Re: WoW! Inclusion is GOOD!

[Guest guest]

Yes it is. Inclusion has the best quality of life outcomes for our kids. Sent via BlackBerry from T-MobileDate: Tue, 27 Apr 2010 00:22:15 -0400To: <sList >Subject: WoW! Inclusion is GOOD! Definitely worth a repost. Posted by: " Karp" deniseslist deniseslist Sat Apr 24, 2010 5:54 am (PDT) ----- Forwarded Message ----From: ACE Chair Shapiro acechairgmail---------- Forwarded message ----------Date: Wed, Apr 21, 2010 at 9:34 PMSubject: School blends students with, without autism (SHARING)To: GRfood@...Cc: dusefofbrowardschoolsSchool blends students with, without autismApproach applauded by parents, expertsMonday, April 19, 2010By Misti CraneTHE COLUMBUS DISPATCH on had no blueprint and plenty of people quick tosecond-guess her dream.She wanted to see what would happen if she took a typical schoolenvironment and taught children who are on the autism spectrumalongside children without disabilities.That's done, to a degree, in classrooms all over the country. Buton, who'd spent 14 years in the public sector before going backto school for her doctorate, didn't want just one or two children withautism in class. She also didn't want them to be singled out forone-on-one lessons.It is her conviction that the disorder is rooted in a lack of socialcompetency. If you can teach good behavior, through constant andappropriate reminders about social expectations, you pave the way tobroader learning, she believes.Ideally, that should happen from an early age and include a lot ofexposure to children who are developing typically, she said.on started Oakstone Academy a decade ago and has watched it growto serve more than 500 children in preschool through 12th grade atmultiple buildings in Columbus and Westerville.There's always a waiting list. And there are a lot of parents happy totell stories of children transforming. They commend on and thestaff she carefully chooses and grooms. At times, you can walk into aclass and be unable to tell the difference between the "typicallydeveloping" peers and the children who have autism.Now, a philanthropist from Florida is raising $18 million to open asimilar school there in 2013.About 40 percent of Oakstone's students fall somewhere on thespectrum. The rest are siblings, the children of staff members, orfrom families who wanted a private-school atmosphere without the cost.Parents of students without autism pay $500 a year in fees. Standardtuition for children on the spectrum runs from $26,500 to $28,500,much of which is subsidized.There is one teacher for every six students. In most other schools,teachers are responsible for closer to 20 children.The behavior expected of students is embedded in the curriculum,plastered on the walls and reinforced constantly. Personalresponsibility is paramount.on said children both with and without autism have flourished,and she is eager to publish an academic paper about the outcomes inher classrooms.That might be what it takes for more people throughout the country tobelieve that it can be done, said Dr. Hendren, professor ofpsychiatry and director of the Division of Child and AdolescentPsychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco.He visited Oakstone recently."I thought eventually when we opened the door, we'd see pandemonium,"Hendren said. "But every time we opened the door, the kids were therelearning and engaged. I'd love to see it replicated."By engaging children with autism socially, you can change the wholetrajectory of their development, Hendren said.He initially was skeptical about on's approach. He wondered howshe could manage it financially and was uncertain about the benefitsfor typically developing children.Oakstone leaders have figured out a way to run the school withoutbankrupting parents - mostly by working with government agencies andschool districts to access dollars available to help the children,librarian Amy Price said. Private-pay schools can run $100,000 a yearor more, she said.The peers in the school score well on standardized tests, and manythrive in the setting, parents and school leaders said. Lawless of Westerville had enrolled her son Liam in a Montessorischool, "but first and second grade was almost the death of us. Nobodyknew how to help him - the anger, the rage, the impulsiveness," shesaid. Lawless quit her job to care for her son, who started atOakstone in third grade.Liam, who is now 12 and in the sixth grade, remembers that time: "Itwas pretty hard, because I kept getting angry, and I didn't know I wasautistic at the time."From the time Liam started at Oakstone, Lawless noticed a profoundchange. He showed her respect. He learned to manage his anger."It's a lot easier to concentrate, and I have a lot of friends," saidLiam, whose 10-year-old brother, Sam, and 6-year-old sister, ,also go to the school."The only thing I don't like about Oakstone is that it's not availableto everyone," Lawless said.Dr. Wynn, who directs the Center for Autism SpectrumDisorders at Nationwide Children's Hospital, said school systems areworking to include children with autism in regular classrooms andactivities, but they have limited resources to devote.on's "program is definitely an asset to the community," she said. Otte and her husband, , wanted their first-grader in aclassroom with typically developing peers. "If he was in a programthat was just with other autistic children, there would be no way forhim to pick up the behaviors of typically developing children," shesaid.When Jack started at Oakstone, he couldn't communicate. Now, almostall of the 7-year-old's skills are at a typical level for his age, and"they think he has the potential to grow out of his diagnosis," saidOtte, who lives in New Albany.Otte's daughter, Abbey, is one of the peer models in the preschool,which has helped her as well, Otte said."She'll be like, 'Jack, focus on me. Look in my eyes.' It's kind offunny coming from a 4-year-old."mcranedispatch-- ACE Chairwww.freewebs.com/acechair

