Blog Post #2: What Can We Do To Promote the Social Integration of Students with ELN?" Ray Marks

Recently I watched a beer commercial – the brand of beer is not relevant. In the commercial, six young men are playing a hard-fought game of wheelchair basketball in an empty gym: shots are made, some of the chairs are overturned in in play. This is a "real" game, not a demonstration. A voice-over intones: “Dedication. Loyalty. Friendship...”

…then five of the men step out of their chairs. All six men high-five each other, saying “good game,” and other affirmations we give one another after a game. The voice continues: “the choices we make reveal the true nature of our character,” as the men all gather at their favorite pub. Notwithstanding the commercial message, I believe the overarching message beautifully expresses the ideal we seek in promoting the acceptance and social integration of students with disabilities.

We always hear about the successes in the news. The Jason McElwain videos show what can happen when a community, even for a brief moment, rallies around a student with a disability. A brief internet search yields many stories just like these, treated as anomalies. I am not saying these successes should not be celebrated. With the history of how we have treated students with disabilities still fresh in our memories, however, I believe it is incumbent on us to ensure that this behavior is the norm, not the exception.

The school I work in is undergoing a lot of changes, including inclusion support. Prior to this, I would say that my colleagues have always been mindful of students with special needs, including them in activities both curricular and extra-curricular. Our students, regardless of special needs, are a part of the 'Mooney Family,' and are celebrated for their achievements. However, there has been room for improvement. In my experience, many students with an IEP would take their tests outside of the classroom, in a trailer provided by the state for such help – this is a consequence of an interpretation of the laws regarding the the separation of church and state (CMHS is a private Catholic School). Some students would not avail themselves of the opportunity because they perceived a stigma in leaving the classroom. From my experience, this was not the case. But the perception exists, and must be addressed. Currently, we have a much larger team involved inside the school to help reduce those perceptions and to help those students that need that help. These changes will help us become better at achieving the goals set out by IDEA.

In terms of trust, which according to Turnbull, et al (2006) is defined as “having confidence in someone else's reliability, judgment, word and action to care for and not harm the entrusted person (p. 160) (Jiminez and Graf, 2008), Cardinal Mooney is unique in that many, if not most, of our students are the children and grandchildren of former students. This closeness fosters that mindfulness discussed earlier. As a Catholic school, dependent on tuition to cover most of our operating costs, we have always maintained a partnership with our former students and that trust that is strengthened by the consistency of care we take with all of our students. We have a tradition of including families into the overall 'Mooney Family' right from the beginning. Parents are encouraged to include themselves in school activities, and many do. Communication is encouraged, and I personally have had many conversations with parents about the needs of their children.

I am not saying that there aren't challenges to acceptance and social interaction at Cardinal Mooney. That would be disingenuous. There is always room for improvement, both institutionally and personally. But I do believe that the successes we do have are predicated on that close partnership that exists between us and our parents and students. If other schools could adopt that tradition, that of partnership with the community we serve, we would see fewer news articles – because inclusion is normal, not an anomaly.