Dr. John Bosco Conama:

When talking about inclusion or inclusive education, I am a full supporter of universal design. I think it is great. At the moment, there is some academic research on inclusive education. It is very much focused on the physical environment, including ramps and doors, and what the physical environment looks like. Often, they forget that "inclusive" also means experience and skills. Have they thought about language access as part of inclusive education? A lot of the time, they have not. Have they thought about bringing in an interpreter? When teachers turn to write on the blackboard or whiteboard in school they talk directly to the board and face away from the students, who are often behind them. They walk around the classroom and are moving constantly. Ms Grehan spoke about social and emotional development. In a classroom, students may be whispering, laughing or joking with their friends, behind the teacher's back, or chatting about what they are doing at the weekend. A long time ago, I read about a deaf school in England and the school friendships that often stopped at the school gate.

I thought, "Wow, that is a powerful sentiment." It is so important when one considers it is often the case that people forget to ask the deaf student when children are invited for the weekend, to a birthday, to play in someone's house or to watch a film or something like that. It is not that they do not like the child but, rather, they simply forget because they assume that when they communicate, it is with everybody. Nobody specifically takes the time to specifically tell the deaf child, however. That would have a significant emotional impact on a person. Inclusion is often physical; it does not often involve language.