Inclusive Education
Posted by Troy | Filed under Autism
Our son has Autism.
This fall, he transitioned from an ECP (early childhood special ed) classroom to a typical Kindergarten class.
We did so for a variety of reasons, one of which is the theory that Inclusive Education is beneficial for both the special-needs student and his classmates.
PBS released a really great article about this today.
We never really doubted that inclusion is best… the real question is…
are the public schools equipped for inclusive education?
When our son’s Kindergarten teacher already has 23 children to not only maintain, but to guide, teach and grow… how can she be expected to fully serve my son?
It doesn’t matter how great of a teacher you are, that order is just too high…
When everyone knows it is best… why does my wife have to fight through blood, sweat and tears to get him the aid that he is entitled? (any aid… even one without ASD training)
Of course it’s about money… the scary thing is that with Autism rising and school funding on the decline the future looks very bleak for any possibility that the public schools will be able to meet the needs of their communities.
I guess it’s a good thing that I believe in prayer… because I don’t know what else to do from here on out.
Tags: Autism, original photo
5 Responses to “Inclusive Education”
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Jackie Says:
October 29th, 2009 at 1:02 pmThanks Troy. The fact that every part of his education has to be a battle is extremely frustrating. Schools better understand quickly that they need qualified and trained aids and therapists to help these kids so they are growing into self sufficient adults and are being successful in their education.
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Paul Says:
October 31st, 2009 at 8:42 pmTough situation. Thanks for sharing your thoughts. In my analysis, the problem is more about how education is ‘delivered’. Almost all aspects of academia are centered around competition and individualism. If classrooms were structured in a manner that was more team-based and collectivist, I think society would move forward in a way that reflects this. There would be more understanding and appreciation for specialized individuals. An environment like this would also allow students to be leaders in the educational process rather than the teacher delivers education and students soak it in.
This is a tough battle – I can’t imagine. Keep fighting!
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Troy Says:
November 1st, 2009 at 11:29 amI definitely agree Paul…
however, you also have to keep developmental stages in consideration…
I’ve worked as both a traditional classroom educator as well as a non-traditional co-operative based facilitator…
I definitely prefer the latter, but I’ve seen that until children reach a certain developmental stage, the types of collectivist efforts from which they can benefit are quite limited (as well as the amount time they can perform such team-based tasks)
I definitely agree that things should change more towards teamwork, discovery (rather than memory), and strategy… all of which would benefit the variety of learning-types in the classroom…
Even if our society were to shift to this type of learning though, it wouldn’t change the fact that classrooms are too large and specialized professionals too rare in the schools.
Individualized or team-based… 23 5-year-olds is too much for one teacher to handle (especially if one of them has special needs)
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Raol Duke Says:
November 16th, 2009 at 10:13 amYet there is ALWAYS enough money to kill and maim. If you sent your 18 year old child to boot camp money would be no object training him to kill.
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Suzanne Says:
January 21st, 2010 at 7:33 amTroy,
I’m so glad I stumbled upon your blog writings by reading Amber’s facebook. You are a very talented writer and photographer….the mix is very moving in your posts.About inclusion – there are some very good inclusion classrooms out there and then again there are some very dangerous classrooms that claim to practice inclusion. I support inclusion as an educator. As a grandparent of two with special needs, I am teaching Katie how to fight for her kids’ needs. It is a sad truth about life that the squeaky wheel wins. You tell Noel to keep up the fight and to study court cases that win.
