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MEANINGFUL SCHOOL INCLUSION

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"How can you feel like you belong in your community if you don't feel you belong in your own neighborhood school, which is the hub of the community. Advocate for inclusion."

-Dan Habib

 

What are the different levels of inclusion?

Mainstreaming was the start of inclusion and meant that special needs are placed in the special education classroom and attend a general education classroom for specific academic classes (social studies, reading, etc.) or nonacademic classes (art, physical education, etc.).implied the need to be "ready."

Integrated meant that students with disabilities are able to interact, play and learn with other children their own age who do not have a disability but it emphasized social skills.

Inclusion means access to the general education curriculum and learning alongside same age peers in general education classrooms.

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Is inclusion with typical peers possible?

The answer is yes. It starts with a mindset that it can be done by administrators, teachers and even parents who may not think their child can be successfully included. Historically, people with developmental disabilities have been segregated from regular ed classes and even society. Hidden away, society has become less tolerate of differences because they have been removed from it. However, we are seeing the benefits that typically developing children and people with developmental disabilities have experienced when inclusion is done right especially in the future when these same people grow up to become professionals. They are more likely to hire people with disabilities and have shown a more flexible approach to other employees. As a society, they show more kindness and tolerance for differences. Bottom line, it all stems down to the mindset of the decision makers of today to shape the society of tomorrow.

 

Take the example of an Oregon School District of 10,000 who started towards 100% inclusion in 2012 with a Post-it® note with the words "100% inclusion" from the administrator. Like anything else, it was a process. They moved resources around, provided extra training, etc. The key wasn't extra money but a different mindset. Read more about Stafford Primary School. 

 

Successful inclusion programs involve the education team in an ongoing collaborative effort. They work from a place that the parents are doing the best they can at the moment. They establish rapport by being a resource that can be counted on. Misbehavior are misdirected attempts to communicate. Independence is taught and emphasized. Give children time to practice one step before going to another. Breaking goals to smaller steps and even back chaining (starting with the last step and working towards the first step).

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​​Making the Case For Inclusion Not "Why?" but "How?"

 

Are there school districts who do it well? YES! Check out some examples:

Oregon School District

Blake's Buddies

Segregated student's life changes after getting access to regular classrooms in Washington

Here is a downloadable real inclusion plan that was submitted and implemented to a school district in Massachusetts.

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Let's talk about current options of placement in the IEP:

  • Full time-Special education supports and services provided by special education personnel for 80% or more of the school day.

  • Supplemental-Special education supports and services provided by special education personnel for more than 20% but less than 80% of the school day.

  • Itinerant-Special education supports and services provided by special education personnel for 20% or more of the school day.

 

Types of Special Educational Support-Learning support, Life Skills Support, Emotional Support, Deaf and Hearing Impaired Support, Blind and Visually Impaired Support, Speech and Language Support, Physical Support, Autistic Support, Multiple Disabilities Support.

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What are some of the barriers of inclusion in school districts?

When the LRE mandate came to pass, school districts weren't given clear instructions on how to achieve this.  There are also many myths and misconceptions linked to implementing inclusion. Read more about Dispelling the Myths of Inclusive Education.  Kids with disabilities don't need to be repaired or fixed or caught up academically with their peers.

 

Early in my teaching career, I didn’t believe that inclusive education was the right thing to do. I was wrong. 

 

With all of these barriers, what is the point of inclusion?

  • When inclusion is done well, meaningful relationships between students can develop.

  • This leads to students growing up to be adults who are more open to give a person with a disability employment.

  • Everyone is valued and participates to the best of their ability.

  • Children grow up to adults who can adapt to society with confidence.

  • All children have equal access to education.

  • Typical children become more accepting of differences.

  • Some students are transformed into a leadership role by helping students with disabilities learn. The saying," you learn better by teaching others" takes place within an inclusive classroom.

  • All children benefit from learning through various resources and technology. Some students who may have unidentified academic challenges can benefit from watching support staff helping another child. 

  • Children included in preschools and elementary schools have a higher chance towards inclusion than a high school student who has been in a self-contained classroom for his/her entire educational life.

