Special Needs children in regular education classrooms?

Dick Maisenbacher: This is something as the mother of a child with Asperger's and a teacher that I feel very strongly about. The law states that a special education students should be taught in the least restrictive environment (LRE). The problem is that most people assume that is only the regular education classroom, when its not. The LRE is where the child is able to function and learn at his best. It may be in a regular classroom, regular classroom with pull-out services, a resource room, special school, or hospital. Each child should be seen as an individual with their own needs which should help the educators to find the LRE for that student, wherever it is. I worked for over a year to get my child out of the regular school that he was in because it was not the LRE for him. He needed an environment with fewer people and more one-on-one attention. There are Asperger students who do not have the same issues as my son and are able to attend regular classes. Eac! h child has their own strengths and weaknesses. Every child is unique and they deserve to be taught in the best environment for them....Show more

Merlin Fleischhacker: i go to a regular school and there are some kids in my class with problems and i believe they are taken care of well. they get extra attention and stuff like that and they cope just fine.

Cody Petrulis: I think it depends on the severity of the disability. Kids with severe disabilities need specialized instruction to help them prepare for an independent life. However, I am not opposed to them going to specials or exploratories. This allows them to benefit from lessons they will not have in their classes. It also allows contact between regular ed and special ed kids and is enlightening to both.Kids with mild disabilities can be in the regular classroom with support. Unfortunately, they do not usually get the support they need because principals feel that inclusion means they can hire less teacher! s, when in fact it takes more due to scheduling issues. Also, ! just because you have resource teacher going in or pulling out, does not mean that that teacher knows how to deal with the child.For instance I am working with a 6 year old mildly Au student in a regular ed class. His behavior is becoming out of control and the resource teacher does not have the foggiest notion as to how to deal with him. He is disrupting the class on a daily basis. Is that fair to anyone?If enough resource teachers were available, who knew what they were doing, then inclusion would be a good idea. Unfortunately, in my experience, this has not been the case....Show more

Sharee Doak: I was in the 'regular' classroom for most of when I was in public school and obtaining special education services, and I did not have a problem. It helped other students see that I was no different from them and I was just as capable of successfully completing my assingments. Where I experienced a problem was a period where I was pulled out to go to the 'special education! room' for math instruction when my family moved to another state. By the time I returned to my regular classroom for instruction in other subjects where I did not need special education services, my classmates were on another subject, in an area where I would not need remedial help, but I still had to play catch up with them. Having a helping teacher come into the room for the 30 minutes which we spent on math daily would have been less time-consuming and more productive for me. I would not have had to play catch up. And this 'rich' school/school district reserved it's run-down worn out textbooks for the special ed students. We were using textbooks in that room, during the 1980's which had 60's copyright dates. They were standard math textbooks, just a worn out version which the 'regular' classes did not use any more. So, I think inclusion has many more benefits for everybody.But at the same time, I understand that some special ed services (PT/OT, speech therapy, diagnosti! cian evaluations/reviews) cannot reasonably be provided inside a 'regul! ar' classroom due to space/privacy issues. You have to pull the student out for those services because there is no other way to effectively deliver them alongside other students....Show more

Ulrike Hert: This is an issue that I feel strongly about because I have a son with autism that has been denied access to his peers for most of his elementary years. He is academically bright but socially delayed. Since 1st grade he's been in a self contained classroom and doesn't get a chance to practice and improve his social skills. The explanation that I'm given is his behaviors prevent inclusion. In other words - his autism. Well if he had more opportunities to practice, he would improve. And the regular ed peers would also benefit as well by being exposed to children with differences and develop empathy. By law our kids are supposed to be educated in the least restrictive environment, but lack of funding forces most schools to go with the least expensive. My son would! need his aide to go with him to the regular ed classes- that is really the problem. His aid is instead used as a classroom aid and taking him into the regular ed class would leave the self contained classroom short one aid. Inclusion has been shown to work when combined with properly trained staff, preparation of the regular ed teacher and strategies to give the student an opportunity to experience success with his peers. The best life skill that my son's district could give him would be learning how to get along with his peers....Show more

Gale Hartt: I think that it is something that has to be done on an individual basis. My son is autistic and has been in regular ed from the beginning. There are some students that can do well in a reg class with minimal support, some will need an aide and then there are others that just will not do well in a reg. ed class.

Chris Coggins: I am in favor of having a different class for special needs children. It is not that! I look down on them or something, but they do need special attention o! r teaching method to cope up. Regular students might give them unwanted attention or actions resulting from too much liberty given to them in a regular classroom setting.

Georgia Dees: I have mixed feelings on this issue. On one hand I feel like there are enough disruptions in the class room (my grandson, 2nd grade) and many children with special needs cause even more disruption. On the other hand being exposed to these special needs children helps the other children develop empathy for people and not view people that are different as odd. My grandson was raised around a great uncle who had a stroke and was in a wheel chair. In kindergarten there was a child in class in a wheelchair and the teacher commented on how helpful my grandson was with this boy....Show more

Dale Mccoun: Miss Beha- That is really interesting to know. I'm mildly dyslexic. I was mainstreamed beginning 3rd grade. I no longer got any extra help. I didn't need it for every class. But there! were areas where I needed extra help. I could not understand latitude - longitude. I was very shy. I think it depends. Surely, something can be done to include more of them. The Principals need to work with the teachers and not against them. They are on the same team....Show more