Hello,
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I will begin with
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DEFINITIONS OF INCLUSION
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“Inclusion is a term which expresses commitment to educate each child,
to the maximum extent appropriate, in the school and classroom he or
she would otherwise attend. It involves bringing the support services
to the child (rather than moving the child to the services) and
requires only that the child will benefit from being in the class
(rather than having to keep up with the other students). Proponents of
inclusion generally favor newer forms of education service delivery. “
http://www.weac.org/resource/june96/speced.htm
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"Full inclusion" is a term used by educators to describe a
philosophical approach to the education of children with disabilities.
This philosophical paradigm maintains that a child with disabilities
-- even severe disabilities such as profound mental retardation --
should be placed in a regular classroom for most or all of the school
day (Ayres & Meyer, 1992; Cloud, 1992;Conn, 1992; Shanker, 1993;
Wolak, York, & Corbin, 1992).”
source http://www.hollingworth.org/fullincl.html
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“The terms mainstreaming and inclusion are often used interchangeably
in education today. This inconsistency in usage has led to some
confusion about what educators mean when they talk about inclusion or
full inclusion. Mainstreaming is the practice of educating the
disabled student in the general education classroom. Inclusion is a
newer term used to describe the placement of students in regular
classes for all or nearly all of the school day; mainstreaming is
often associated with sending a student from a special education class
to a regular class for specified periods. Although in some inclusion
models students are mainstreamed only part of the day, students in
full inclusion programs remain in the general classroom for the entire
day. “ source http://curry.edschool.virginia.edu/go/cise/ose/information/uvald/inclusion.html
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DISABILITY AND RISK DIAGNOSIS
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“A Child who “demonstrates marked difficulty in reading, writing,
spelling, and/or using numerical concepts?
- has poor handwriting?
- appears clumsy or poorly coordinated?
- exhibits such behaviors as an inability to stick to schedules,
repeatedly forgetting things, losing or leaving possessions, and
generally seeming "personally disorganized"?
- sometimes seems disorganized in time, space; confuses up and down;
right and left?
- has trouble understanding or following directions?
- confuses similar letters and words such as "b" and "d," "was" and
"saw"?
- is easily distracted?
- often displays anxiety or anger because of inability to cope with
school or social situations?
- often demonstrates difficulty in understanding the subtleties in a
social situation and does not seem to perceive how his/her behavior
comes across to others?”
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From: Handout from UNC Learning Disabilities Services, adapted from
the Rockville Campus Learning Center, Rockville MD
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SPECIFIC CHARACTERISTICS OF COMMON LEARNING DISABILITIES
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Difficulty in Reading
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Some students may show particular anxiety about reading aloud in class
or they may read very slowly, sometimes tracing the words on the page
with their fingers. Students with dyslexia may see letters as
transposed (a "d" will look like a "b" for example), or may skip
letters or words altogether.....
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Difficulty in Writing
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Students with LDs may have very poor handwriting and their papers may
contain many cross-outs, write-overs, and erasures. Dyslexic students
may have difficulty spelling words, and may reverse the spelling of
words, writing "saw" instead of "was." Even more likely, dyslexic
students may have inconsistent spelling. Students with other learning
disabilities also make frequent spelling errors, but note that the
kind of errors they make are different from those made by students
with poor spelling but who do not have a learning disability: ....
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Discrepancy in Information Processing
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Some students can understand information presented in one way, but not
in others. For example, they may be able to understand a diagram but
not an oral presentation. In fact, these students may have difficulty
processing information that you have just covered in class if it is
presented in a different form than the one they are comfortable with
(orally vs. written form and vice-versa)....
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Difficulty with Mathematics
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A difficulty with information processing may be exhibited in
mathematical problems as well....
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Difficulty with Foreign Language
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Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) and
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Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
source http://ctl.unc.edu/tfi14.html
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ADHD is a disorder characterized by three behaviors:
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Hyperactivity: The child exhibits an unusual degree of activity. Most
are fidgety; something is always in motion - fingers, pencil, feet.
They squirm in their seat, or cannot remain seated, etc.
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Distractibility: The child has difficulty blocking out unnecessary
input from the environment.
