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The role of the community is primarily to serve as a resource for social opportunities for the students with disabilities, and to ensure that their organizations provide equitable program models. Moreover, the role of the community will vary across the lifespan of the children with disabilities, just as it does with everyone else. For children with special needs, this means that the community will need to be compliant with federal and state laws such as the Americans with Disabilities Act, which requires physical and/or structural accommodations in public facilities to ensure access by people with disabilities, and also Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which addresses the provision of accommodations in the workplace. Various agencies provide services to students and the families of students with disabilities. Each agency has its own purpose from which the duties, roles, and responsibilities of its workers are derived. As children with disabilities age, they and their families engage with different agencies depending on the needs and objectives associated with particular phases of their life. The agencies may be educational, regulatory, supportive, or transitional in the way they function. Furthermore, agencies play a strong role in the compliance and quality assurance of educational programs for children and students with disabilities.

2) Reflect on the barriers that you might encounter when collaborating with stakeholders. How would you address these barriers?

A wide variety of perspectives greet the special education teacher who strives to ensure that students with special needs receive their education according to FAPE. Section 504 of the Rehabilitation is n Act of 1973 was enacted to ensure that students with special needs would receive a free and appropriate education (FAPE). It is important to differentiate between barriers that are grounded in ignorance and barriers that represent informed resistance on ideological or practical bases. Stakeholders may resent the idea of supporting students with special needs because of false beliefs they may have or simply because they are not knowledgeable about special education or students with disabilities. Barriers may also be raised when people believe that the effort required of them will simply be too great, or that the students will not be successful regardless of the amount of effort that is provided to them. Barriers of this type are often associated with students who exhibit behavior problems or have severe disabilities. The primary means of dealing with all three of these types of barriers are through education and communication. It is often possible to reduce barriers by encouraging people to give something a trial run rather than making what may seem to be a commitment written in stone.