The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is a federal law that requires schools to serve the educational needs of eligible students with disabilities. To provide a free appropriate public education (FAPE) to children with disabilities. IDEA requires schools to find and evaluate students suspected of having disabilities, at no cost to parents. Once kids are identified as having a disability, schools must provide them with special education and related services (like speech therapy and counseling) to meet their unique needs. The goal is to help students make progress in school.
Yet the 7.4% of children who possess a disability are prone to bullying as a result of improper media representation since the beginning of time. Seen as feared and pitied individuals, those with disabilities deserve to be fully integrated into society. The goal of balancED is to simply educate our audience about the importance of including those with disabilities and to start by learning how to refer to these individuals. A technique to promote a positive outlook on the individual "People-First Language.” This method allows an individual with a disability to be defined past their disability. One would say "Man with Autism," rather than "Austistic Man." As Arc.com states,"Our words and the meanings we attach to them create attitudes, drive social policies and laws, influence our feelings and decisions, and affect people’s daily lives and more. How we use them makes a difference. People First Language puts the person before the disability and describes what a person has, not who a person is. Using a diagnosis as a defining characteristic reflects prejudice, and also robs the person of the opportunity to define him/herself."