Community Advisory Committee 
for Special Education

"Full Inclusion":  Things to Think About

(September 2001)

Your student may have a disability which has traditionally been served by a Special Day Class -- for example, Visual Handicap, Hearing Impairment, Orthopedic Disability or Cognitive Limitation.  Increasingly, the trend has been one towards serving the child in her neighborhood school.  If you are contemplating the most suitable location of services for your child, you might wish to consider...

1.  Educational benefits and school climate

Is your child prepared to move at the pace of the classroom program in your neighborhood school?  Is it a competitive, high-performing student body, or a more relaxed setting?  How would your child's motivation and self-esteem be impacted?

2.  Supportive services

Often, additional aide time is provided to support the student in a full inclusion setting.  If the aide is needed not simply as additional support to the classroom teacher, but also to assist the student with educational tasks (such as not-taking) then the aide should be qualified to perform the specific duties needed.  Any required qualifications (for example, "trained in behavior modification," "knowledgeable in algebra," "fluent in signing") should be written in the IEP, as well as the frequency, location, amount and type of services the aide will provide.  Not that a much-needed aide also can set the student apart from his non-disabled peers.  If your student needs extensive aide support in the general classroom, consider whether this is a common situation in your neighborhood school -- and if not, how it will be explained to the other parents and students in a manner most conducive to acceptance and understanding.

3.  Isolation

Does your child have a group of friends in the neighborhood?  If not, can she or he make friends readily?  It can be difficult to be the only disabled student on the campus.  One mom points out that her kindergartener was treated as such a "celebrity" on campus, it was a year before she realized that he was being treated more as a pet than as a person.  As the years progressed, students had no bond of real friendship with her child, who then felt very alone.  As you leave the "safety net" provided by the special class environment, you are likely to feel more isolated from adults who understand the joys and sorrow, fears and frustrations, and general daily challenges that go hand-in-hand with parenting a child with disabilities.  Find or create a support group for yourself.  Volunteer to serve as a Special Education liaison for your school's PTA.  Join the CAC!

4.  Perspective

The general student population of the school perceives the disability as less of an oddity when they have contact with several students with that disability.  A disabled student is "normalized" in another way when he or she has access to others with the same disability.  Will your student have access to both disabled and non-disabled peers?  If you are considering a classroom placement which includes students with markedly different disabilities, the impact on your child isn't automatically bad.  Although some parents feel it is important that their child not identify with others who have different conditions, others have found this to provide a sense of perspective helpful to the child ("I can talk better, but he has an easier time remembering math facts."  "He can't see and I can't walk.").

5.  Differences in services

Consider the credentials of those who will provide direct services, and ask what training the regular ed. teacher will receive to effectively serve your student.  How will your child participate in all the "extras" not taught by the classroom teacher (PE, music, field trips, etc.)?  Interview all prospective teachers to find out what concerns they might want to have addressed, and make sure training for these teachers i put into the IEP too.  Expect to spend more of your time monitoring your child's progress and the implementation of the IEP.  In some areas, you will be more expert about your child's condition and needs than any of the teachers.  Teach your child to advocate for himself.  It might help to role play how to approach the teacher and other students, how to state the problem, and how to suggest a solution.  (Or get self-advocacy skills written in to the IEP!)  Are you prepared to give up transportation?

6.  Available technology

If your student has a disability which requries technology in order to compensate for deficiencies, compare the available technology at the school and at the special site.  Inquire into the training teachers and aides have had in the use of the equipment, and ask about the availability of technical support.

7.  Be flexible

Whichever choice you make, nothing is perfect.  As with so many things, what works at one stage in your child's education may not work at a different age.  The choice you make can be changed if the situation warrants it.

8.  Get information

There are valuable sources of information on full inclusion.  The 2000 edition of Special Education:  Rights and Responsibilities has extensive information in an easy-to-read format.  It is available for $20 from:  Community Alliance for Special Education (CASE), 415-928-2273, and Protection and Advocacy, Inc. (PAI), 510-839-0811.