BS: Inclusion In Schools

Subject: BS: Inclusion In Schools
From: LilyFestre
Date: 26 Jan 05 - 07:56 PM

What are your thoughts about the idea of "inclusion" in the general education classroom? Does inclusion exist in countries other than the United States? Just curious.

If you graduated from high school before 1975 when IDEA was put into effect (Individual Disability Education Act), how were students with special needs educated? Were special needs students allowed to attend schools at all when you went to school?

Michelle

Subject: RE: BS: Inclusion In Schools
From: LilyFestre
Date: 26 Jan 05 - 08:06 PM

Oops..that should be IDEA = Individuals with Disabilities Act.

Sorry about that!

Michelle

Subject: RE: BS: Inclusion In Schools
From: wysiwyg
Date: 26 Jan 05 - 08:08 PM

"Inclusion" is a pretty arcane and unkown term to most people, as it is actually used in special ed. When I worked in the schools (early 90's), it was the latest political football. I think some background is in order.

~Susan

Subject: RE: BS: Inclusion In Schools
From: Teresa
Date: 26 Jan 05 - 08:19 PM

I've been totally blind since birth and I attended public schools since I was four in 1968. It was a mixed bag.

During my initial years in school, I had a blind special education teacher, who used Braille and was a fantastic role model for me. I moved around the U.S. west, though, and my worst year was in Northern Idaho in the seventh grade, when I was lucky to have a special ed. teacher once a month, whether I needed him or not. I also got two textbooks that year and the pages were in backwards in one of them.

I was glad to have a pretty "normal" high school education, even though it was getting to the point where Braille was being considered an "arcane skill". I have strong feelings about Braille literacy, because it was the only form of literacy I had, except for typing, which I learned in the fourth grade.

I sincerely hope that special education teachers are encouraged to learn Braille, but I fear it is dying. I think learning to "read" via audiobooks creates functional illiteracy.

So, let's see if I can distill all of this: I think that inclusion is a great idea but (biiiig but) only with good instruction! Otherwise, for a blind child, maybe a school for the blind, at least in the formative years, might be best. Larger cities seem to be the best areas for inclusion; rural areas can be appalling, IMO.

Teresa

Subject: RE: BS: Inclusion In Schools
From: GUEST
Date: 26 Jan 05 - 08:20 PM

I currently work for an urban high school, and I find the schools downright hostile to disabled students. I live in a major metro, and we haven't even got one single student in a wheel chair. It's absolutely appalling.

What the special ed money goes to mostly are boys with behavioral problems, and a handful of girls with learning disabilities and attention deficit disorder. We simply are NOT educating students with physical disabilities in the public schools. And I live in one of the most educationally progressive states in the union--Minnesota.

Subject: RE: BS: Inclusion In Schools
From: Amos
Date: 26 Jan 05 - 08:36 PM

The situation of special needs is such that ordinary inclusion -- meaning just treating them as ordinary elements in the population of their age group's clas -- is ruinous to their education. This might ot be the case if better methods were used, such as twinned coaching methods, but in the One Teaches, Everyone Else listens model, it does not work.

A

Subject: RE: BS: Inclusion In Schools
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 26 Jan 05 - 08:42 PM

I have no idea how "special needs" kids were educated when I was a kid. I never saw them, never knew them. I'm so out of touch, I'm not even sure what "special needs" means. Does it include physically handicapped, as well as mentally handicapped?

The high school I went to was three stories tall, and of the 3 grade schools I went to, the two older ones were 2 stories. If any of those buildings had an elevator, I wasn't aware of it. It didn't seem to matter because I never saw any kids in wheelchairs. I'm afraid it never occurred to me to wonder how many kids there were who used wheelchairs, and where they went to school, or if they went to school at all. Out of sight, out of mind.

I think I remember hearing that there were special schools for blind kids and for deaf kids, but I knew very little about them. I had the impression that there were very few such schools, they were located far from where I lived, and they were boarding schools—the kids who studied there had to live there. My impression may have been wrong.

I'm sure I thought and knew even less about mental handicaps than physical ones.

I graduated high school in 1965, if you're keeping track.

