Integration of Special Needs Children to General Population

My children's school integrates both high and low functioning special needs kids. I think it is AWESOME! I feel so lucky that my children have the opportunity to learn compassion and patience for those who are different than them. I Sub for the lunch aides sometimes, and it makes my heart smile to see the kids patiently assisting the kids who need it. The special needs children DO have aides who are with them the whole day (2-3 kids per aide, depending on how highly functioning they are), but the students really do feel good about helping those less fortunate than themselves, and I think it is great they have that opportunity.

i'm of two minds. when my older son was in middle school he helped a boy who used a wheelchair to get around and it was a neat experience. he didn't miss out on much by doing it, a few minutes here and there in a day mostly composed of standing in line and busywork is not a big deal.
but there was a pretty severely autistic girl in another class of his who was more problematic. things that most kids don't worry about REALLY got to her. if her pencil wasn't sharp enough (or it broke), she would shriek! the teacher had to spend inordinate amounts of time with her, even though she had an aide. i did have a problem with that.
khairete
S.

Wow... there is SO MUCH I could say about this, but I will try to stay off my soap box. I understand that no parent wants to feel that their child's academic experience will be compromised by another student. But, this is not a situation of their educational experience being impeded, rather it is being enriched.
Special needs kids have much to teach "typically developing" kids. They have a unique insight that many of us lack. They see many things in black and white and right and wrong. A skill many other students don't have. They help you learn new strategies for problem solving because every part of their day requires making things work for them that usually don't work. They can teach you tenacity by trying over, and over to hold a pencil and write their name with hand that doesn't bend the way they wish it would. They teach attentiveness that many of us lack by zooming in on the feelings of child in the back of the room who has been sad all day, but no one else noticed. They teach compassion and unconditional caring because these are two atributes with which they treat others, and want to be treated themselves.
Chances are, any child in any classroom will have their academic experience more disrupted by a child who has been brought up with no boundaries and feels they are above the rules. They will lose time waiting on a child to explain why they didn't get their homework done because Daddy was out late last night or Mama was too busy with Uncle so-and-so to help with the math problem they didn't understand. They will miss time because kids wont stop talking about the new video game they got yesterday just because they cleaned their room. They will miss time while the teacher reprimands someone for teasing someone else becuase their clothes are old, or they smell funny because no one ever tells them to take a bath.
There are so many factors in the day of our students that can affect thier academic outcome in a positive or negative way. In my personal opinion there are very few more valuable lessons one can learn than those which can be taught by a child who has to work twice as hard to learn half as much, or who fights their urge to misbehave because they want to learn so very much.
To me, it is inclusion...and no child deserves exclusion.

I was a teacher in a full inclusion school. I taught middle school mathematics. In this school all of the kids were in regular classes. The students who could not communicate or were "lower functioning" were not in classes full time, but there did spend time in regular classes.

It's something that needs to be done on an individual basis. Sometimes it is the best thing for a classroom. It's a rewarding experience for everyone involved. It can be down right amazing. This is when it works. There are times it does not work. I had a child, who I adored, put in my regular math class and he had an aide with him. It was very disruptive. He could not communicate his needs. He tore down bulletin boards. He screamed and threw things. He was in no way capable of grasping the subject I taught. It was frustrating for everyone involved. The following year they put this same child into my enrichment class (the class set up for kids who needed extra help in math). This class was much smaller. The pace was relaxed and we used a lot of math manipulatives (many that he could play with). This child was brought in after class started and he was returned to his classroom when he got disruptive. This time it worked. I think the kids got a lot out of his visits. They were concerned on days he didn't show. It taught them compassion and appreciation for what they were capable of. We did lose five minutes here or there, but I think we gained so much more in the scheme of things.

I should mention that our school was also set up with a special education teacher that shadowed the kids to certain classes. Obviously, he couldn't be there for each student in every class. But he was there often. This helped immensely.

I think something many people don't realize or consider is that "special needs" can cover a range of issues. Often times, kids are labeled and until you are told, you would have no idea there was an issue. And often times a special education student can look at a problem and solve it correctly, using a method a teacher hasn't explained.