[Guest guest]

Mama:

Do you have any research on inclusion, especially preschoolers or kindergarten students with autism? Broward County only has SEGREGATED preschools for children with autism. (Except for those who are the very highest functioning). I've only ever come across research where inclusion is GOOD, ESPECIALLY for preschoolers--but there are exceptions.

I think Broward County has it a little backwards

[Guest guest]

Mama:

Do you have any research on inclusion, especially preschoolers or kindergarten students with autism? Broward County only has SEGREGATED preschools for children with autism. (Except for those who are the very highest functioning). I've only ever come across research where inclusion is GOOD, ESPECIALLY for preschoolers--but there are exceptions.

I think Broward County has it a little backwards

[Guest guest]

Are you stating that an appropriate reason for segregation is to avoid our children being "on stage, creating a show"? Do you have arguments/debate points a little stronger than that, or should I say WAY stronger than that? There's so much research that indicates the absolute positives of inclusion. Plus there's that IDEA law that says that segregagtion is ONLY appropriate when it can be SHOWN (that is, it is must first be attempted) that a child CANNOT be educated in the gen ed environment given ALL the supports/services he requires to stay in that environment.

In Broward, all kids with autism in preschool are automatically segregated. Then the majority (at least from what I understand most) move onto clusters. They are never even given a CHANCE at integration. So the law is broken for each and every one of those students. How can it be shown that a child CANNOT be educated in the gen ed environment when the child was NOT IN THAT ENVIRONMENT for a school year, (or half a school year, or even one month for Pete's sake!) (WITH appropriate support).

To "accomodate" the law, the School District twists the wording into something similar that you used and that is "least restrictive, most appropriate". The law DOES NOT state this but instead states "To the MAXIMUM EXTENT APPROPRIATE, children with disabilities are to be educated with their non-disabled peers unless it can be shown that this CANNOT be achieve satisfactorily". There is no "unless the child is on stage putting on a show" clause.

The "show" is only temporary compared to the long-term significant benefits of inclusion. Additionally, the person "on top of them" is no more restrictive in a typical classroom than the person "on top of them" in the segregated classroom environment.

The School District may make it seem as if the "show" is something to be hidden--kept away from typical children. In actuality, the school's practice of widespread segregation...so much that its become commonplace and acceptable..is where the REAL shame lies.

Additionally, learning "prerequisite skills" is NOT law, NOT based on research, but something that the school districts make up in order to save money. PLease, show me where it states that "prerequisite skills" are necessary OUTSIDE of school district literature. Additionally, what social & communication & behavioral environment are the children given when they are segregated? All the peers/role models are similarly disabled! Isn't that senseless?

In Broward County, inclusion is done when the child is high functioning. That's discrimination and that's against the law PERIOD.