Subject: RE: BS: Inclusion In Schools
From: Teresa
Date: 26 Jan 05 - 09:01 PM

I'm glad I had the experience of riding the "short bus" (the one that's made fun of so much in films, etc.) :) because I met kids of all sorts that way. The driver would pick kids up from home and take them to various schools that specialized in autism, physical, or visual disabilities, etc.

One bus wasn't even a "short bus". In junior high school, I rode a standard school bus, which was fitted with seat belts, mostly for autistic kids. A woman was hired to make sure everything and everyone was in working order, and I helped some. Sometimes a kid would get a dose of sensory overload, and entirely freak out, and we'd have to hold her down or spray water in her face.   It was very hard for me to witness this, as I knew that for whatever reason, the kid was terrified. I'm not sure that getting fourteen autistic kids together in the same place was a good idea, since they were nonverbal and kind of didn't like to socialize.

But I was always excited to meet new kids, and once, there was a deaf girl. We would always say hi to each other; she'd tap me on the shoulder and I'd nod. Well, one time I got ahold of one of those Braille alphabet cards with the print lettering above each Braille symbol, thinking I'd show her Braille.

She started putting my finger on various letters, and it took me awhile to realize she was spelling things out! We laughed and hugged; that was such a neat revelation.

Gee, I've written a book. Ramble, ramble. :) But I appreciate being able to find this topic in the "mainstream" world. :)

XX :'( :)
Teresa

Subject: RE: BS: Inclusion In Schools
From: Azizi
Date: 26 Jan 05 - 09:04 PM

I do alot of work in Pittsburgh, PA area elementary public schools, Teresa. And now that you mention it, I can't recall ever seeing ANY student in a wheel chair, or a blind student, or a student who was deaf in any assembly program or classroom presentation that I have done over 3 decades...

Of course, Pittsburgh is very fortunate to have a number of outstanding residential schools, and rehabilitation centers for children & youth who have physical disabilities- the school for the blind; school for children with hearing lost, and the school/rehabilitation center for children with physical disabilites that affect mobility. I understand that these schools & centers are highly thought of throughout the world.

I agree that it might be important for children with physical disabilities to begin with their schooling with specialists who are knowledgeable & experienced in the interventions that would be needed to maximize their learning experiences. But at some point, it seems to me, the children would also benefit from being integrated into classes with children who dom't have those particular physical challenges .

PS: Less anyone think that I believe that my city is a heaven on earth for people who have physical disabilities...When my daughter was in the 4th grade or so she was introduced to a American sign language through a school auditorium program. She fell in love with this language, took a number of courses in it in graduate school, and recently was in a performing arts group that signed to gospel music.. She also regularly teaches a small amount of basic ASL to her classes of children with no hearing lost {though 2 yers ago she had a girl who was a selective mute. This student who talked perfectly fine at home refused to talk in school at all, and sometimes used the ASL my daughter taught her to communicate in school..

In one of my daughter's University classes on ASL she met a young woman-lets call her Lydia..Lydia became deaf as a toddler. She's an only child and neither her mother and father have any hearing lost...Lydia first went to The School for the Deaf that i had mentioned earlier. She then switched to a public high school. Lydia reads lips extremely well and also can do ASL though she prefers not too. Lydia also speaks reasonably well-so well in fact that many people including some of her professors at a University here didn't believe that she was deaf until she brought in documentation. And because she did so well "merging in" with the 'regular' student body, she's has had and continues to have a difficult time getting the support services that she needs. Jokingly, she told my daughter that maybe she should 'dumb it down' [her words not mine]in order to get the support services she needs and is entitled to.

My point is that it's not just childern with physical disabilities who face educational challanges, but also youth & university age individuals.

Subject: RE: BS: Inclusion In Schools
From: Amos
Date: 26 Jan 05 - 09:15 PM

Jim:

An amazing description, which looking back I also shared. Where were these guys??I knew a boy who had had polio and had a foot brace, but wheelchairs were for those with broken ankles. Possibly they were much more expensive, then. Or perhaps I just "isn't there"'s them out of existnece in my childish ignorance.

I dunno.

During the large changes of the 60-80's when ramps were being required, city curbs were being re-modeled, and so on, my awareness of special needs went way up.

ANd all this makes me wonder what glaring omissions I am unaware of now, that I should   be noticing??