Yes, there are occasions where inclusion does not work. And yes there are days where class time can be lost. And yes not all learning in a classroom comes from books. As long as "regular" students are continually being singled out and as long as the curriculum is being taught and the special needs student is comfortable and feels safe...it can be a great experience for everyone involved. Everyone wants what is best for their kid. It's a competitive world. People get tunnel vision when it comes to their children. It can be hard to see the whole picture. Comments can be hurtful, try to see past them.

My son has an autistic classmate this year (2nd grade) and I feel he has gotten a LOT out of the experience. All positive.
He really likes this child, praises his abilities, appreciates his sense of humor, and says O. of the awesome things about their teacher is that he treats this particular kid just like everyone else (the child does have an aide all day).
This situation has resulted in understanding, tolerance, respect for differences and so much more.
The aide told me that all of the kids are so kind and accepting!
I'm all about INCLUSION if it's possible...glad your daughter is diving in.

Children learn from one another and the world is full of "quirky" people! I am a special education administrator and this kind of thinking makes me so sad b/c it is close-minded and incredibly out-dated.

Students who are profoundly impaired, whether it be cognitively, behaviorally or emotionally require highly structured and supervised programs, many of which are located in typical school buildings, some of which are not. These are the ONLY students who actually benefit from self-contained instruction away from their peers and ONLY until they have learned the skills to participate in a typical school setting. This is a very small percentage of the population and I can tell you that we are always looking for opportunities to bring these kiddos "back to district" b/c we know that children learn more when they are around other children!

All kids should to have age-appropriate peers and to have access to age-appropriate curriculum with appropriate supports and services.

My son will be in 3rd grade next year and he is also high functioning on the autism spectrum. Since kindergarten, he has always been fully integrated into a general ed classroom and he has been holding his own. No, that's not right . . . actually, he's been flourishing.

His grades are average to above average, depending on the subject matter. There is an aide that does come into class to help him with attentional issues and working on IEP goals but that's only a fraction of the day and he is able to self-regulate on his own or his teachers are able to redirect him when necessary. Currently he's in the classroom 99% of the time with 15 minutes of pull out for speech per week. Everything seems to be going fine.

He has developed some friendships with the neuro-typical friends in his class. They all think that he's really cool because he knows everything that there is to know about animals and they are very kind and caring about him. He in turn, has started copying his friends -- the way they speak (using expressions like, "wow!" or "cool!" appropriately), the games they play (pokemon), and all those finer mannerisms and quirks that we just can't teach him in ABA.

Now, we do have an in-home ABA tutoring program that we do with him after school and on weekends to help give him the skills that help him be able to be in a general ed classroom with minimal supervision and drama. We work on things like handwriting, answering and asking questions, conversation skills, staying focused and doing his work during group discussion time or while the teacher is using the overhead. With the way things have been going, it does look like he will be graduating from ABA within the next year or so.

When he was in kindergarten and 1st grade, one of the requirements of his IEP was that he had to be sit near the the source of instruction (the teacher) and next to a role model peer -- not any one particular peer but one that the teacher decided may have found appropriate that particular week. My son probably did get escorted to the bathroom but, given the age group, so did a lot of his other classmates. In fact, I don't think that it is deemed appropriate to allow a kindergartener or 1st grader to go to the bathroom on their own at that age. But now that my son is in 2nd grade, he can be trusted to go to the bathroom on his own and return to classroom when he is finished with his business. He knows the rules just like the other kids in his class.

This works for my son but my son also has a lot of strong skills in his pocket and we have done a lot of work to make it possible for him to be fully integrated. Not all kids are ready to be placed into a general ed environment and, because of sensory issues or the need for more 1:1 teaching, this may not be the most appropriate educational environment for him/her. It just depends on the child. But the IDEA laws state that a child is to be educated in the most appropriate, least restrictive environment possible and this is what we all should be working for and supportive of.

Hope this helps.

