Controversy #3: Inclusion

The third controversy that I'm going to reference is not unique to autism; it cuts across disability lines. And it's not even a true controversy, it's more of a difference in the way that you want to educate your child. There isn't a right or wrong answer to this one since it truly is dependent on each child, but it's something that I have in the back of my head to deal with later, though we have actually already made a decision about this for Elias for the immediate future.

I can't talk about "inclusion" without talking about an IEP. I can't talk about an IEP without talking about the Least Restrictive Environment, or LRE. And we can't talk about LRE without talking about the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, or IDEA. (Can you see how information overload is an actual condition??) So I'll break these terms down, in as far as I understand them. I am absolutely dreading getting Elias an IEP and dealing with Chicago Public Schools, but here goes...

IDEA: The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act was signed into law in 1990 by George HW Bush. Its purpose is to make provisions for children with disabilities. Up until this point, public schools were not required to include disabled children and effectively shut them out of their right to an education. There are six pillars of IDEA:

1. Individualized Education Program (IEP): each child is evaluated and the school is required to design a program tailored for their educational needs. This becomes the cornerstone of the child's education and is revamped regularly by a team comprised of parents, teachers, and social workers or psychologists, and administrators based on the child's needs, development, and growth.
2. Free Appropriate Public Education: basically that we won't have to pay more for special education services and that they will provide access to grade-level work if your child is able to work at that level.
3. Least Restrictive Environment (LRE): this is incorporating disabled children to be in the same classroom as non-disabled children if possible. As my friend Erin points out, the law says that the school needs to provide the Least Restrictive Environment; it doesn't say anything about them providing an optimal learning environment or helping them succeed.
4. Appropriate Evaluation: children with disabilities will be appropriately evaluated by someone in the school district to determine what kinds of additional assistance will be needed.
5. Parent and Teacher Participation: parents and teachers are integral parts of this process and will work together to provide input and determine placement and other goals. Parents can also challenge any decisions made on their child's behalf. 
6. Procedural Safeguards: these are written into the law to give parents additional protections over their children's education and recourse in the event that something was not done properly. You can read the list here.

So the IDEA act is truly a landmark piece of legislation for which I'm thankful. However, it's also good to think about what this looks like in the classroom for children with disabilities. 

For Elias, in a private preschool classroom [read: without the specialized supports he would get in a public preschool] with other neurotypical (NT) children (there were about 18-20 students to 2 teachers and a rotating cadre of volunteers, normally 1-3 additional adults) it looked like him sitting quietly and participating in many if not most of the activities, but not all of them. It looked like him not going to the bathroom while the other children did. It looked like him wandering around the room either physically or mentally from time to time while the kids were participating in an education lesson during circle time. I looked like the other children asking me a few times "Why doesn't Elias talk?" To be sure, he has made amazing strides at this preschool, more than I ever hoped he'd make. As I've mentioned before, we love this preschool and we love the staff and I'm loathe to leave it.

However, we are currently taking the non-inclusive route, that is, putting him in a therapeutic school specifically for children with intellectual special needs (though I have heard that there are wealthy parents who put their NT kids in this preschool and pay for it out-of-pocket). Eventually, I want Elias to be included in a regular classroom. I want him to interact in healthy ways with his peers. I want him to learn at grade level. But I don't want inclusion that just LOOKS like inclusion because he's in the same class with NTs even though he's doing completely different work and segregated socially from them due to his challenges with peer interaction. We could keep him where he's at currently and I'm confident he'd make progress both because he's a smart kid but also because of the caring staff. But I am just as convinced that his progress will be significant if we place him in an environment that is dedicating to helping and educating autistic children.

I think inclusion is healthy and necessary for both children with disabilities as well as NTs. It has the potential to teach NTs valuable lessons about diversity, empathy, and helping to make people with disabilities normative, instead of people to be feared or shied away from. Conversely, there are learning opportunities to be had for children with disabilities in classrooms where they are presumed competent, learning at grade level, and can learn social interactions from NT kids. However, it seems to me that inclusion needs to be done properly and when the child is ready for it. I'm anxious to hear from my friends and family who are teachers/school psychologists/social workers. How have you seen inclusion done well or poorly in your schools?