A Consumer's Guide to Bill 82: Special Education in Ontario

Edward L. Edmonds is a professor of education at the University of
Prince Edward Island and an honorary chief of the Lennox Island
Mi’kmaq of Prince Edward Island.

Let it be said at once that this is an eminently readable booklet (just over one hundred pages). The print is big and bold, the illustrations delightful and original. In the foreword, the author stresses that the book in no way should be taken to represent or interpret official (i.e., Ontario Ministry of Education) policy. Nevertheless, the care in consulting personnel in that office (and duly acknowledged) must convince the reader that, by and large, what is said is very close to government intent.

The layout is attractively simple. Chapter 1 outlines the so-called Ten Commandments (or contents) of Bill 82/1. Successive chapters indicate appeals procedure, requirements of school boards, planning for implementation. Then follows a series of chapters relating to the school, parents, and teachers, and a final chapter with two hypothetical case studies. The bibliography is relatively short but selective and pleasingly up-to-date.

The general tenor of the book is how best to bring about the changes envisaged in Bill 82, and how to do that as quickly as humanly possible. The exceptional child (except for the specific category of gifted or talented) is defined as one handicapped either physically, intellectually, culturally, or emotionally. Mainstreaming (under a policy of open access to public education for all children) is recommended, as are programs offering a range of instructional opportunities for the handicapped. Throughout, the emphasis is upon the child being a child first, and handicapped only second. Not all provinces insist on mandatory legislation for provision of education for all exceptional children (e.g., Saskatchewan’s School Act does, P.E.I.’s does not). Bill 82 does this for Ontario; and as many of us have reason to believe, so often what Ontario does today inevitably becomes a pattern for the other provinces on the morrow. The mandamus given to school boards is particularly welcome: “a duty is placed on boards to provide an appropriate educational program for all children. Another plus is the guarantee of parental involvement in school board decision-making (so often neglected in the past). Then too there is the enlightened proviso that instruction be provided in either English or French, where numbers warrant (numbers, however, wisely not being defined precisely).

The whole of Bill 82 is in line with current thinking and research into education of the handicapped child; it has been powerfully reinforced by the concern for human rights finding expression in the Canadian Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms, 1982.

In short, a book to recommend to all concerned with education (and all should be, these days).