Blog Post #2: Nicole Yozwiak

Blog Post #2) What Can We Do to Promote the Social Integration of Students with ELN?

By: Nicole Yozwiak

            There are many things that parents, children, and teachers can do to promote the social integration of students with exceptional learning needs.  Over the years, schools have tried to implement new rules in order to socialize children both inside and outside of the classroom.  The parents have played a huge role in this by advocating for their children in order for their children to obtain an education that the parents believe is suitable for their children.  With the parents fighting for their children’s rights, the federal legislation has placed some laws in order to help promote the social integration of students with exceptional learning needs. 

            One of the big changes in the educational system for socialization was The Principle of Normalization in Human Services.  According to “Education for All: Critical Issues in the Education of Children and Youth with Disabilities,” this principle was published in 1972, “in which Wolfensberger and his colleagues argued that deviancy was socially determined and all individuals should be enabled to lead lives like those of ordinary people” (40).  This was supposed to give the parents and children a right to participate in community and school programs with their typical peers and neighbors, but to which extent the schools did this was up to them.  In order to help with this process, the schools were mandated to educate students with exceptional learning needs and meet with each student’s parents in order to ensure all the needs were met and considered as his or her individualized educational program was implemented. 

            As time went on, the Americans with Disabilities Acts, signed in 1990, brought government-sponsored programs to be available and make accommodations for disabled individuals in the workforce.  Also, in 1997, the Individuals with Disabilities Act, increased parents participation in the placement decisions and established mediation as a primary process for conflicts between the school and parents.  One of the decisions that the parents were apart of for the IEP meetings were to decide if the child could be placed in an inclusive education classroom.  This would allow the disabled children to be full-time in a regular classroom and engaging with non-disabled peers.

            When looking through the ADA Amendments Act power point, provided by Dr. Dove, it talked about examples of how recreation areas are designed and constructed for individuals with disabilities.  I know recently, Canfield Township built a new play area park and it was constructed with all accessible grounds and accessible routes for disabled children. This shows the progress that some towns are making in order to accommodate for all children.  It allows disabled individuals to play and socialize with their non-disabled peers. 

            Even though I have just listed some of the laws that have been implemented over the years, the parents, children, and teachers are still figuring out different ways to keep the children involved with their peers inside and outside of the classroom. 

            From my past experience, I volunteered in a third grade classroom that mostly was composed of non-disabled students and a few students with exceptional learning needs.  One day while I was in the classroom, the teacher was passing out awards to the students for all of their reading logs for the month.  The students were getting medals based on the amount of books that they read for that month.  When the student with exceptional learning needs was announced and given his award, all of the students clapped and a few ran up to him and gave him a hug.  I felt like this shows that his non-disabled peers not only enjoyed having him in their classroom, but they were also watching out for him and was proud of him for all his hard work. 

            Some of the social integration that can happen outside of the classroom can involve participation in sports, hobbies, homework help session, or any other extra activities that can happen with or without the school.  A good example of this is in the you tube videos that were sent to us titled, “Jason McElwain Autistic Basketball Player” and “Autistic Jason McElwain Scores 20 Points in 4 Mins”.  Both of these videos focus on a boy that was the basketballs student manager for most of his high school career.  The boy was given the opportunity to socialize with his non-disabled peer’s throughout the years outside of the classroom.  Even though he was not placed in a game until the last game of the season, he was still able to make friends and was a fan favorite.  This shows how students can interact with one another and the success stories that can help socialize students with exceptional learning needs. 

            Overall, all of these examples show the progress that has been made over the years for the students and their families.  It shows the success stories and also the improvement that have given hope to many of the families.  Even though there is room for improvement, communication is still the key for families, students, and teachers in order to promote social integration for students with exceptional learning needs.