A few weeks ago, I’d had one of those days you just want to go to sleep and forget about, one of those days that just steals all your joy. It was a Friday, that evening as I was going through all of the girls school notes, paperwork and artwork, I read a note from Fallon’s teacher that is likely one of my most favorite teacher notes to date! You know that thing your heart does when you are so proud of your children, it’s like this intense warmth surrounds your heart…and you know that you’ve made a good parenting decision?

And I quote…
“So proud of Fallon! One of our feeding therapists is quite taken with how mature (not sure if that’s the right word) she is and has had her be an “eating model” for a child who has feeding issues. Fallon is SO proud and happy to do it. FYI she’s not missing out on curriculum or anything fun. She just eats a snack with another child and is praised for doing so ?”

Oh my heart, I cannot think of a better kind of model to be? Its sweet that her teacher wanted to assure me Fallon was not missing out on anything, but I honestly don’t care…my thoughts…yes yes yes, sign her up to demonstrate for any child who needs a little extra guidance.

If you do not have a child with special needs, you may not be familiar with the word inclusion as it relates to education. Inclusion is an opportunity for students with special needs to learn alongside their peers who do not have special needs in general education classrooms. Thus, students with and without special needs learn together as opposed to the traditional separation of a regular classroom and a special education classroom.

When Tori was first born our doctors immediately shared with us that there was an inclusive preschool in Williamson County, called High Hopes Development Center, that was both a preschool and a therapy clinic. Thus, Tori could attend school as well as get Physical, OT, Speech/Feeding therapy there if needed. At that time, she was just a baby so we did not really know what her needs would be but I knew in my heart immediately, when the time was right, that is where I wanted Tori to attend preschool.

She has been at High Hopes since September of 2014, she was 20 months old and started her therapies shortly thereafter. After some time had passed, I remember telling Tori’s teacher how wonderful Tori was doing and I could see how much she was learning. The teacher said, “it’s because of them,” and she pointed in the direction of all the other children. I remember thinking she was likely just being humble and I am sure that Tori was learning from her teaching.

When Fallon was born, we were excited that she would be at the same school with Tori, for the convenience of course and also the fact the she would also be apart of an inclusive environment. Jeff and I wanted Fallon to grow up with those who have special needs but it never really occurred to me that Fallon could also be an example, until that Friday night.

So that night I went to bed with a happy heart, completely forgetting about my not so favorite day, and thanked God for my babies, for High Hopes, and for all the wonderful teachers and therapists.

Below is a great article I received that the American Journal on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities recently published a study on trends in placement of students with intellectual disabilities.

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Findings from this study have important implications for special education teachers, general education teachers, families, students, school administrators, related service personnel, and other individuals who might make up IEP teams. As these team members work together to make placement decisions, they should consider several guiding principles. First, in order to comply with the legal mandate of LRE, IEP teams should treat the general education classroom as the default educational placement unless there is a compelling reason why services could be delivered more effectively in a self-contained setting. Second, IEP teams should make placement decisions based solely on individual student support needs, and not on other factors (e.g., convenience or past precedent). Third, IEP team should be particularly cautious about placing students in separate schools or self-contained settings for the entire school day. Given that general education classrooms are the best context for accessing the general education curriculum and practicing social skills, all students with ID could benefit from at least some time in general education classrooms (Carter, Bottema-Beutel, & Brock, 2014; Jackson et al., 2008/2009). Fourth, contrary to common concerns among some educators, there is no compelling evidence that the presence of students with severe disabilities in a general education classroom inhibits the academic progress of their peers without disabilities (Smith, 2010). On the contrary, there is evidence that when peers are strategically engaged in supporting students with ID, inclusion can improve the academic performance of both students with ID and their peers without disabilities (Cushing & Kennedy, 1997; Shukla, Kennedy, & Cushing, 1998). Therefore, IEP teams should not allow concerns about peer achievement to preclude opportunities for students with ID to be included in general education classrooms. Instead, they should address these concerns by using evidence-based practices such as peer support arrangements to promote inclusion that is beneficial for both students with ID and their peers without disabilities.

Findings from this study also have important implications for advocates of inclusion. The lack of progress in recent years toward more inclusive educational placements for students with ID is concerning. There are a number of possible solutions. For example, advocacy and non-profit organizations could improve efforts to educate families about the potential benefits of inclusion and their role in the development of their child’s IEP. In addition, teacher educators and school administrators could improve their pre- and inservice preparation of teachers and paraprofessionals to provide high quality inclusive educational experiences for students with ID. There is evidence that once administrators and educators experience or observe positive examples of inclusion, they are much more likely to advocate for inclusive placements in the future (Praisner, 2003

AAIDDJOURNALS.ORG
Trends in the Educational Placement of Students With Intellectual Disability in the United States Over the Past 40 Years
Article Citation: Matthew E. Brock (2018) Trends