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Printable version of the entire Inclusion Unit You are well aware of the discrimination that has taken place in our nation’s history. Well, people with disabilities are no exception. Many years ago, people with severe disabilities were deemed “un-teachable” and unworthy of an education. They were placed in institutions where they had little or no contact with other people without disabilities. But throughout the history of special education many changes have taken place. Some believe that the entire history of special education in the United States is a story of movement from exclusion to increasing inclusion. People with disabilities were finally moved into public schools but had to attend classes in another building or in a separate classroom, once again with little or no contact with other students without disabilities. In the late 1700s the idea of educating people with disabilities was introduced but no such program was established until 1817 when the American Asylum for the Education and Instruction of the Deaf and Dumb was opened in Connecticut. This led to the development of other programs for people with disabilities, such as the New England Asylum for the Education of the Blind and the Experiential School for Teaching and Training Idiotic Children. When compulsory school attendance laws were passed in the early 1900s, many students with disabilities were “exempted” because it was believed that their special needs would interfere with their education and the education of others. Students with disabilities were not welcome in regular classrooms and were therefore isolated to special classrooms. Some people actually believed that the mere presence of children with disabilities was a threat to “normal children.” Most teachers felt that they were not trained in educating students who had special needs. They believed that “special” teachers who had “special training” were needed to teach these “special” students in “special classrooms.” Because of this belief, the students with disabilities who were in regular schools were not an accepted part of it. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, special classrooms remained the norm for students with disabilities in regular schools, and for people who had more severe disabilities institutions were often the norm. Then in 1954, in a case called Brown v. The Board of Education, the Supreme Court ruled that children could not be segregated because of their race. This ruling caused parents of children with disabilities to think about the segregation of their own children in schools. Parents who had placed their children in an institution knew that one reason they had made such a decision was because their children were not allowed into the public schools. Parents began to form advocacy groups to improve the opportunities for their children. Many court cases were fought in order improve institutions and to assure that students with disabilities could receive a free public education just like any other child. In the 1970s, a series of laws were passed to address the needs of people with disabilities. One of these laws called the “Education of All Handicapped Children Act of 1975” (now called the “Individuals with Disabilities Education Act”, or IDEA) states that no child with a disability can be denied a free appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment. By the late 1970s and the early 1980s, many students who had milder disabilities were attending regular education classes for at least part of their school day. This was often referred to as “mainstreaming.” This caused people to question why students with more severe disabilities remained segregated even though they were in the public school building. They began to explore ways in which all students could spend at least some time with their peers without disabilities in regular classrooms. This is often referred as the movement to “integrate” students with severe disabilities into the mainstream. By the late 1980s many schools were becoming uncomfortable with the way students with disabilities were still seen primarily as “special education students” and not just “students at our school.” In addition, the years of experience were showing that collaboration between regular education and special education teachers within the regular classroom could effectively address the needs of all students, provide for a richer learning experience for all students, and prevent artificial barriers between students. This movement to provide specialized services to students within the regular classroom while minimizing any separation of students based on different learning needs is typically referred to as “inclusion” or “inclusive education”. Many believe this movement to be the most consistent with the law that has been on the books since 1975. Today
many schools include all students with disabilities in regular education
classrooms. Special education teachers and regular education teachers
work together to provide the best possible education for students
with all types of needs. By modifying or changing the curriculum
to meets the needs of each learner, students with disabilities can
be successful in regular education classrooms. While this evolution
toward greater inclusion continues, it is still by no means universal.
As you explore some of the links on this website, you will see that
there is still some debate today about what constitutes the least
restrictive environment for students with disabilities.
Now that you have begun to think about this idea of inclusion, look at your own school. Where does it stand on this road from segregation to inclusion? On the links associated with this unit, you will explore some of central issues of inclusion. These include |