Inclusion gone Wrong
Can your substantially disabled child have a great inclusion experience? Yes
Does “Inclusion by IEP*” work? Not really.
A parent recently reached out to me with serious concerns about their disabled child being included all day in a general education class. They had been nervous for months, but reluctantly agreed.
Now, school has started and things are not looking good.
Inclusion doesn’t just “happen” and a statement or service hours in an IEP isn’t going to somehow make inclusion work.
At best, the IEP will give the school team the resources they need. The rest is up to them.
Broken Inclusion
My son started second grade with his day virtually entirely in general education. We had a one-on-one aide and full inclusion just like we had worked, planned, and hoped for.
Three months, later the school district was advocating for 100% of his time in a segregated class what it happened.
Things started badly from the beginning.
We had changed school districts and couldn’t get the school to meet with us to discuss the transition. We eventually found out our aide had no previous experience and the general education teacher absolutely didn’t want our son in her class.
We were doomed no matter what the IEP said.
Inclusion doesn’t happen
Successful inclusion happens through conscious intentional work by teachers, aides, students – Everybody.
I’m 100% advocate for inclusion – but only if inclusion is going to be done right.
Planning for Successful Inclusion
If it isn’t going to serve your child or their education in the actual classroom, school, and school district you are in, you are going to have to work with doing the best you can with what you have.
My questions for you:
- Question One – Does your teacher in the school team and aid and anyone else want inclusion to succeed?
- Question Two – Do they have adequate skills and training to make inclusion succeed
- Question Three – Do they have a plan to make it succeed for your child and all the other kids in the classroom because inclusion includes everybody.
If inclusion is done badly, it does your child no good.
And it gets worse, the reality is that when our kids are in a general education classroom, they are an ambassador for all other disabled kids.
This is totally unfair, but it is real.
Goodwill. Adequate Resources. Competence. My “patented” IEP mantra.
Assume Goodwill… if you don’t have goodwill, you are basically screwed. You’re going to have a lot of trouble just addressing your child’s educational needs, much less having successful inclusion.
Competence – Does the teacher and aide or anyone else involved have a skill with inclusion experience?
Adequate Resources – If not, can training be made available via the IEP? Or could consulting hours be provided by a school or other inclusion expert? It may make more sense to start out in a inclusive setting to jump-start things….
You need a specific plan! (if you know of any templates, please share them!)
Not just the school team – Other Kids and Inclusion
Almost every time our son participates in an activity with “general education” kids. A lot of them may never have been met a disabled child before they don’t know what to expect. We send out a letter to the other parents in cooperation with the teachers or adults running the program to smooth the path and avoid surprises (introducing us, our son, autism, how he may act “differently”, what that may be like in the classroom, having a way to ask questions, etc.). We’ve also tried to make sure that there is an “introduction to disability” to educate the other children
Our experience with this has been great. By the way in the years, we’ve done this at school and social activities, where our son has been involved, we’ve never had a complaint and actually gotten very kind and supportive messages from other parents.
If you’re not willing to come out as disabled, you’re probably cruising for trouble.
Formally, it is true that you shouldn’t have to do all this work to make successful inclusion happen.
That is not the world we live in.
Many people are simply ignorant of disabilities – I certainly was. This isn’t malice, it is circumstance. For us right now, we are balancing education and inclusion.
I look forward to the day when making sure you have Goodwill. Competence. Adequate Resources…and an Inclusion Plan isn’t necessary.
Until then, do what you can to help make success happen.
* Individualized Education Program – IEP – an agreement between a school district and parents of a disabled child to define supports, modifications, and accommodations to meet their educational needs.
