( Least Restrictive Environment). The study was headed up by UVM professor, Michael Giangreco (see his work at http://vtcite.info/~mgiangre/). The dialog between our special education coordinator, our school principal, and speech language pathologist brought up many questions for me both as a teacher and as a parent about what inclusion means. Do I think all students should be working towards grade level expectations? Or should some students work on life skills? Is the LRE always the general education classroom? How do we fit therapies into a student's day (especially when it often means that students are coming out of their classrooms)? Should all students with disabilities be learning alongside their non-disabled peers most of the time?
Micheal Ginagreco recommended the documentary, Including Samuel. If you haven't seen it, find it and watch it. It is powerful and thought provoking.
Here is the trailer:
http://www.includingsamuel.com/media/Video/ExtendedTrailer.aspx
After watching the film, Eric and I started to talk more about how we wanted Nate to be included. We realized that it was much easier to talk about what we wanted for Nate, rather than focus on the model.
We want Nate to feel included and part of a meaningful learning community. We want Nate to have friends. We want Nate's friends to know and appreciate who he is. We want Nate to develop his reading, writing, and math skills. We want Nate to have the opportunity to participate in the general education curriculum whenever he can (and it seems appropriate). We want Nate to have times in his day where he doesn't have a 1:1 stuck to him. We want teachers to see his strengths and build on them. We want a strong collaborative team that is able to be reflective and think creatively about how to help Nate have a successful school experience. We want Nate to develop life skills so that he can be independent in his adult life.
If I give myself a few more minutes I am sure the list go on....
It's difficult for me to say that there is one way or one model to work with children who are differently abled. Besides there being such a range of disabilities, our children are unique as well. On top of it, there are such differences in the size of our schools, the resources they have, and the teachers they employ. Also what is best for Nate one year may not be what's best for him next year. Needs change (I guess that could be interpreted two ways!).
I am not sure I can say what inclusion means to us in a three paragraph blog entry. It's complicated and full of layers. I do know that after I watched the documentary, I know that how Nate is included has to be fluid, flexible and full of creativity.....
What does inclusion mean to you? What do you want for your children?
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I agree completely and this is a wonderful post. I know that it's going to take a lot of creativity and flexibility on our part as Joaquin's parents...that part actually scares me a bit...I hope I am able to rise to the occasion and keep the strength to fight for him for the next 20 years or so of schooling...I'm a bit nervous about it but when I look at how we've done so far at age 2 with his early intervention services I feel like we're doing a good job of advocating for him!
ReplyDeleteAs you know well, we've struggled with the same issues. We've been very happy with the green st experience in general but as she gets older there is some mention of moving to the "special" class in another school. That takes long hard thought- it would mean giving up jump rope team, being a part of a school from the beginning, loss of community and friends- the list goes on. Should academics take priority? Hmmmm.... Great post Crista!
ReplyDeleteThere's a great article in the Dec. issue of Teaching Exceptional Children. It's title is, "The Golden Rule of Providing Support in Inclusive Classrooms: Support Others as You Would Wish to Be Supported." In the conclusion of the article, it refers to inclusion as, "a way of thinking, a way of being, and a way of making decisions about helping everyone belong."
ReplyDeleteI found I really needed to adjust my expectations for Kayla. When she was little, I was determined to have her fully included in our local school district. Kayla's in Kindergarten now and attends a private special education school for the multiply and severely disabled. A complete 180 from where I started. Because it was what was right for HER. Our small rural district was completely unprepared for her needs. She scores below the 1/10 of 1 percentile across all domains, or at the moment at an 18 month level. One of the best private special ed schools in the state had an opening and the school district was willing to foot the bill. So it wasn't a hard decision to make for us. Maybe not what I had hoped and dreamed for when she was a baby, but you have to do what feels right for YOUR child, not what everyone else says is the ideal.
ReplyDeleteInclusion to me is full time, all the time, education amongst Joseph's peers. I believe LRE is an education classroom that brings the best of gen. ed. and spec. ed together in one setting all day, everyday. Universal Learning Design is what I pray for to be instituted in all schools. Our kids have so much to offer the typically developing kids and vice versa. Great post!
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