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Auditorily Distractible
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Means paying attention to all sounds, not just appropriate ones, e.g.,
voices in halls, ringing of telephone
source http://www.kidsource.com/LDA/adhd.html
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The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth
Edition (DSM-IV), which is the book that some psychiatrists and
psychologists use when they have to decide if a person has a
particular disorder, states that the Diagnostic Criteria for
Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder are as follows:
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- sometimes doesn't pay close attention to details
- makes careless mistakes
- finds it hard to pay attention or sustain attention to play
activities
- doesn't seem to listen when spoken to directly.
- doesn't follow through on instruction and fails to finish schoolwork
- often has difficulty organizing tasks and activities
- avoids tasks that require sustained mental effort
- often fidgets or squirms in seat
- often runs about or climbs excessively
- is often "on the go"
- often talks excessively
- blurts out answers to questions
- has difficulty awaiting turn
- often interrupts or intrudes on others
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source http://www.lesley.edu/academic_centers/hood/currents/v3n1/Schultz.html
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However it is highlighted that it is difficult to correctly diagnose
with this criteria as other children who may not be have ADHD may
exhibit these traits too.
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Diagnosis of babies is difficult. “Since a diagnosis of Attention
Deficit is usually not made until after the child has entered school,
the atypical ways that these children react and respond during the
first years of life are perplexing and distressing to parents,
teachers, and other family members. Confused parents often send strong
disapproving messages to the child that he can behave and stay under
control if he tries hard enough. Concerned family members often
criticize both child (for being bad) and parents (for being
ineffective), creating even more stress between parents and child.”
source
http://www.wrightslaw.com/advoc/articles/ADD_in_Children_Developmental_Issues.html
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However assuming the ADHD is correctly diagnosed-
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BENEFITS OF INCLUSION
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- normal children may also benefit from the ‘added - value’
“It's important to remember, too, that when a child has "earned" a
label, the specialized interventions put into place for him or her
will do no harm to other children. In fact, the multi-sensory nature
of most learning strategies used with students with LD or ADHD will
most probably help all the children learn more effectively. “
source http://www.lesley.edu/academic_centers/hood/currents/v3n1/Schultz.html
“A growing body of research indicates that typical kids in well-
supported inclusive environments get a richer, more individualized and
personalized education than in a single- teacher, homogeneous
classroom.”
source http://www.ldonline.org/ld_indepth/special_education/schultz_inclusion.html
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- There are social and academic benefits
The more the child is included, “the less likely it is that he/she
will miss out on the important social events going on in the
class...he/she will help all kids understand and accept learning
differences and disabilities as part of the normal range of human
characteristics....A skilled teacher also gives your child multiple
opportunities to showcase his/her strengths in class activities. As a
result, your child will have a better chance of being socially
competent and socially integrated.”
http://www.ldonline.org/ld_indepth/special_education/schultz_inclusion.html
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PROBLEMS OF INCLUSION:
- Labelling
“People who hear that a child has ADHD might react to him/her
differently than they would toward the child who does not have this
label. That response may or may not be helpful or healthy. Thinking
that all children with ADHD require a full-time one-on-one aide, just
because one other child needed that level of service, is an example of
someone making an inappropriate assumption based on a disability
label.”
http://www.lesley.edu/academic_centers/hood/currents/v3n1/Schultz.html
.
- The classroom teacher is not adequately trained or the classroom
itself does not have sufficient specialist support
“There are not enough special education teachers to individually serve
the needs of the large numbers of children who have this condition,
and most people agree that the needs of most children with ADHD can be
met through what is called "responsible" or "supported" inclusion. As
a result most of these children remain in so-called "regular"
classrooms for most of their school day, where their education is
often the shared responsibility of regular and special education
teachers. Since many regular education teachers have had little or no
formal preparation for working with students with ADHD, there is a
growing need to provide them with specific strategies about how to
effectively teach children with attentional difficulties in the
context of the regular classroom.”
http://www.lesley.edu/academic_centers/hood/currents/v3n1/Schultz.html
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- “A teacher who does not believe in, understand or really want to
teach in such an environment could do much to undermine the
potentially positive benefits of inclusion.”
http://www.ldonline.org/ld_indepth/special_education/schultz_inclusion.html
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- If the behaviour of normal pupils (who are not monitored by
teachers) result in the child “being ostracized in subtle ways that
can have a very negative effect on self concept”
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- Cost can be an issue to provide in service training to teachers. In
most school systems, the movement toward an inclusive environment is
regarded as a three to five year developmental project, with training
and consultation provided on an ongoing basis
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- Affects other children (this is the view from some camps which
challanges those sources which highlight it as a benefit)
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“It is ironic that in an ideological environment which stresses "full
inclusion" in regular classrooms for children with severe
disabilities, highly gifted children are still being excluded in many
ways. Some, like Michael, are being excluded deliberately (and
illegally) from school itself. Other highly gifted children attend
regular classrooms, but instead of working at appropriate academic
levels and having "an equal opportunity to struggle" (Morreale, 1993),
spend much of the school day tutoring others in cooperative learning
groups or reviewing curriculum that they mastered years ago on their
own (Robinson, 1990; U. S. Department of Education, 1993).
