'Learning is for all'; however, our society is quite late at accepting and appreciating this fact. There has always been segregation where children are grouped and the worst is when children with certain disabilities are separated out and forced to learn in different and special environment. Some people may find it a good way to accommodate children with disabilities however the dark side is that it doesn't allow those students to interact with their peers having no disabilities. They feel left out and can't mingle up with their fellows. Depending upon the severity of disability there might be a few cases that can't appropriately fit with normal children; however, this might not be the case always. Children with less intense disabilities can be a part of normal children group which will provide them with the opportunity to feel as normal as possible. This will boost their confidence and allow them to feel themselves a part of the society and not one of the left outs.
For a long time, children with disabilities have been placed in special schools to cater for their special needs. Special schools were designed to specialize in the provision of special care for these children with severe disabilities. This led to a situation whereby children with special needs were placed in these institutions, with the severely disabled learning with those of little disabilities. To the children, the society communicated something else; that they were not the cream and did not deserve schooling as well as the others. This situation is most panicking for the parents. There could not be a worst feeling than to find one's child in special schools where they are treated as abnormal. This not only let the parents feel unfortunate but also the child holds the same feeling. Thanks to legislation, inclusion of children with disabilities in regular schools' programs has become a reality. The 2004 legislation gave a lot more options than inclusion, some of which this article is going to look into. So, if you are a parent with a child who has special needs, there is no need to worry.
Inclusion has worked in many jurisdictions and this involves the placement of a child in a regular school regardless of his disability. Schools are slowly working to eliminate special classes for kids with special needs and integrating them into their regular school programs. While it is the best thing for the special needs' child development, there is considerable impact on the education of the other children depending on the disability of the others. Working with school administrations, a parent is able to work out the best solution for the child in his best interests. In some cases, the inclusion is done on a test basis and it is changed accordingly if the child is not making any progress in the class he has been put in. Whatever happens, nothing is done without the consent of the parent and everything is done with the best interests of the child at heart.
The 2004 IDEA legislation has defined another parameter of inclusion as LRE (least restrictive environment). This means that depending on the child's disability, he or she should learn in the same schools as his peers who are not disabled. This means that he should attend the same classes and be taught the same things. Again, this will depend on the disability of the child. Even then despite the disability, the child will be able to socialize with his peers and develop all the possible phases of his life. There is no more segregation of special needs students in classrooms depending on their abilities thanks to this legislation.
For the sake of the progress of the child and for the progress of his peers, the 2004 IDEA legislation allowed for partial inclusion, which separates the special needs class with those of regular students when it comes to technical subjects. This will help the teachers to provide personalized help to the special needs student depending on his needs. The bottom line here is; that disabilities differ from one child to the other and while one may have learning disabilities others may have debilitating disabilities and the education policies have made sure the best interests of these special needs groups are put into consideration.
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