The States Statistics

Compared to white Americans and other ethnic groups like Hispanics, African American pupils have a slightly greater proportion of disabilities. It is indicated in public health reports from California, which are supported by a study that compared the functional limitations, hearing, memory, and learning challenges among black, Hispanic, and white kids. There are 1,5,000,000 people in the California student sample that was used for the analysis. In contrast to the 800,000 white respondents, 400,000 African Americans answered to the poll question. Only 300,000 Americans of Hispanic descent (Morgan et al., 2017). The findings of the study suggested an urgent need to find a solution to the huge disparities that exist between black and white American students. That has necessitated the authorities and policy makers in California to identify the factors contributing to such disparities and appropriate measures to solve it. The survey showed that black students had the highest likelihood of experiencing learning or memory related disability compared to students who are of white origin. The odds of disability for black school-aged children to white American students stood at 1.5.

The rate of disablements, ranging from disability to chronic conditions, among students in the United States shows that black students do worse than white people and even people of other ethnic extractions. Disability is a contributor or a factor that has a significant effect on the rate of school completion among both white and African American students. Consequently, it is also a predictor of the number of lives and future careers lost for the students who are affected (Cortiella & Horowitz, 2014). It is equally a source of depression to the parents and relatives of those whose school-aged children suffer from such conditions.

Most of the recent instigations have concentrated on the disability disparities among black and white students. However, other studies have emerged to show the differences in the levels of disability for all American citizens with advancement in age. Incidentally, even for the elderly American students who are in colleges and other higher institutions of learning, the rate of learning and mental related disabilities is still higher in African Americans than any other racial or ethnic group.

The vast disparities between racial and ethnic groups with regards to disability among students have significant impacts on the lives of those affected. Since the black community has a higher percentage of the students with disabilities, unfortunately, they have to halt their education because they cannot compete with other pupils who do not have any learning impairment. The cost of medical bills has also increased for them because such conditions require frequent medical checkup and monitoring. The rate of depression among their parents and guardians has also increased because it is a painful condition that is not easy to bear.

The national average for black and white American students still shows the tendency that the rate of disability among African Americans is going to be higher. According to the data on the 2006 survey of the communities and students in America where 2,288,800 respondents were interviewed, the chances of an African American being diagnosed with a learning disability stands at 48% compared with white American students who have a relatively lower probability of 32%. Considering national standings, the Hispanic Americans are at 0.3 odds of suffering vision and hearing problems (Flowers et al., 2017). In the context of the classroom, difficulties in hearing and vision would constitute the learning disability. Finally, more needs to be done to alleviate the impediments that prevent students from continuing their education.

References

Morgan, P. L., Farkas, G., Cook, M., Strassfeld, N. M., Hillemeier, M. M., Pun, W. H., & Schussler, D. L. (2017). Are black children disproportionately overrepresented in special education? A best-evidence synthesis. Exceptional Children, 83(2), 181-198.

Cortiella, C., & Horowitz, S. H. (2014). The state of learning disabilities: Facts, trends and emerging issues. New York: National Center for Learning Disabilities.

Flowers, C., Test, D. W., Povenmire-Kirk, T. C., Diegelmann, K. M., Bunch-Crump, K. R., Kemp-Inman, A., & Goodnight, C. I. (2017). A demonstration model of interagency collaboration for students with disabilities: A multilevel approach. The Journal of Special Education, 720-764.