A

Subject: RE: BS: Inclusion In Schools
From: dianavan
Date: 26 Jan 05 - 10:43 PM

Special educ. has changed alot in the last 10 years. In B.C. there used to be separate classes with highly specialized teachers to meet the specific needs of students. It was an expensive but effective method of delivery. Parents (and some educators) wanted their children to be included in a regular classroom setting. Social inclusion in the early years assures social inclusion later in life. The school system jumped on this idea as a way of saving money.

Teachers liked the idea but wanted assurances that special educ. students would still get the additional support they needed. This never really happened except in a token fashion. Now all students (except the severely behaviourally disordered) are in regular classes.

Physically disabled (usually with CP), autistic and Downes syndrome kids have special education assistants but are 'mainstreamed' into the regular classroom setting. This is unfortunate because most classroom teachers have not been trained to meet the highly, specialized educational needs. The additional workload without added supports just doesn't work. The teachers are frustrated and feel that the regular academic program suffers as a result of the lack of support. Hearing impaired and visually impaired children do receive special programming, however.

It is sad that their are specialty teachers capable of meeting the needs of special needs students but there is no money to hire them. The present program does not meet anyone's needs but of course teachers are supposed to be miracle workers and meet everyone's needs regardless of their training.

I could go on and on and on...

And, oh yes, there were special schools for special students when I was a kid. We never saw anyone that was less fortunate than ourselves. As adults, most of us do not know how to interract with challenged people and actually fear social encounters with those who are perceived to be different than ourselves.

Hopefully, inclusion will change this. Hopefully, schools will be funded to a level which will actually provide for their educational needs. Hopefully, teacher training in the future will include learning how to modify instruction. Hopefully the public will stop bashing teachers and realize that they have their hands full.

Subject: RE: BS: Inclusion In Schools
From: Teresa
Date: 26 Jan 05 - 11:10 PM

I've had truly amazing teachers. I don't know how to put into words how much they've meant to me. I'm not simply talking about the special ed. ones. The classroom teachers that tried the hardest really did give their all, and I could tell they treated me as an equal to the other students; indeed, they treated all students with respect and had a passion for it. This way of teaching has had a profound effect on the way I've taught people Braille and computer literacy. So no way would I blame the teachers; they do the best they can with what they've got, and sometimes can't even do that much.

In elementary school, I went to a special ed. classroom for half the day and then to "regular" class the other half. The time I spent in the special ed. class gradually lessened, but in high school it was an hour a day. I sometimes felt I needed more, because I needed enough time to type out my homework from braille, etc.

I've heard mixed reports about schools for the blind. I know several blind people who were physically and sexually abused in them as kids, and they had a difficult time living away from their parents. I've also noticed through my informal survey that blind people over the age of 50 who went to the better schools (California School for the Blind in berkeley, for one) had great literacy skills and many went on to college.

The institutions have since concentrated on serving children with multiple and/or severe disabilities. Oddly, I am fairly certain that most blind people have other disabilities; very few are otherwise healthy. The blindness is often part of brain injury or congenital brain damage. My blindness is caused by something known as "retinopathy of prematurity", which, of course happens in cases of premature birth. I'm lucky to be healthy as a horse. :)

Teresa

Subject: RE: BS: Inclusion In Schools
From: Azizi
Date: 26 Jan 05 - 11:24 PM

In the 1950s-1960s in Atlantic City, New Jersey the 'special' students were put aside in a couple of class rooms either in the basement or the top floor of the school...

In elementary school I know that my mother refused to let the school system put my twin sister in these classrooms-partly because of the stigma [other kids routinely teased these students as being 'retards'] and also because the teachers were not known for their competency and sensitivity..

Anyway, my sister had alot of difficulty with the 'regular' curriculum, and to make matters worse she stuttered...In hindsight I now know that she probably had some form of learning disability..but outside of school, unless you wouldn't really know it..

Unlike my sister, I did very well in school.Because we were twins, we were in the same classrooms until the 5th grade. At that point-for some reason-my mother insisted that we be split up..

While we were in the same class room {and even afterwards at home doing homework} I covered for my sister..which I now know wasn't best for her or for me either..The first year that we were in separate class rooms, my sister flunked that grade. By the end of my first year of college, she had eked out of school, getting her high school diploma. The only intervention that she got during all her years of school was some speech therapy for her stuttering {a 'habit' that she 'outgrew' when she graduated from school}.

