Inclusion

[Chrysanthemum]

What are your thoughts on inclusion in pre-K to grade 12 education?

Should students who are able to access grade level material with or without additional support with autism, PDD-NOS, social communication disorder, communication or language or speech disabilities, ADD/ADHD, specific learning disabilities, health conditions, physical disabilities, students who are deaf or hard of hearing, students who are blind or who have low vision, and students with mild to moderate intellectual disabilities (with or without an additional diagnosis) spend all of their school week in a general education classroom, spend a minority or majority (or none) of their school day in a resource room or special education classroom, be included in mainstream PE, art, music or other similar lessons, or be educated entirely in a special education classroom within a mainstream school or a special school? Why? Does it depend on the particular student, their skills, and the degree of their disability?

For students with health conditions and other students requiring accommodations or modifications (other than students who are blind or have low vision or are deaf/hard of hearing), if they spend a portion of their school week in a resource room or special education class, should they be educated with students with other disabilities or with the same or similar disabilities that they have? Does it depend on the student and/or what their disability and degree of it is?

 

[Varzar]

School should be divided up by skill level of the student, regardless of if they have a disability or not..
Some private schools already do this.
I don't particularly think a condition someone has should impact this at all, it should be entirely based on the individual's learning rate..
Some kids with no conditions whatsoever learn slower than average, some learn faster.
Some kids with conditions will learn slower/faster than average too.

Obviously though, if it's a disability like blindness/deafness, the class is going to have to work with that disability.. Can't have a blind person with a teacher that writes everything on a whiteboard or uses a computer projector to instruct with..

 

[Chrysanthemum]

School should be divided up by skill level of the student, regardless of if they have a disability or not..
Some private schools already do this.
I don't particularly think a condition someone has should impact this at all, it should be entirely based on the individual's learning rate..
Some kids with no conditions whatsoever learn slower than average, some learn faster.
Some kids with conditions will learn slower/faster than average too.

Obviously though, if it's a disability like blindness/deafness, the class is going to have to work with that disability.. Can't have a blind person with a teacher that writes everything on a whiteboard or uses a computer projector to instruct with..

Thanks for your comment.

What do you mean by "school should be divided up by skill level of the student"? Do you mean ability or skill level sets for certain subjects? If you're for ability or skill level sets at what grade do you think they should begin?

So are you for full inclusion in the majority of situations (because that's the sense i got from your post)?

What about disabilities that may not necessarily impact how well a child is able to learn but still affects a child's academic, social or behavioural functioning in the classroom, or their ability to access class material and assignments in the regular classroom? Or conditions such as autism that may possibly affect areas not related of academic ability more than areas related to academics (e.g. do you think that children with autism may benefit from social skills lessons within a mainstream school or not?)?

 

[Varzar]

Thanks for your comment.

What do you mean by "school should be divided up by skill level of the student"? Do you mean ability or skill level sets for certain subjects? If you're for ability or skill level sets at what grade do you think they should begin?

So are you for full inclusion in the majority of situations (because that's the sense i got from your post)?

What about disabilities that may not necessarily impact how well a child is able to learn but still affects a child's academic, social or behavioural functioning in the classroom, or their ability to access class material and assignments in the regular classroom? Or conditions such as autism that may possibly affect areas not related of academic ability more than areas related to academics (e.g. do you think that children with autism may benefit from social skills lessons within a mainstream school or not?)?

Yes, I mean divided by ability or skill level sets for certain subjects.. At what grade? Probably as soon as the teacher can start recognizing the level that a student is at in particular subjects. If you've got a Grade 3 kid that is somehow showing extraordinary math skills, the teacher should push them to maybe take some math with the Grade 4 or 5 kids, even if the rest of the time the kids spends in his own Grade 3 group. Likewise, if you have a Grade 5 kid who is falling behind in Math, they should be able to progress on whatever other subject, but maybe continue at the Grade 5 level Math until they've got it mastered.

I'm for full inclusion wherever it is practical to do so. Like I say, if you've got a student that is blind or deaf, or both.. That might make the regular classroom learning not a practical place for that student to be.

As for non-academic issues (social, behavioural), or things like Autism.. I would still think the normal full inclusion route would be the way to go.. That's how I went through school. It was hell, yes.. But I don't think it would've been helpful to be put in a "special needs" class and completely segregated. I would never have learned to get along with NTs that way I don't think.. On the academic side, I was usually bored because it was too easy.. On the social side, I was totally inept.. So, in my case, it might have made sense (if it was known I was AS), for them to maybe have me do some special education classes starting early for things like Math, Science and Computers to give me more challenge and perhaps create a bridge to push me into the next Grade early (that did actually happen eventually for computers, I went from Computers 10 straight to 12, but I probably could've done 12 years earlier). Probably things like Language, Social Studies (non-sciences), I could have stayed at my normal Grade level, as they were not a special interest to me and so my learning rate in those was more normal. And, sure, it might have also helped to have a class specifically designed to teach the social skills I was sorely lacking. That might've made the whole experience a lot less hellish..

Overall though, schools need to clamp down hard on bullying. Way too much, parents and teachers turn a blind eye, or in the worst cases, even participate.. What people are doing now with regard to that seems mostly like lip service.. It's still happening everywhere..