From NICHY website:

"Since its earliest days, the law has displayed a strong preference for children with disabilities to be educated alongside their peers without disabilities, to the maximum extent appropriate. It recognizes that, in many cases, supplementary aids and services must be provided to a child with a disability to enable him or her to be educated in the general education classroom. Simply put, then, removal of a child with disabilities from the regular education class may occur only if the child cannot be satisfactorily educated in the regular educational environment with the use of supplementary aids and services." http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:xLpv0sWSJSEJ:www.nichcy.org/educatechildren/iep/pages/extentofparticipation.aspx+to+the+maximum+extent+appropriate & cd=3 & hl=en & ct=clnk & gl=us

[Guest guest]

Are you stating that an appropriate reason for segregation is to avoid our children being "on stage, creating a show"? Do you have arguments/debate points a little stronger than that, or should I say WAY stronger than that? There's so much research that indicates the absolute positives of inclusion. Plus there's that IDEA law that says that segregagtion is ONLY appropriate when it can be SHOWN (that is, it is must first be attempted) that a child CANNOT be educated in the gen ed environment given ALL the supports/services he requires to stay in that environment.

In Broward, all kids with autism in preschool are automatically segregated. Then the majority (at least from what I understand most) move onto clusters. They are never even given a CHANCE at integration. So the law is broken for each and every one of those students. How can it be shown that a child CANNOT be educated in the gen ed environment when the child was NOT IN THAT ENVIRONMENT for a school year, (or half a school year, or even one month for Pete's sake!) (WITH appropriate support).

To "accomodate" the law, the School District twists the wording into something similar that you used and that is "least restrictive, most appropriate". The law DOES NOT state this but instead states "To the MAXIMUM EXTENT APPROPRIATE, children with disabilities are to be educated with their non-disabled peers unless it can be shown that this CANNOT be achieve satisfactorily". There is no "unless the child is on stage putting on a show" clause.

The "show" is only temporary compared to the long-term significant benefits of inclusion. Additionally, the person "on top of them" is no more restrictive in a typical classroom than the person "on top of them" in the segregated classroom environment.

The School District may make it seem as if the "show" is something to be hidden--kept away from typical children. In actuality, the school's practice of widespread segregation...so much that its become commonplace and acceptable..is where the REAL shame lies.

Additionally, learning "prerequisite skills" is NOT law, NOT based on research, but something that the school districts make up in order to save money. PLease, show me where it states that "prerequisite skills" are necessary OUTSIDE of school district literature. Additionally, what social & communication & behavioral environment are the children given when they are segregated? All the peers/role models are similarly disabled! Isn't that senseless?

In Broward County, inclusion is done when the child is high functioning. That's discrimination and that's against the law PERIOD.

From NICHY website:

"Since its earliest days, the law has displayed a strong preference for children with disabilities to be educated alongside their peers without disabilities, to the maximum extent appropriate. It recognizes that, in many cases, supplementary aids and services must be provided to a child with a disability to enable him or her to be educated in the general education classroom. Simply put, then, removal of a child with disabilities from the regular education class may occur only if the child cannot be satisfactorily educated in the regular educational environment with the use of supplementary aids and services." http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:xLpv0sWSJSEJ:www.nichcy.org/educatechildren/iep/pages/extentofparticipation.aspx+to+the+maximum+extent+appropriate & cd=3 & hl=en & ct=clnk & gl=us

[Guest guest]

I'd like to share what I consider to be a logical and persuasive legal analysis of Inclusion:

The Role of the 1:1Aide in Facilitating InclusionBy Bonnie Yates, Esq and F. WeingardenWhen I was in Olympia, WA last month, a special education teacher told me that his District regularly tells parents that children should not have 1:1 aides in a regular ed setting because "a 1:1 aide" is the most restrictive placement.I explained to him that such an arrangement had allowed my child to never set foot in a special day class and ultimately matriculate to a four year college, so how was that restrictive? I understood, though that what he was really asking for was some legal talking points that might help the next time he encountered the argument. Those are set forth below: Question: Does the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act ("IDEA") disfavor providing a disabled child with a supporting one-to-one aide in a regular education setting on the theory that such is the "most restrictive placement"?1. IDEA imposes two obligations upon state public education systems vis-à-vis disabled children. First, the disabled have a right to an "appropriate" public education at state expense, known as "FAPE". Second, IDEA has a desegregation clause, mandating that states when feasible ensure that disabled students are educated in settings where nondisabled students are also present. In short, states cannot satisfy IDEA merely by providing the disabled with an education that is "separate but equal".2. The term "restrictive placement" nowhere appears in either IDEA or its regulations. On the other hand, the term "Least restrictive environment" is found within IDEA as the heading for its desegregation clause. Codified at 20 United States Code section 1412(a)(5), subparagraph (A) of that clause requires states to maintain policies and procedures to ensure that:To the maximum extent appropriate, children with disabilities, including children in public or private institutions or other care facilities, are educated with children who are not disabled, and special classes, separate schooling, or other removal of children with disabilities from the regular educational environment occurs only when the nature or severity of the disability of a child is such that education in regular classes with the use of supplementary aids and services cannot be achieved satisfactorily. Question: Does the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act ("IDEA") disfavor providing a disabled child with a supporting one-to-one aide in a regular education setting on the theory that such is the "most restrictive placement"?3. The term "least restrictive environment" does not appear in the text of either IDEA or its regulations except as a heading, although the initials for that term (i.e., "LRE") do appear in the regulations' text. Case law and literature use the term "least restrictive environment" to refer, in effect, to the least segregated environment in which a student can be placed.4. As quoted above, the IDEA clause entitled "Least restrictive environment" requires that children with disabilities be educated to the maximum extent appropriate with children who are not disabled, and that removal of a disabled child from the regular education environment occur only when his disability precludes satisfactory education in regular classes even with the use of supplementary aids and services. Accordingly, IDEA clearly favors a disabled child attending a regular education setting, even when a one-to-one aide is needed for him to do so satisfactorily.5. It is thus erroneous (as well as a malapropism) to describe regular education participation with one-to-one aide support as disfavored under IDEA by virtue of being the "most restrictive placement".Bonnie Yates is a special education attorney in Los Angeles. If you like to speak with Bonnie please feel free to call her at .> > Subject: Re: WoW! Inclusion is GOOD!> To: sList > Date: Wednesday, April 28, 2010, 3:57 AM> > > Mama:> > Do you have any research on inclusion, especially preschoolers or kindergarten students with autism? Broward County only has SEGREGATED preschools for children with autism. (Except for those who are the very highest functioning) . I've only ever come across research where inclusion is GOOD, ESPECIALLY for preschoolers- -but there are exceptions.> > I think Broward County has it a little backwards>

[Guest guest]

I'd like to share what I consider to be a logical and persuasive legal analysis of Inclusion:

The Role of the 1:1Aide in Facilitating InclusionBy Bonnie Yates, Esq and F. WeingardenWhen I was in Olympia, WA last month, a special education teacher told me that his District regularly tells parents that children should not have 1:1 aides in a regular ed setting because "a 1:1 aide" is the most restrictive placement.I explained to him that such an arrangement had allowed my child to never set foot in a special day class and ultimately matriculate to a four year college, so how was that restrictive? I understood, though that what he was really asking for was some legal talking points that might help the next time he encountered the argument. Those are set forth below: Question: Does the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act ("IDEA") disfavor providing a disabled child with a supporting one-to-one aide in a regular education setting on the theory that such is the "most restrictive placement"?1. IDEA imposes two obligations upon state public education systems vis-à-vis disabled children. First, the disabled have a right to an "appropriate" public education at state expense, known as "FAPE". Second, IDEA has a desegregation clause, mandating that states when feasible ensure that disabled students are educated in settings where nondisabled students are also present. In short, states cannot satisfy IDEA merely by providing the disabled with an education that is "separate but equal".2. The term "restrictive placement" nowhere appears in either IDEA or its regulations. On the other hand, the term "Least restrictive environment" is found within IDEA as the heading for its desegregation clause. Codified at 20 United States Code section 1412(a)(5), subparagraph (A) of that clause requires states to maintain policies and procedures to ensure that:To the maximum extent appropriate, children with disabilities, including children in public or private institutions or other care facilities, are educated with children who are not disabled, and special classes, separate schooling, or other removal of children with disabilities from the regular educational environment occurs only when the nature or severity of the disability of a child is such that education in regular classes with the use of supplementary aids and services cannot be achieved satisfactorily. Question: Does the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act ("IDEA") disfavor providing a disabled child with a supporting one-to-one aide in a regular education setting on the theory that such is the "most restrictive placement"?3. The term "least restrictive environment" does not appear in the text of either IDEA or its regulations except as a heading, although the initials for that term (i.e., "LRE") do appear in the regulations' text. Case law and literature use the term "least restrictive environment" to refer, in effect, to the least segregated environment in which a student can be placed.4. As quoted above, the IDEA clause entitled "Least restrictive environment" requires that children with disabilities be educated to the maximum extent appropriate with children who are not disabled, and that removal of a disabled child from the regular education environment occur only when his disability precludes satisfactory education in regular classes even with the use of supplementary aids and services. Accordingly, IDEA clearly favors a disabled child attending a regular education setting, even when a one-to-one aide is needed for him to do so satisfactorily.5. It is thus erroneous (as well as a malapropism) to describe regular education participation with one-to-one aide support as disfavored under IDEA by virtue of being the "most restrictive placement".Bonnie Yates is a special education attorney in Los Angeles. If you like to speak with Bonnie please feel free to call her at .> > Subject: Re: WoW! Inclusion is GOOD!> To: sList > Date: Wednesday, April 28, 2010, 3:57 AM> > > Mama:> > Do you have any research on inclusion, especially preschoolers or kindergarten students with autism? Broward County only has SEGREGATED preschools for children with autism. (Except for those who are the very highest functioning) . I've only ever come across research where inclusion is GOOD, ESPECIALLY for preschoolers- -but there are exceptions.> > I think Broward County has it a little backwards>

[Guest guest]

Inclusion is what Least Restrictive Environment is all about. If it is enbraced

by the school, staff and typical students it works extremely well for all

involved.

This isn't like experimental, its a done deal and works in many other States,

see here, including :

http://www.includingsamuel.com/home.aspx

All teachers and Administrators should see this

STeve Moyer

>

>

> From: Diane Rosenstein <Wamtzembellsouth (DOT) net>

> Subject: Re: WoW! Inclusion is GOOD!

> To: sList@ yahoogroups. com

> Date: Wednesday, April 28, 2010, 3:57 AM

>

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>  

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>

> Mama:

>  

> Do you have any research on inclusion, especially preschoolers or kindergarten

students with autism?  Broward County only has SEGREGATED preschools for

children with autism.  (Except for those who are the very highest functioning)

..  I've only ever come across research where inclusion is GOOD, ESPECIALLY for

preschoolers- -but there are exceptions.

>  

> I think Broward County has it a little backwards

>

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>

>

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>

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[Guest guest]

Well said, and the EARLIER inclusion starts the BETTER. Preschoolers will not notice anything wildly different about another preschooler with autism, except for maybe he/she doesn't talk/talks less.

I believe there is a movement for there being "disability education" in the schools which is a great idea and would be a start for tearing down the segregation wall.

[Guest guest]

Well said, and the EARLIER inclusion starts the BETTER. Preschoolers will not notice anything wildly different about another preschooler with autism, except for maybe he/she doesn't talk/talks less.

I believe there is a movement for there being "disability education" in the schools which is a great idea and would be a start for tearing down the segregation wall.