It depends on a lot of things.
Where my son goes to school, some high functioning special ed kids are mainstreamed and they do well - but they do not need babysitting by other students.
It's hard enough when there are > 20 kids in a classroom for everyone to get the attention they need and if there's someone who needs more - the others suffer for it.
It's not a child's job to keep track of what the other kid's up to.
If the child needs that kind of watching, the special ed room is where they need to be.
When my Mom taught school they were just starting to mainstream, and not being too experienced with it - they tried EVERYBODY.
Like 18 yr olds who were at a 6th grade level in with the regular 6th graders.
One day, another kid during homeroom flashed the lights of the room off and on, and this 18 yr old totally loses it.
He grabs the other child by the throat and starts strangling him while telling him "You shouldn't do that!".
The kid's turning blue and it took 3 adults to pull the 18 yr old off him.
There's no question the other kid shouldn't have played with the lights, but kids do dumb things sometimes - it's no reason to be assaulted/strangled.
What the school learned is - some of these mentally challenged people get way too strong to deal with in a normal setting and they can't be in with the other kids.
When they age out, they need to go somewhere else with the facilities to handle their needs and to keep them from harming themselves or others.

I would have no problem whatsoever with my child helping a classmate in this way.

Our children have to learn that not all kids are like them and that differences are something to be accepted and that all children are worthy of being loved and getting attention and support, whether they are different or not.

You are 100% right--the 5 minutes away from academics is no loss to the academics, and may in fact end up in a lifelong positive, when the helper child can see in action that "different kids" are just kids and that they are to be accepted. I think the school is handling this scenario very well.

I have no problems with I integration of special needs children in our school. I'm not in the school as much as I'd like to be so I'm not sure how much they are integrated here, but I has to comment on the bathroom thing. At our school all the kids have to use the buddy system when going to the bathroom. What child wouldn't jump at the opportunity to play around in the bathroom?

I agree with the posters that say there are two sides...on one hand I would love my child to be exposed to all walks of life and learn compassion...BUT as long as its monitored and it depends on the child with special needs...and their age...if for instance a boy with 12 in the class with 7 year olds b/c he was there academically I do think it could cause problems, and may be unsafe when hormones come into the pic, or if one child was relied on too mch for helping a certain kid that would be an issue too. There was a play place near M. that their goal is to unsegregate special needs kids and have all the kids interact...BUT M. and my friends had horrible experiences with this (all sep experiences so not biased)...the parents were not watching the one daughter with a certain disorder and she put her hands around my daughters neck and tried to choke her 2 times and I had to unlatch her before we left...it wasn't her fault she had certain disabilities but try to explain that to a 2 year old that was choked...so I think i depends on the severity...if the child iss older or needs to be watched closer than I think that should be taken into account, if the child J. has some issues and is arnd the same age then I think its great....although how is that child supposed to stop the kid from playing in the bathroom? Thats a lot of pressure...what if hes agressive that day?

Before I give my opinion on integration, I'd like to say, our district participates in a national program called Best Buddies (google it) from k-12. It 'trains' children who volunteer to 'help' with the spec needs kids who are integrated into the district. It's fantastic. My daughter, now 14, in 8th grade, has been volunteering for years. Each year she is 'assigned' a fellow student, in her grade, to befriend them, the special needs student can shadow her throughout her day. She can get involved in the other kid's life outside school as well. The kids who volunteer have a wide variety of commitment levels to choose from. It's just the most awesome program.

Anyway, with regards to integration, I DO believe it can work and REALLY benefit regular kids and spec needs kids as well. It depends entirely on how it's administrated.

I work for many years in a private spec needs pre-school. We had 10 classrooms, 7 of which were integrated. 3 were 8-1-3, 8 kids, 1 spec ed teacher, 3 aides.

I had the chance to work in every classroom. In my opinion, the classrooms with 50/50 spec needs-non spec needs did not WORK. NOBODY seemed to get what they need.

However the classrooms with a small percentage of spec needs kids worked extremely well. Say 2 or 3 spec needs with 12 or 15 non spec needs. But this also depends on WHAT spec needs, who well the teacher and aides handle it, and the attitudes of parents. But mostly, the spec needs kids DID get what they need, and the NON spec needs kids learned tolerance understanding, while getting what THEY need as well.