Furthermore, a sizable number of child prodigies, children with
extremely high IQs, and those with extraordinary special talents in
the arts end up homeschooling for part of their academic career,
because traditional schools (public and private) do not meet their
needs (Feldman, 1986; Hollingworth, 1942; ABC News, 1995)”
source http://www.hollingworth.org/fullincl.html
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As cited it is “Gifted children, especially those who are economically
disadvantaged and those who are highly gifted, are particularly at
risk”
“...gifted students have fewer and fewer opportunities in school to
interact with intellectual peers, despite clear research evidence of
the academic and social gains in carefully designed homogeneous
groupings of gifted students (White, 1984, 1990; Robinson, 1990).”
“If inclusionary classrooms are committed to serving all students,
they must choose to include, both physically and philosophically, even
the most extremely gifted children as well as children with the most
severe disabilities.”
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- Some schools may not have strong or forward thinking policies and
may be slow to adopt inclusion to full effect.
.
- Some sources point out that inclusion remains controversial
“inclusion remains a controversial concept in education because it
relates to educational and social values, as well as to our sense of
individual worth.”
http://www.weac.org/resource/june96/speced.htm
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MEASURABLE IMPROVEMENTS
“To date, approximately 80% of students with learning disabilities
receive the majority of their instruction in the general classroom.
Although critics have claimed that there is no support for providing
service in special education programs, there is evidence that some
students benefit from such placements more than they would were they
in regular classrooms. There is not yet to be any definitive evidence
that supports or rejects the effectiveness of inclusion practices.”
source http://curry.edschool.virginia.edu/go/cise/ose/information/uvald/inclusion.html
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SUGGESTIONS FOR ADAPTING THE CURRICULUM
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Adaptations must respect interllectual diversity, and ensure that any
adaption does not harm any other group in doing so, from both a social
interaction and learning perspective.
- Increasing quality time spent with getting disablity children to
focus on material through ehanced and stimulating communications
- Using stategies to keep their attention focused
- Educating them to shift and switch activities as children with ADHD
have trouble with starting a new task when they have stopped a
preceding one.
- Additional or adapted individual projects, perhaps with simplied
instructions to assist and accelerate progression.
- More evaluative methods for accessing the progress and effectiveness
of those with learning difficulties
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SUGESTIONS FOR RE-ORGANISING THE ENVIRONMENT
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- Those with learning disablities may have social difficulties as
well, expressing opinions, feelings and interacting with others and
the environment needs to be more accommodating to enable them to
socially interact at the same level.
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- Educating teachers and making them aware of problem, and ensuring
the class room dynamics are balanced.
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- Allow those with disabilities more time to organize, synthesize, and
apply information.
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- Educators can integrate technology and software such as computers
with rich multimedia in the learning enivronment to address special
needs. “When used appropriately, technology can support and extend
traditional materials in valuable ways. Research points to the
positive effects of technology in children's learning and development,
both cognitive and social (Clements 1994; Haugland & Shade 1994).”
http://www.naeyc.org/resources/position_statements/pstech98.htm
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The traditional environment can be extended with the use of the
computer out onto the internet where collaboration can take place with
other children and educators in other classrooms around the world.
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It is felt that technology should support rather than replace teaching
philosophies with children with special needs having increased access.
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“For children with special needs, technology has many potential
benefits. Technology can be a powerful compensatory tool - it can
augment sensory input or reduce distractions; it can provide support
for cognitive processing or enhance memory and recall; it can serve as
a personal "on-demand" tutor and as an enabling device that supports
independent functioning.” from
http://www.naeyc.org/resources/position_statements/pstech98.htm
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SUMMARY
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There is limited coverage of pre-school children aged 0 months to 2/3
years with regard to inclusion, mainly due to a technicality.