  • In the short term there is risk of bullying or an increase but in the long term, meaningful inclusion can reduce bullying. Here's a great article that explains how and why.

 

​Yes, there are a lot of barriers and challenges with inclusion, however, Damian's story is very inspiring because you hear from the teacher and principal who candidly express their concerns with including Damian in the regular classroom. You also learn how they managed to work through the challenges.  Watch the 4 min clip of Damian's Story to see how it has transformed this little boy's life.

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When Considering Least Restrictive Environment (LRE), this web page explains what LRE means. In 2015, U.S. Department of Health, Human Services (HHS), and the U.S. Department of Education published a joint federal inclusion guidelines for children with disabilities in early childhood programs.

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​For more in-depth look at Autism and the Inclusion Mandate read more about why inclusion continues to be a struggle in many circumstances. Understanding the barriers and challenges opens us up to thinking about possible solutions to bridge both sides. A Response to the BPS Inclusion Plan Written by the Massachusetts Advocates for Children breaks it down for advocates and parents to fully understand what would go into an inclusion roll out in a school district.

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"Having positive attitudes toward disability is not enough. First and foremost, you have to have a strong academic program to include kids in." -Dr. Thomas Hehir, School Inclusion Expert, Author of Effective Inclusive Schools

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How is meaningful inclusion possible?

The late Dr. Thomas Hehir who is a graduate of Harvard University and an expert on education inclusion has written the following books on academic inclusion:

Effective Inclusive Schools: Designing Successful Schoolwide Programs

New Directions in Special Education: Eliminating Ableism in Policy and Practice

How Did You Get Here? Students with Disabilities and Their Journeys to Harvard

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Dr. Hehir has worked in many positions within the Boston Public School Districts and has created this educational model that is currently being implemented in the Boston Public School System Plan. Read his proposal Increasing Inclusive Practices in the Boston Public Schools. 

​He also helped develop  an Inclusion Taskforce for BPSS.

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Fostering an inclusive environment:

 

  • There has to be a "buy in" from the administrators. Many who have been in the position a long time are less likely to make risky changes than new staff.

  • Generally people feel safer with "status quo" and including students who aren't "high functioning" is risky. They may not be able to meet the IEP goals or worry that a student's behaviors will increase to the point of being too disruptive. They may also worry about other parents complaining.

  • It costs the district a lot of money to be more inclusive. It requires more staff and resources to accommodate. Whereas, restricted classrooms receive more funds.

  • It is time intensive. It requires more preparation, planning, meeting, etc. for teachers and administrators. Teachers have to plan and coordinate their day almost to the minute so the demand on their time is challenging.

  • With more staff and time, it's a lot to coordinate.All of the staff are there to support all of the children in classrooms with teachers and paraprofessionals, not individual kids full time. One on one paras can lead to dependency, where the successful schools stress independence.

  • It's not for every child, there are some circumstances in which it is not best for the child to participate in full inclusion.

  • Some schools keep kids in self-contained classrooms for their safety from other students. Kids with disabilities are 3x more likely to be the target of bullying than typical students.

  • It requires a lot of flexibility from staff. Many teachers prefer a more structured, predictable teaching environment. Inclusion requires teachers to "think out of the box" and vary their teaching.

  • Inclusion at all costs does more harm than good. Parent demands and lack of appropriate administrative support will increase a child's behaviors especially when a Functional Behavior Analysis (FBA) and individualized Positive Behavior Supports (PBS) aren't in place. Cherry picking supports and accommodations do not adequately help many students in LRE.

  • It requires training that isn't widely available to teachers and school staff.

  • It's challenging wen students follow a totally separate curriculum.

  • It's more difficult in middle and high school for children who have been in self-contained classrooms throughout their academic career.

  • Finding local experienced teachers, therapists, paraprofessionals etc is challenging for many schools. Staffing ESY is particularly challenging in the Lehigh Valley because many teachers want the summer off.

