(This was not written by mavesmom, rather by listmates and the Center On Human Policy. But, I place it here because of importance and I could not have said it better myself!)
Do you know that many students with disabilities are successfully learning and joining in the same classroom with their friends and neighbors who are not Yet disabled?
Inclusion is possible for ALL students, including YOUR child. The key to success for
inclusion is to build the services and supports necessary to insure a good outcome in the program of your choice.
ADVOCACY BOARD
Inclusion means:
Educating all children with disabilities in regular classrooms regardless of the
nature of their disabiling condition(s).
Providing all students enhanced opportunities to learn from each other's
contributions.
Providing necessary services within the regular schools.
Supporting regular teachers and administrators (e.g., by providing time, training,
teamwork, resources, and strategies).
Having students with disabilities follow the same schedules as non-disabled students.
Involving students with disabilities in age-appropriate academic classes and
extracurricular activities, including art, music, gym, field trips, assemblies, and
graduation exercises.
Students with disabilities using school cafeteria, library, playground, and other
facilities along with non-disabled students.
Encouraging friendships between non-disabled and disabled students.
Students with disabilities receiving their education and job training in regular
community environments when appropriate.
Teaching all children to understand and accept human differences.
Placing children with disabilities in the same schools they would attend if they did
not have disabilities.
Taking parents' concerns seriously.
Providing an appropriate individualized educational program.
Inclusion does NOT mean: (mavesmom's note: see how your child's educational placement stacks up to this list. If this "NOT" list is what you are getting then call your State Department of Education and file complaints. Get the inclusion guide mentioned at the end. Unite with other families in your area. Join Mother's from Hell--see my links page. Courage!)
It does not mean "dumping" students with disabilities into regular programs without
preparation or support.
It does not mean providing special education services in separate or isolated places.
It does not mean ignoring children's individual needs.
It does not mean jeopardizing students' safety or well-being.
It does not mean placing unreasonable demands on teachers and administrators.
It does not mean ignoring parents' concerns.
It does not mean isolating students with disabilities in regular schools.
It does not mean placing students with disabilities in schools or classes that are
not age-appropriate.
It does not mean requiring that students be "ready" and "earn" their way into regular
classrooms based on cognitive or social skills.
WE WELCOME THE DUPLICATION AND DISSEMINATION OF THIS STATEMENT
A packet of resources on inclusive education (articles, sample case studies, and a
bibliography) is available free of charge to parents).
Order from:
CENTER ON HUMAN POLICY,
SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY
Center on Human Policy
Syracuse University
805 South Crouse Ave.
Syracuse, NY 13244-2280
(Another Mavesmom note here: Inclusion can look different for kids at times in their lives. Mave has been included in most of her educational life--24 years (she died at 26 and attended Community College). When she first started out it was in a regular education school, that she would have gone to without the disability, in a segregated classroom of only special needs kindergardeners who spent music time, parties, and some play time with the kindergardeners across the hall. I was a little skiddish back then and it took me more convincing than Mave that this was good. But, when Mave was sick and the kids stopped me in the hall to ask how when Mave was coming back with them, I knew inclusion was the way to go.
Over the years I either fought for inclusion or gushed over Mave's inclusion. You can read of her high school situation on Mave's page.
Inclusion is all about grace, once again. When our kids are all together we make room for grace to pour into little, forming lives. Kids all benefit from being together. Let's not stop the grace because of greed or prejudice.)
I recieved this unsolicited email a while back and want to share it with you. When you work for inclusion of all kids and YOURSELF, you never know who is looking AND noticing.
"Dear Mavesmom,
Last Sunday I slipped out of town to meet a friend who recently
moved to
Phoenix and take a break by heading with her to the
Grand Canyon
and Sedona. Lucked out on the weather, was humbled by all that
we saw as we
hiked canyons and red rocks and I am now back, ready to get down
to work
again.
I was thinking about you this morning, though. We went to the
Phoenix desert
botanical garden which was lovely to see. I noticed a small
class of junior
high age kids moving along the various exhibits with worksheets
and two
teachers. There was also a student, blind and in a wheelchair,
working with
an adult on the same worksheets, obviously adapted and modified.
As the group
came to one area, they gathered for a class picture and they had
just about
all yelled "cheese" when one student determined the girl in the
wheelchair
hadn't yet caught up to them. So they yelled for her and
waited.
I said to my friend, how
many children
across the US participate as this young girl with a disability
does? How many
in other countries? How ordinary is it for this school and this
class of
kids? How many superintendents in St. Louis County would first
question if
this is "what the public schools are for"? (Most of them).
I had these thoughts later in the day in route home: it's hard
to hike in a
place like the Grand Canyon and not have other things in life
seem not such a
big deal. We have a job to do in St. Louis County with special
education and
I'm not sure it has to be such a big deal. It just needs to get
done. The
philosophical/education angst, the turf wars, the worries over
junk like
weighted votes for Governing Council members to pick SSD board
members, the
arguments over which district drives which kid where--- all need
to stop. We
just need to go about the business of directing our resources to
produce
scenes like the one I saw in the Phoenix desert botanical
garden.
SSD has a lot of money to accomplish this goal. It could use
more and it may
end up having a lot less or falling apart completely. I don't
think it much
matters. We just need to do the job well for kids with
disabilities in our
community with what we have or what we need to get out and
secure- whether by
a countywide district or by individual ones.
You and some of the other parents of students served by SSD have made my crazy job worthwhile. I get energized. You stay focused and see the big picture. I feel enriched by knowing you. So please be sure to remember when you feel the stress level is way up for you and your family, that there are many of us who support all that you do for your daughter, your family and for others."
Mavesmom speaks about the email..."That email made me cry and shored me up for staying the course. It is hard work choosing to do what others don't seem to understand at the time. As an inclusion facilitator in Ann Arbor, Michigan told me once,"Being strapped to the bow of the ice-breaker hurts like hell, but the view is terrific!"
For you who inclusion is a way of life, please pray for us who live in areas of the country where it is still a struggle. Thanks."