Pre-school aged children are not required by law to be in an
educational establishment, so by definition are naturally excluded
from inclusion and the perceived benefits. Also ADHD and other
disorders are harder to diagnosis at tender ages and is challanging
even when older.
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“If teachers are well trained either at the pre-service or inservice
level, if they believe in and understand the concept and practices of
inclusion, if they are supported by colleagues, administrators and
parents, if they have all the help they need to meet your child's
needs, and if their efforts are sufficiently recognized and
reinforced, then inclusion works.”
source http://www.ldonline.org/ld_indepth/special_education/schultz_inclusion.html
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Search strategy
://www.google.com/search?q=inclusion+ADHD+problems+young+children&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&safe=off&start=10&sa=N
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://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=learning+disabilities+inclusion
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://www.google.com/search?q=young+children+ADHD+learning+disabilities+inclusion&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&safe=off&start=10&sa=N
.
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=ADHD+CURRICULUM&btnG=Google+Search
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I hope that helps.
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If you need any clarification please do not hesitate to ask.
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Kind regards
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Clarification of Answer by
lot-ga
on
29 Jun 2002 20:01 PDT
Hello Jolly-ga
The initial research sources didn't show specific resistance from
regular teachers. However it did uncover one source's viewpoint that a
inclusion would affect the development of the gifted children (there
is also an opposing viewpoint from another camp which insists it is a
value added feature)
"..highly gifted children attend regular classrooms, but instead of
working at appropriate academic levels and having "an equal
opportunity to struggle" (Morreale, 1993), spend much of the school
day tutoring others in cooperative learning groups or reviewing
curriculum that they mastered years ago on their own (Robinson, 1990;
U. S. Department of Education, 1993). Furthermore, a sizable number of
child prodigies, children with extremely high IQs, and those with
extraordinary special talents in the arts end up homeschooling for
part of their academic career, because traditional schools (public and
private) do not meet their needs (Feldman, 1986; Hollingworth, 1942;
ABC News, 1995). "
source http://www.hollingworth.org/fullincl.html
.
I traced this case study which highlights a couples plight to get
their child into a inculsion environment:
http://www.catalyst-cleveland.org/05-02/0502story6.htm
The second case study of Vera Brewer the parent
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"......However, when Jordan started at John Hay, there were no other
special education students in the program and Jordan did not receive
the extra help he needed to succeed, Brewer believes. She felt the
staff and principal at John Hay did not welcome Jordan into the
program.
.
Octavia Reid, John Hay assistant principal in charge of special
education, says the school welcomes inclusion and points to several
classes that successfully instruct special and regular education
students. However, she says, the thematic programs at John Hay
currently have no special education students.
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Brewer says resistance to Jordan’s presence and lack of follow-through
with accommodations and supportive services caused Jordan to fail and
to become physically ill. Jordan had ulcers, joint pain, and
migraines, which Brewer says her family doctor attributed to
environmental stress.
.
Although Brewer says she tried to work with staff at John Hay, she
explains that she had to pull Jordan out of the school for health
reasons. He now attends a community school in Cleveland, where Brewer
says he is doing well in regular classes.
.
“All children should have a chance to learn, even if they have a
disability,” says Jordan. He believes Cleveland schools denied him
that chance.
.
Over the summer, Brewer filed a complaint with the Ohio Department of
Education’s Office for Exceptional Children."
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The USA is probably much further down the path with inclusion than the
rest of the world, and this European source highlights a lot of
resistance to inclusion which is relatively new there:
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"“Inclusion can work perfectly well under certain circumstances, but
those are not commonly met,” says the Oecd’s Peter Evans, a special
education expert. For one, “teacher training is not a very inclusive
exercise.” In some countries, student teachers spend no more than
twelve hours of their whole training on disabled students, in others
half a year, while in yet others it is part of the weekly schedule.
The result is a fear of losing face before the unknown. “Teachers
don’t have the tools and they’re aware of it,” says Soriano. Not
surprisingly, teacher unions tend to be in favour of maintaining the
status quo, and represent a “substantial force,” according to Evans,
when it comes to making decisions on integration. Even when they do
fully endorse the integration principle, many teachers and school
principals complain about the disproportionate work load involved
through extra report writing, meetings with expert committees, etc."
source http://www.unesco.org/courier/2001_01/uk/education.htm
.
.
I also uncovered this excellent article to suppliment the original
response.
http://www.ascd.org/readingroom/studyguides/mcleskey00.html
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I hope that helps : )
.
Kind regards
.
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