Inclusion

Inclusion

**What are your feelings about full inclusion? What are your experiences with inclusion? Does your school promote full inclusion? What did you think of the movie?**
Monday, November 14 Stephanie It was nice to host in my classroom, it was a nice change of scenery. I think everyone pretty well knows what my feelings about inclusion are but here is just a recap…. I don’t think full inclusion is the right thing for all students all of the time. I believe each student has something to teach the others just as all students can learn from each other. I do not believe though that being in a regular education classroom 100% of the time is appropriate for some of our students with severe special needs. I think I am a very good teacher and that I am able to adapt my classroom and my teaching for almost all students. I worry though that some of our extremely needy students would not get what they need being in my classroom all of the time. On the other hand, I worry too that if I had a very needy student in my classroom I would not be able to meet the needs of all of my regular education students. As it is in our building right now we never seem to have the necessary staffing to accommodate the needs of both types of students in the same classroom at the same time. In regard to the movie, I really liked it. I especially appreciated how we were able to see life through her eyes. It was also a good way for us to see how we as educators might not realize how we pigeon hole a student with disabilities. All students who suffer from autism do not learn the same just like all students without disabilities do not learn the same. We need to change the way we deliver our messages until we find a way that works for a particular student. Good movie….

Irene---In general, I think that inclusion with assistant support is the ideal for most special education students. In my schools I’ve seen classmates help, protect, encourage and really be friends with students who, in my day, were shunned and made fun of. No one even knew one detail about their lives. That was “inclusion” back then, but the adults’ attitudes of today have made all the difference. They have passed this on to the students. Now, all the children are seen as “our students,” and their progress is celebrated regardless of special education status. I was disturbed by the lack of help with violent students in the New Berlin classes that we talked about. I think that there should be a loophole in the case of students who put teachers and other students at risk. The law should allow schools, teachers, schools boards and parents of classmates to have input as to a safe solution for educating the child who has violent outbursts. I think that they should realize that public school may not be the place for all students, if the school cannot pay for the help that is needed for them. I guess that the school would have to pay for the alternative setting, anyway. It sounds harsh, but it is very important for everyone to feel safe in a school environment. I thought the movie was wonderful. It was amazing the way that Temple understood her needs and persisted to find solutions. Amid those mocking stares: college students, cowboys, dinner-partygoers, she struggled, but kept on opening doors. I thought that it was neat that though her mother had missed out on physical affection from Temple, she finally heard that affirmation at the symposium on autism. Temple gave her mother the credit for persisting through medical and educational obstacles to give her daughter the chance to develop her amazing abilities. We have an autistic student at one of my schools (I share the Speech room) and she is just beginning to speak a little with the help of iPad apps. It is great to hear her having a good time and often excited and happy, when she used to walk along with her hands over her ears. She greets my groups and makes eye contact. I help them understand the advances she is making. There is such value in that!