inclusion

[Guest guest]

Hi Amy,

Great topic!

I see inclusion as the goal for everyone.....after all, we are all included in

the human race and we are all alive here on earth.....of

course we all want our kids to be included and to be as much as part of our

society as possible, right?

In my mind the questions that may help us more are:

WHEN is the best time to include?

WHAT are we trying to get our kids " included " into?

WILL the inclusion " experience " truly help move us toward the ultimate goal of

inclusion into society as a whole? and as an aside

to that: what parts of society or our culture does our family or we as

individuals NOT want to be included in.....for example, we

once lived in a neighborhood where the 7,8 and 9 yr. olds were beginning to

smoke cigarettes down at the school playground after

hours......I want my kid to be " included " in the playgroups and the independence

of playing with the kids but I do NOT let my child

be " included " in that activity because my ultimate goal is a HEALTHY independent

adult in the end, not one who feels real

included at eight but is addicted to nicotene at 20......not sure I am making

myself clear, but one extremely important issue to me in

the inclusion is whether the adults or peers understand what the child does or

does not have a choice about.....if your child can

crawl but can't walk will the child be subtly or blatantly punished or rewarded

for crawling or walking? or talking or squeaking or

jumping or spinning or laughing or crying, etc. etc. How much tolerance is

displayed in the " normal " preschool? How much are

" differences " celebrated? How aware are they of the next skill/challenge your

child has to develop and then making the social

environment a positive factor in helping your child take the next step?? I know

all this sounds very philosophical.......but a question

like how do you feel about " inclusion " really brings up a lot of big real

questions. Just what I can think of right now....hope it

helps. Carol