 

 

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As much as inclusion can help so many children, there are exceptions when inclusion isn't appropriate. Some children with extensive medical conditions that need to be closely monitored or make it difficult to participate in a typical setting is one example. Children with severe psychiatric illness who are aggressive to others or a danger to themselves. Some children do not respond well in inclusive settings and we must remember to do best by the child's unique needs. Inclusion at all costs isn't a good idea if the teachers aren't trained for inclusive settings, it's a set up for failure and reinforcing negative behaviors that can take a long time to remedy.

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Inclusive Schools Network

The Inclusive Schools Network (ISN) is a web-based educational resource for families, schools and communities that promotes inclusive educational practices. This resource has grown out of Inclusive Schools Week™, an internationally-recognized annual event created by Education Development Center, Inc. (EDC) and now sponsored by Stetson & Associates, Inc. ISN’s mission is “to encourage, embolden and empower people to design and implement effective inclusive schools, by sharing insights and best practices and by providing opportunities for connection.” https://inclusiveschools.org/inclusion-resources/

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Do you need a local example?

​Kim from Mikayla's Voice attends local school assemblies to inspire a positive dialogue among all students.  Students learn what it is like to have a disability and are inspired to have positive discussions. Through these education-focused initiatives, compassion and acceptance can be better achieved. Cost $15. If your school hasn't invited Mikayla's Voice to speak at an assembly, consider taking the first step and contact your principal to consider inviting Mikayla's Voice to the next one.

Contact: http://books.mikaylasvoice.org/contact/

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More famously is Including Samuel. Show the powerful documentary called Including Samuel that inspires inclusive education, social change, disability rights, worldwide outreach, public awareness, and curriculum/training.

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Check out Think Inclusive Podcasts for more stories of inclusion and how it's done.

https://www.thinkinclusive.us/podcasts/

 

Local Providers:

The Include Me initiative was formed from the Gaskin Settlement mediation agreement. The goal of the settlement was to ensure that IEP teams determine whether the goals in the student's IEP can be implemented in the regular classroom with supplementary aides and services before considering a more restrictive placement. This program is in cooperation with the PA Department of Education, Bureau of Special Education, The ARC of PA was chosen to administer this inclusion initiative in 2010.

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They provide on site support and training for school personnel/student teams including parents (which range from administrators, general and special education teachers and support staff to family). These training programs help schools fulfill US Department of Education, Office of Special Education Program's Indicator 8 Targets. The training is customized to meet the needs of parents/guardians and school district staff. Include me consultants work at varying degrees with selected school districts to provide the following services.

 

  • Facilitation of the Supplementary Aids and Services toolkit

  • Standards Aligned System and Access to the General Curriculum

  • District and Parent Communication Skill Building

  • Assistive Technology

  • Writing IEP goals

  • Progress Monitoring

  • Chapter 14 regulations

  • Disability Awareness

  • iPad loans equipped with communication and literacy apps

 

Consultants visit school buildings and classrooms on a weekly basis to monitor the assigned students. They help assigned school districts with meeting least restrictive environment action plans and improve state performance. Students with significant disabilities are included into general education classrooms and make it less likely that they will be segregated throughout their educational career. This program had also purchased iPads to loan to school districts for non-verbal students.  Parent Challenges:  The Include Me program will participate with schools who are willing to participate and the districts pick the students who will participate.

For more information, contact:

Rita M. Cheskiewicz
Director, Include Me From The Start

Where: 67 Public Square, Suite 909, Wilkes-Barre, PA 18701

Email:ritac@includemepa.org
Call: 570-822-4369 or toll-free 1-877-337-1970

Website: http://includemepa.org/

Facebook: www.facebook.com/IncludeMePA

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Are you trying to grow the inclusive schooling model in your community? Do you feel like you have tried everything to create change in your school? Click on the following link to read
Strategies for Success: What Every Parents Needs to Know About Advocating For Inclusion

 

​Cheryl Jorgensen, Ph.D.

Remote consulting services for school inclusion services. Cheryl has extensive experience in education inclusion and can customize services.

Email: http://www.cherylmjorgensen.com/Contact-Us.html

Website: http://www.cherylmjorgensen.com/Remote-Consults.html

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