So I really LIKE how YOUR district plans to SLOWLY integrate your daughter into general classrooms. I think that's a GREAT idea. Though I understand why many district would be restricted by cash, room, spec ed teachers/aides and couldn't implement that kind of program. Money is VERY tight everywhere. I'd LOVE to know how it turns out for your daughter, and as a parent what your impressions are at the end of next year.

As far as your sister is concerned, well I've met a lot of parents like her. I might've even BEEN one of those parents prior to having spec ed experience myself since none of my kids have spec needs.

I'm pleased with your districts (and yours) choices for your daughter. I hope you'll keep us updated!

:)

I work in an all inclusion school. I have autistic children in my class. My observations are that there are some normally developing children that are naturally nurturing to the special needs children in a way that they can help them with daily tasks and play with them. Oh, I guess that would be called a friendship, wouldn't it?

Even normally developing children will pair off and then perhaps break it off at some point. I am all for inclusion. We are getting all types of kids ready to interact in the adult world one day, they need early experiences with each other.

I loved CHRISTI's post too:)

I think that in theory it sounds wonderful; in practice it really only works well (fully integrated, not just an hour or two) in the K-3 grades AND the entire administration must be on board. If the principal doesn't think its a great idea, then the burden of making it go well will be on the teacher. If the teacher doesn't think its a great idea, then the burden will be on the teacher's aide and so on. If it is the parent who is the only one pushing for it, citing IDEA laws and such then the IEP will be contentious and full of advocates, lawyers, etc. I am a teacher and this has been my experience. As always, YMMV, but kindergarten should be no problem. In fact, some kindergartens are already set up that way with kids from the special needs schools or divisions already scheduled to attend half-day or full day.

The only problem I have with it is when the special needs child responds especially well to one child and that child automatically becomes the person that the school assigns in the same classroom every year and the teacher completely depends on this child to help the special needs child. It is way too much responsibility for a young child and it hampers their ability to make other friends because they are expected to be with the special needs child. It is not the job of a child it should be the teacher and aides who do this. This happens a lot in our school actually. My friends child was in a situation like this and the autistic boy who she was paired with became increasingly more aggressive to her to the point where she was very afraid and it still took a lot for the school to finally intervene. They preferred to look the other way because it was less work for the teacher.

Otherwise I think its great. My son has learned so much by being in a special recess once a week with a downs boy in his class.

My granddaughter was phased into regular ed and went through HS with only a little help in a resource room. She did fine and everyone who "had to help her" benefitted from it! What kind of world are we living in that children can't help one another or a mom would think this was a huge, unfair burden! Give me a break!

My middle daughter is special needs and is on the Autism spectrum. Due to her Sensory Processing Disorder aspect of her Autism, she would easily spend an hour in the bathroom playing with the soap and water. However another child would never ever be responsible for her keeping time and coming back to the classroom. It should have been a para or teaching assistant. Not because of supposed "lost learning time" but because it's too much of a responsibility for another student (although I admit I'm assuming that they're of elementary school age).

G's classroom has a dedicated Paraprofessional because in addition to G there are 2 other special needs children integrated into the classroom. Since my daughter is a "flight risk" the para would accompany her wherever she needed to go if she had to go someplace without the class as a whole. That's just how it is.

These days special needs children ought to be integrated and mainstreamed. It's absolutely necessary. That's not at all to say that they shouldn't be pulled for special classes or one-on-one therapies and services as outlined in their IEP (Individualized Education Plan). Separation and isolation from all of the typical students is simply not appropriate. There are many ways that special needs students are just like typical students... they're just as intelligent, they just need help in certain areas. Sometimes it's behavioral, sometimes it's occupational therapy, sometimes it's physical therapy, sometimes it's tutorial, and various other concerns.

But yeah, your sister needs to learn a little compassion and empathy. And consider herself very lucky that she's not the one being so harshly and unfairly judged. This is not an "us against them" situation.

I agree that kids can learn from special needs children. However, it does need to be balanced that one child's needs don't trump the rest of the class'. I have heard of too many instances of a special needs child being very disruptive and/or other children being distracted by the aide talking to the child while the teacher is lecturing. And I mean distracted in a bad way - not able to listen to the teacher bc two conversations are going on. So I think the parents of special needs children also need to be sensitive and fair.