Not terribly long before she died, my sister shared with me that she had always been jealous of me because I did so well in school..I shared with her that I had been jealous of her outgoing personality, and the way she looked better in the same clothes that we as twins were expected to wear..I was always skinny [then]...she was not.

I used to think it would have been better if the ability to do well in school could have been more evenly split between us-But I couldn't change what was.

I believe that my sister would have done so much better in school and-in life-if she had had caring, highly skilled teachers and support people who could have helped her in school, but she didn't and I'm not convinced it is that much better now.

Subject: RE: BS: Inclusion In Schools
From: GUEST,ragdall
Date: 27 Jan 05 - 02:40 AM

I attended school in Vancouver, B.C. in the 1950's and 1960's. In my elementary school there was a special class for students who were mildly mentally challenged. They interacted with other students on the playground, but, I'm not aware that were integrated into any classes.

I did have a classmate, Leroy, in third grade, who was physically disabled with a progressive muscular condition. One of the veteran third graders, who must have been 12 or 13 years old, was assigned to help Leroy in the rest room and to carry him out if there was a fire drill. Another student, one who was known to hit first and ask questions later, was paid by Leroy's family to walk with Leroy as he rode his special tricycle to and from school. The other boy pushed the tricycle up the hills and otherwise helped it along when Leroy didn't have the strength to pedal.

I don't remember seeing any "special needs" students in my high school, other than those who were mildly mentally challenged. They had their own programs and were not part of the mainstream student population.

Today, special needs students may be included in their local school classrooms. Schools are fitted with special rest rooms that have tables on which large children can have diapers changed. You will find children who are blind, deaf, autistic, physically challenged, mentally challenged, or behaviourally challenged, all integrated into regular classrooms.

Each child, whose needs are assessed as requiring it, is assigned an adult who is trained to help meet that child's special needs. The adult stays with that child throughout the school day. Each special needs child spends part of the day away from the classroom, doing activities chosen to address his or her educational needs.

I think that it is beneficial to both (most of) the special needs children and the other children to be able to interact socially.

As dianavan mentioned, the educational and developmental needs of the special needs children may not be being met as well as they could be if they were grouped according to their needs and being taught by people who have specialized training.

Another problem with inclusion is that some children are not able to meet standard classroom expectations for behaviour. They are very noisy and disruptive much of the school day. In my opinion, this prevents other students from learning, raises the general stress level in the classroom, and creates an impossible situation for the classroom teacher.

Subject: RE: BS: Inclusion In Schools
From: Chris Green
Date: 27 Jan 05 - 06:04 PM

I teach guitar, bass and keys in schools for the LEA (Local Education Authority for non-UK catters!) and I have a few students with special needs, ranging from mild dyslexia to pretty far down the autistic spectrum. There seems to be a kind of fallacy amongst teachers and parents that learning to play music is some sort of panacea for SN kids and at times this can be counter-productive. For example, a dyspraxic kid, like it or not, is going to struggle with learning to play the guitar as dyspraxia is primarily a motor problem (from what I understand - and let me state at this point that I'm not a trained professional for kids with learning difficulties!) I have found that it's best to have these kids on their own for, say, 15 minutes a week, as opposed to a half hour lesson shared with a couple of mainstream students. They don't learn any faster as a result, but at least they don't have to compare themselves with other kids who are able to apply what you're asking them to do more quickly.

However, on a brighter note, my star student of last year was the most phenomenal bass player I've ever had the good fortune to teach. He was dyslexic to the nth degree, had been written off as a waste of space by the school and failed every exam he'd ever sat, but managed, after a year of pestering, to get lessons on the bass guitar through the school (from yours truly). Three years later, he did an audition for Birmingham Conservatoire and got in at the age of 16 (18 being the normal age for entry) for their Music Performance degree course. I suppose the point is that although kids like him have difficulties, they ARE individuals and each one has different talents which need to be picked up whatever school they go to.

Having just read that back I realise it sounds as though I'm blowing my own trumpet (haha - musical pun!) but I'm not. The word "education" comes from the Latin "educare" - to draw out -and all I did was realise that this kid was a natural musician and point him the right direction.

