7B Corey Creamer--- Response to Niocle Yozwiak LRE

I really enjoyed your research paper on least restrictive environment. Your research was fantastic, and you brought up so many valid points on the necessity of teaching special education students in the least restrictive environment.

I enjoyed the section of your essay where you discussed the negatives of placing special education students in an isolated classroom. Special needs students who are placed in a “specialized learning classroom” will often feel isolated from their peers, and that is the last thing we want to see for our students. The special needs children that I currently teach are placed into regular education classes with their peers, and this has had a countless number of benefits for each individual student. Many of my students now look forward to coming to school, unlike previous years. This can be attributed to my students being taught in the same classroom as their non-disabled peers.

I also enjoyed when you stated that students learn through integration with their disabled/non disabled peers. Without proper interaction, non-disabled students may judge disabled peers, bully them, or isolate them. With the use of least restrictive environment we place students in the proper classroom environment and promote the proper integration, which is a win-win scenario.

The quote you used sums it up best…… "Inclusive education does not give up on slow learners, on the poor and the most vulnerable, on people who are differently abled. Neither does it discriminate in terms of culture and faith affiliation. Instead, it capitalizes on the diversity of individual learners to broaden perspectives and enrich the learning experience. It is about understanding other cultures, other faiths, and people who are different from us, with the aim of achieving greater global understanding and tolerance, and obtaining peace for our conflict-plagued world."  Through the use of inclusive education we are providing all students with the free and appropriate education they deserve. We are showing our students that caring and compassionate are important life-long lessons that can taught in the classroom. As I mentioned before as stated in the quote broadening perspectives make the classroom a positive environment that provides proper education and learning to all students regardless of disabilities, culture, and financial income.