Practical Social-Emotional Learning Tools for Students with Specific Learning Disabilities in the United States of America

Overview & Synopsis

Education is a fundamental right for all children which must be guaranteed in every nation. Unfortunately, children with disabilities have been marginalized in many countries preventing them from accessing an appropriate education. Although some countries have legislation that guarantees educational rights to children with disabilities, some of the laws are not comprehensive enough to ensure that these children benefit from their educational experience. Hence, for many children with disabilities the educational experience does not guarantee them positive adult outcomes. However, some industrialized countries, like the United States of America (USA), have made significant progress in this area by establishing comprehensive laws to ensure that the rights of children with disabilities to education are guaranteed through provisions that entitle them to an appropriate education. Because of this, the author uses the special education law in the USA as a benchmark in examining special education law in Zimbabwe, albeit the USA is not being treated as a gold standard but just a model.