INCLUSION IS A MATTER OF DEGREE IN AREA SCHOOLS

The latest theory on mainstreaming physically and developmentally disabled students into regular classrooms is bringing into question the definition of an appropriate education.

State and federal laws require schools to provide "free and appropriate" access to education for any student regardless of physical or mental disability. A relatively new theory called inclusion supports these mandates by placing students on a continuum of placement that ranges from home schooling to full integration into the classroom.

Since its development about 10 years ago, inclusion has sparked much debate in the educational arena. John Heskitt, assistant commissioner of special education for the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, said classroom inclusion is only successful when a number of placement options are available because it then focuses on the needs and success of the individual student.

"The polarized representations of inclusion are clearly wrong," Heskitt said. "It is as inappropriate to say every child with a disability should be included in a regular classroom as it is wrong to say that no child with a disability should attend a regular classroom."

Heskitt said inclusion allows schools to assess the needs of an individual child and place him in an educational setting that works for everyone involved. It moves away from the traditional delivery system that segregated students in special education classes.

What becomes more important is the knowledge and competence of the specific educator, the structure of the school, and the portability of services versus the portability of the child, he said.

Kim Crites, a quality assurance specialist for the Department of Mental Health's Sikeston Regional Center, said the state assists schools by developing Individualized Education Plans (IEP's) using a team of educators, family members, and staff to work with the child. The team decides whether the child is a good candidate for the regular classroom and what adaptations and supports are needed for the child and teacher to be successful.

Crites, a former physical education teacher, knows inclusion works because she has seen it firsthand. When the process is well-planned by the team, everyone in the classroom achieves success, she said. The disabled child gains new skills and succeeds academically, and the teacher learns how to creatively adapt her teaching methods so the entire class benefits. Other students add to the creativity link, and they gain confidence from their role as mentors to the disabled student.

"Sometimes you have to make adaptations, but the one really neat thing is the kids in a classroom would become mentors to the kids being included," she said. "Kids really come up with creative ideas."

Members of the Association for Retarded Citizens of Missouri (ARC-MO), are leery of inclusion because they think too many mentally retarded students are being placed without consideration of their needs. Jerry Ford, executive director, said his organization's members are mainly parents concerned about the effects inclusion has on the mentally retarded child.

"The only thing we have a position on as far as the classroom is we think they are putting too many of the kids who have a mental retardation in the classroom inappropriately," he said. "The physically handicapped can speak for themselves. The people with mental illnesses, when they are properly medicated, can perform pretty normally in society. But people with mental retardation cannot speak for themselves."

ARC supports inclusion to the point of segregated classrooms, which they think are the best option for mentally retarded students. "We do not think that segregated classes like your special education classes and others are demeaning," Ford said. "We think segregated classes are appropriate."

Crites thinks students can be successfully included in the general classroom. "We never want to set someone up for failure," she said. "There are just some kids that should not be included in the classroom. That's not based on cost, that's based on their ability for success in the classroom. If the special classroom is the best chance for success, that's what should be recommended for that child."