Does inclusion really work? What are the pros and cons of spec. ed. self contained classes?

Question

Does inclusion really work? What are the pros and cons of spec. ed. self contained classes?

Answer 1

As a parent I think inclusion works well for children who are physically disabled but developmentally normal.  They can do the work, they are going to be in mixed environments in the workforce and they are emotionally and intellectually capable of joining their peers in activities.

But for the developmentally disabled it doesn't work that way.  My son is Autistic and he is in a regular ed classroom most of the day.  He disrupts the class, he is tormented by some of his peers and he is falling behind the other kids.  Even though his IQ is 99 which is normal, he doesn't pay any attention to his teacher, he just rocks and sucks his thumb all day.  But he is taken out of the classroom twice a day for one on one teaching and that is where he blossoms and is able to do the work.

If I had my choice I would love for my son to be in a class with a teacher who is trained to work with developmentally disabled kids.  I would love for him to be away from the kids who pic on him, and to meet other kids who are working towards over coming their disabilities.

Answer 2

My child was in an inclusive classroom with a one to 2 aide. She did very well but I've seen children with behavior problems that shouldn't be in an inclusive classroom. It really is and individual decesion for each parent/child. I worked closely with my child and her teachers. She had a seizure disorder and was on many meds that affected her memory, reading, math skills. One teacher was useless and told me that she wasn't paying attention. When I went in early to chaperone a party, I saw that what the teach was calling 'inattention' was when she was having a seizure. So I would have your child evaluated and use inclusion as much as possible with a resource room for reinforcement ot the skills learned in the classroom.

Answer 3

I am a huge advocate for full inclusion for many reasons.  I have seen even severely disabled children (ie Cerebral Palsy, no functional communication, in a wheelchair, cognitive ability of a 1 year old) in a regular classroom.  The student had a one-to-one aide.  It was successful for all involved.  The teacher learned as much as all the students did and it was very rewarding.  However, there was buy-in from all parties.  I have seen other instances where the teacher was not on board from the get-go and inclusion was a failure.  The next year, that same child had a more open teacher and had a fantastic year.  The teacher is the most important piece of a successful full-inclusion program.

In most cases, I am staunchly against self-contained classrooms.  Unless the ratio is 2:1 or better, it is nearly impossible for the teachers to have the resources, time and energy to implement all those different IEP's.  Also, these kids don't grow up and have self-contained grocery stores, a self-contained bank and a self-contained McDonalds.  Everyone uses the same facility.  If we teach our children early on to be accepting of each others differing abilities and that each of us has strengths and weaknesses, we will have stronger communities.

One of the more interesting programs I read about was in a school district here in California.  They implemented a program called Neverstreaming.  EVERY child was fully-included and then pulled out as needed for things like resource, speech, etc.   The program was very successful.  The federal law called IDEA is very clear:  before a child is pulled out for any time at all or put in a different placement other than a general education classroom, ALL services and supports must be exhausted....this included one-to-one aides.  This is rarely done.  Usually what I see happening is that if a child struggles too much in general ed and/or is a low-scorer on standardized testing, the child is put in a self-contained classroom before all services and supports are tried in the general ed setting.  When asked "off the record" why this is, administrators tell me it is all about money.  School districts are insanely underfunded, but that is a whole other discussion......

Answer 4

I respect what others have responded to you and agree whole heartedly that inclusion is here to stay.  One con however, is understaffing in classrooms where more significantly delayed children attend and lack of support from special needs teachers.

In regards to does it work....research shows that children with more significant disabilities, communication disorders, and mental retardation tend to benefit more from inclusive environments than children with learning disabilities.  Unfortunately, the children we put into inclusive environments are mostly the children with learning disabilities.

Answer 5

Good inclusion works very well. Bad inclusion (dumping a child in a room where the teacher is not prepared or trained) works very poorly.  Of course you could say this about any teaching philosophy.  But a lot depends on the child's needs, abilities, stages.  My son was in a good inclusion program in elementary and most of middle school.  But in high school, with moderately severe autism, a separate program (in a regular HS) is best.  And even in elementary, there were times when what he needed was one-on-one, outside of the regular ed class.

I'd take good self contained over poor inclusion any day.  If the teacher has good training, good support, and the social needs of the child are considered, it can work well. But even most self-contained classes have a regular ed inclusion component.  This can vary from child to child