Anyway

Here endeth the first lesson!

Subject: RE: BS: Inclusion In Schools
From: Grab
Date: 27 Jan 05 - 07:32 PM

Our school was built in 1908, so stairs everywhere. We had one kid with mild cerebral palsy in the school, but otherwise not, because there was no way for them to get to lessons. No-one really asked about dyslexia or whatever, but then this was a fee-paying school so the entry exam would presumably have hindered them getting in. (Lest people think I'm a rich preppy: until the local comprehensive got a new head about 3 years after I started at secondary school, the local private schools were the only real option for a decent education; primary school was hell for me, and all the bullies were going to the comprehensive; and I probably wouldn't have been able to go if I hadn't got a bursary that paid a quarter of the fees.) I finished school in 1992, but I suspect it's still pretty much the same today.

My attitude to inclusion is pretty selfish - anyone should be able to learn together so long as they don't hinder other people in their learning. So I don't understand why people with autism or behavioural difficulties should be landed in regular schools if they'll prevent the other kids learning as well. It can't exactly be a great boost to self-esteem either if you're always getting low marks in everything and not following what's going on. But equally I see no reason why kids with physical disabilities should be kept out, or kids with other disabilities (eg. dyslexia) which don't necessarily impede learning.

Graham.

Subject: RE: BS: Inclusion In Schools
From: Peace
Date: 27 Jan 05 - 09:07 PM

Each to his/her needs. The biggest problem with special needs education is the underfunding that goes into special needs. In Alberta, a fully-funded child receives $13,200 above the basic grant which is about $4600 (those figures may be off by a few hundred). And aide for a child who requires one fulltime will cost the school approximately $20,000 in salary and benefits. Just do the math. Also, it is a fight every year to get the kids coded and subsequently funded. That is just for the aide mind you. The aide should by law be under the direction of a certified teacher. Add a few thousand cost for that teacher. Now, add in the cost of materials the child will require. Most schools do a combo of inclusion/one-on-one and pull out. But it all costs money. The Government here has abandoned these kids. It is horrible. When budgets get cut, these kids take it more in the teeth than regular students. There ought to be a law--well, there is, and the law is enforced on paper. Practice? No comment.

Subject: RE: BS: Inclusion In Schools
From: mack/misophist
Date: 27 Jan 05 - 10:22 PM

When I was in junior high school in the late 50's, there was a phocomelus* in my school. As best I can remember, he got along well enough. We thought the tricks he used to overcome his disability were pretty cool. I, for one, was sorry when he was transferred to a 'special' school, somewhere.


*He had one finger on each arm. No thumbs.

Subject: RE: BS: Inclusion In Schools
From: goodbar
Date: 27 Jan 05 - 11:06 PM

my elementary school used their special needs program to get more money from the district and use it for other things.

Subject: RE: BS: Inclusion In Schools
From: LadyJean
Date: 28 Jan 05 - 01:00 AM

My mother thought I ought to be a special education teacher. So, my senior project in high school was volunteering in the special education class in John Minadeo School. This was in the early 70s. The classroom had, I think started out as a storeroom. It had no ventilation. Children of various ages, with, an assortment of disabilities, none of them physical, were stored there. The teacher was wonderful. She was creative, gifted, she believed in the kids. Unfortunately she was almost never there. There were two student teachers, an elderly woman who was writing a thesis on Montessori methods though not using them, and a young woman, who should have been guided into another career. She was not good with the children.
Students with physical disabilities went to what was then called The Home For Crippled Children, on Shady Avenue. It kept that name well into the 80s. Blind students went to the Western Pennsylvania School for the Blind in Oakland, though I believe the high school students went to a public high school for most of the day.
Shortly before the end of the year, the young student teacher decided to humiliate one of the boys in the class. Several of the older teachers, who should have known better cheered her on.
She was never reprimanded, and I decided I was NOT going to be a teacher. I had a lot of classmates in college, including my ex roommate Michelle the acid freak, who were going to be special ed teachers because that was where the jobs were. They called the kids they worked with retards, and spazzies. I can't say I had much respect for them. (Michelle, I'm pleased to say, flunked out and didn't become a teacher.)