect her intelligence. She did not know it merely meant that she could not learn in the same way as her peers since her brain was wired differently. Instead, she was certain that her diagnosis carried with it the label of being 'retarded'. This is why awareness is the first and most indispensable step in confronting a child's special needs. The child, her parents and those in her immediate environment should be fully educated about her condition. When a child understands her condition and is able to talk freely about it, she will stop believing that it is a deep, dark secret that must be hidden at all costs. As always, with ignorance comes fear and misconception but awareness dispels them and empowers the child to advocate for herself when faced with difficulties. 

Acceptance and not denial, is the key to dealing with any kind of disability or condition. But the complex path towards acceptance is often fraught with pain, frustration and hindrance. In fact the process of accepting a disability has been compared to the stages of grief such as depression, denial and anger etc, finally culminating in emotional healing. However I believe that with the right kind of help and support, this process can be made much smoother and easier. 

What was also apparent in all the accounts of the experiences of children with special needs was the tremendous lack of awareness among teachers. A survey of teachers' knowledge about CWSN that I carried out in my school while in 12th grade affirmed these personal experiences with statistics. Most teachers had not received any training sessions on dealing with the CWSN in their classrooms and their responses to my questionnaire betrayed a glaring evidence of ignorance and misconceptions with regard to such children.

Sadly, it is impossible to ensure that a child with special needs feels safe and is freed of unnecessary stress in a classroom until we have made sure that her teachers are aware of her challenges and needs and equipped to handle them. My own experience has been that teachers usually do care about their students and desire to help them, but are often unaware of how best to do so. This is why there is a pressing need for educators to be adequately trained to identify and handle the challenges that CWSN face in the classroom and to support them whenever possible. The government has a responsibility to hold awareness programmes in schools that go beyond a superficial purview of the subject to more intense campaigns with expert input. 

It is a commonly cited argument that the Indian education system has not progressed enough and does not have the necessary resources to address and combat such issues while more glaring needs are demanding our attention. However in this light I think it is fair to say that the act of spreading awareness among educators is not really such an enormous strain on finance or other resources. It is in fact perhaps one of the most feasible and achievable means of supporting CWSN in mainstream classrooms, and therefore one that should be seriously considered. 

Self-advocacy 

Give the child a voice!

There is no better person to educate people about a condition, its challenges and needs, than the child herself. From personal experience, the child will know best how she can be helped and supported. However, in the Indian education system we rarely involve children or give them a voice in the process of their own education. They are usually forced to adapt and squeeze themselves into the mould of a system which is unsympathetic towards individual differences. 

Imagine the good it would do if teachers simply had a private conversation with the child and asked her what problems she faced in the classroom and how they could be accommodated. But in order for students to feel comfortable enough to disclose their needs, we must first remove the barriers that prevent them from doing so. "Cottrell has argued that one thing lecturers (educators) can do to promote inclusive and effective learning is to set up an atmosphere where it feels safe for students to disclose difficulties, discuss different approaches and share strategies." (Matthews) An important way to do this is by openly discussing disabilities and differences in mainstream classrooms right from elementary school, in ways that bust stereotypes, raise awareness and remove stigma.

Giving children a certain degree of control or autonomy over the situations to which they are exposed can drastically reduce the amount of stress that they are subjected to. This can be done by letting the child choose whether to and how to deal with a challenging situation, although not through complete avoidance of all difficult situations. For example, a dyslexic child can be allowed to decide for herself whether or not she wants to read aloud in class. This is also hugely beneficial in the long run because she will be empowered to take responsibility for herself and stand up for her rights in adulthood.

Every child, irrespective of differences, deserves to have a safe and happy childhood free from needless stress and worry. We know that children are a most vulnerable section of the population who do not possess a voice of their own, and hence it is the responsibility of parents and educators to support them through their challenges and to advocate on their behalf. No child with special needs must be left to fend for herself in a hostile school environment. And it is time to expel the elephant from the room and ensure that mainstream classrooms become a safe and welcoming place for all students. 

*Names have been changed to protect identity 

PPT of a class presentation I did on 'Special Needs in Mainstream Education' (12th std):

https://1drv.ms/p/s!Aiwbj0JCHKN2gQHdRdrU4RLC8TUu?e=KpMa21

References

Invisible Disabilities Association. “How Do You Define Invisible Disability? | Invisible Disability Definition.” Invisible Disabilities® Association, 15 Oct. 2022, invisibledisabilities.org/what-is-an-invisible-disability.

Blasi, Elisa. “The Elephant in the Classroom.” LD@School, 10 Aug. 2018, www.ldatschool.ca/the-elephant-in-the-room. Accessed 30 Nov. 2022.

Life with a Stammer. (n.d.). STAMMA. https://stamma.org/about-stammering/life-stammer

Hunt, Lynda Mullaly. Fish in a Tree. Nancy Paulsen Books, 2015.

Bäcker, Andreas, and Gerhard Neuhäuser" [Internalizing and externalizing syndrome in reading and writing disorders]". Praxis der Kinderpsychologie und Kinderpsychiatrie vol. 52,5 (2003): 329-37.

Padhy, SusantaKumar, ManojK Sahoo, and Haritha Biswas. “Psychological Co-Morbidity in Children with Specific Learning Disorders.” Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care 4.1 (2015): 21. Web.

Sofologi, Maria, et al. “Specific Learning Disabilities and Psychosocial Difficulties in Children.” ResearchGate, Jan. 2022, www.researchgate.net/publication/357487925_Specific_Learning_Disabilities_and_Psychosocial_Difficulties_in_Children.

“Mental Health for Children With Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities.” Navigate Life Texas, www.navigatelifetexas.org/en/diagnosis-healthcare/mental-health-for-children-with-intellectual-and-developmental-disabilities. Accessed 1 Dec. 2022.

Delahooke, Mona, PhD. “The Developmental Iceberg: Looking Below the Surface of Challenging Behaviors.” Mona Delahooke, Ph.D. - Pediatric Psychologist - California, 22 July 2019, monadelahooke.com/the-developmental-iceberg-looking-below-the-surface-of-challenging-behaviors.

The Tip of the Iceberg: SEND, Masking and Multiple Needs. 1 Feb. 2022,

www.sec-ed.co.uk/best-practice/the-tip-of-the-iceberg-send-masking-and-multiple-needs-children-students-inclusion-wellbeing-ehcps.

Kuehn, Jill, "The Tip of the Iceberg: The Preparation of Special Education Teachers" (2013). Education Doctoral Dissertations in L