Inclusion: Don’t Let Appearances Deceive You

1. Inclusion:Don’t Let Appearances Deceive You Jennifer DeLellis Jill Hendrick Michelle Maltese Michelle Durkin

2. Inclusion • Is not always formally implemented • Schools do not always provide professional training in collaboration for staff • Is NOT the best for all students • Can potentially lower the overall standard of learning in the classroom • Can damage a special education student’s self-esteem

3. Parents of Special Education Children • Often do not support inclusion settings • They prefer their child’s current setting in a self-contained or resource room. • Their children are comfortable and secure in that environment. • They are afraid their child will lose their additional services if they are moved to an inclusion classroom.

4. Parents of Special Education Children (continued) • Fear that their child will be carelessly placed into an inclusion classroom without proper supports. • Fear that their child’s disability is too severe to allow placement in an inclusion classroom. • Fear that their child may not be on grade level for their age and will struggle with the material, even with support.

5. Classroom Management • Teachers time may be more occupied with special education children’s behavior ~learning time is taken away from other children • Some teachers may not be trained properly to teach special ed • Teachers have to spend more time developing lesson plans to meet all children's needs

6. Special education professionals and parents alike are concerned that regular education teachers have neither the time, nor the expertise to meet their children's needs. "The learning disabilities field seems to recognize that being treated as an individual can usually be found more easily outside the regular classroom.” Some parents of students with more severe disabilities are concerned about the opportunities their children will have to develop basic life skills in a regular classroom setting. Basic Life Skills

7. Being placed in an inclusion setting can have a negative effect on a student’s self-esteem.  If there is only one student with a disability in an inclusive classroom, their disability may make them stand out more, therefore, making them an easy target for teasing.  In a study conducted by Heiman and Margalit (1998), students with mild mental retardation reported higher levels of depression and loneliness.  The students with disabilities were being isolated by their non-disabled peers. Vaughn, Elbaum, Schumm (1996) conducted a study where they found students with disabilities were less liked by the students with higher academic achievement.  Students with disabilities and language impairments were not as socially accepted as those with higher academic achievement in the inclusion classroom. In a third study, Plata, Trusty, and Glasgow (1998) found that general education students would distance themselves from those who are unskilled and underachieving in order to keep the integrity of their social group.  Students without disabilities would allow students with disabilities to participate in activities that carried no performance risk or required cognitive ability. Self-Esteem

8. Some schools have two floors, with no elevator in the building.  If a student in a wheelchair is enrolled in that school, they would not be able to visit certain rooms because they could not get up the stairs.  Many inclusion classrooms cannot accommodate students with motorized chairs or wheelchairs.  If there are 25 children in a room, there may not be enough aisle space for a wheelchair to move freely.  In many middle schools, the lab benches are attached to the tables, making it difficult for students in a wheelchair to maneuver around.  Their wheelchair may not fit and the student could not use the lab table to perform the experiments.  For students with smaller stature, chairs and desks may be too tall or too large.  They also may not be able to reach the materials that the other children would be able to reach. Accommodations

9. Policies in some states allow school districts to pay for some of the expenses, while other states prohibit this practice, and this portion is paid by the parents or through other agencies. One might question whether parents should be required to pay this extra cost for their child's education, given that the federal law ensures a free appropriate public education (FAPE) for children with disabilities and the community-based option is the school system's version of FAPE. Districts may embark on inclusive policies expecting to reduce the costs of operating parallel systems, but inclusive approaches may bring added costs. Additional costs of inclusion may occur in hiring more teachers, paying tuition of children with disabilities in private child care programs, providing continuing staff development opportunities, transportation, and in conducting more individual planning and problem solving. It has recently become common practice, for example, for children with disabilities to be enrolled in federal disability programs to reduce fiscal pressures on states. Inclusion contradicts this trend by bringing individuals, programs, and budgets together, by emphasizing collaboration, and by blurring boundaries of agencies and jurisdictions. This is one reason why the costs of inclusion are so difficult to quantify. Do Inclusive Special Education Programs Save or Cost Money?

10. Conclusion • Inclusion is not the best choice for special education students • It does not have the support of parents • It does not provide adequate professional support for staff members • It can negatively affect a special education student’s self esteem • It makes managing the classroom environment difficult • It utilizes inappropriate curriculum and materials • It is used by schools as a cost saving measure, as opposed to sending students out of district, or having to hire additional staff for the school • School facilities are inadequate to accommodate children with severe disabilities, requiring machines or wheelchairs

11. …AND REMEMBER!…

12. References • Heiman, T. & Margalit, M. (1998). Loneliness, depression, and social skills among students with mild mental retardation in different educational settings. The Journal of Special Education, 32(3), 154-163. • Plata, M., Trusty, J., & Glasgow, D. (1998). Adolescents with learning disabilities: Are they allowed to participate in activities? The Journal of Educational Research, 98(3), 136-143. • Vaughn, S., Elbaum, B. E., & Schumm, J. S.  (1996). The effects of inclusion on the social functioning of students with learning disabilities. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 29(6), 598-608. • http://www.newhorizons.org/spneeds/inclusion/portraits_of_inclusion/ poi_4th.htm • http://www.sedl.org/change/issues/issues43.html