Inclusion/A
Contemporary Challenge
Reflecting on my professional and personal life, I have had
many experiences with individuals with special needs in different types of settings. I believe in inclusion education and
educational opportunities that meet specific needs of individual. Educational opportunities that may meet
specific social or educational needs may not include typical peers. While I believe in a combination of learning
inclusion and non-inclusion. I think
society needs to be very careful as not to exclude individuals because they may
need/want non-inclusion classes and/or opportunities.
I am a firm believer of inclusion in the educational setting
and in society in general. I have been
teaching Sunday School at my church for many years for an adult class, with
adults ages 22- 52 who have different diagnoses and intellectual/ developmental
delays. While this class seems exclusive
at first glace, it has aspects inclusivity which are fulfilling to the class
members, their families and peers. This
class has been at our church for over 20 years.
It first started as a class for those with special needs only and was
only on Sunday in the classroom. We
still do have classes on Sundays, but we also attend other functions within the
church with all church members. We
attend worship and fellowship outings with the entire congregation. The class members get fulfillment and joy for
both settings. They love seeing their
friends in Sunday School Class and they also like attending functions with the
entire church congregation. We need to
be mindful to promote inclusion, while still meeting needs of individuals. There can be certain instances when
particular needs (social and educational) of individuals must be met in a
non-inclusion setting. We just need to
be mindful of not to move backward in time to not having inclusion education.
Cindy, That is wonderful that you teach Sunday school for special needs adults. While it may seem exclusive, maybe this is the best setting for them to be able to learn at their own pace and feel comfortable with their friends around them. Sometimes a segregated learning situation or activity can prove to be more relaxed and fun for them. This made me think about the Challenger baseball my two younger kids volunteered at every Sunday afternoon during their high school years. Challenger baseball is a special softball league for mentally challenged adults. My son would either pitch or help the adults with fielding the balls. My daughter would usually help in the dugout with the line up. While this too was segregated, it really needed to be for all of the participants to have fun and be able to be themselves while playing. Both the players and volunteers learned from this fun experience. It warmed your heart to see the joy on their faces when they would connect the bat with he ball, or as they ran the bases and would score a run. While this was exclusive, it offered the best opportunity for fun for all.
ReplyDeleteCindy, It was great reading your blog because it gave me a first hand look at the benefits of inclusion. I think you are correct when saying sometimes inclusion is not the best practice all the time and students might need individual attention. Sometimes the accommodations provided in general classrooms don't always benefit the student to the fullest extent.
ReplyDeleteCindy, It was a joy reading your blog entry. I am also a believer of inclusion for individuals because it helps to create a stronger individualism with the individual with a disability but most importantly can create higher self-esteem issues for them. But in the opposite end, the individual with a disability ( especially if the disability is disruptive or aggressive) will need the support and guidance from a trained professional within the classroom with them. The general education teacher normally has more then 20 students in their classroom and it would be difficult to take time to focus complete attention on the individual with the disability. I am torn on both parts because I believe in inclusion as long as there is a trained professional in the room with him/her and second, sometimes educational learning can come to a temporary stand still and that is in no way the fault of the individual with disability or even the teacher. There just are not enough trained professionals within educational settings to go around.
ReplyDeleteI completely enjoyed reading about the excitement and happiness that the individuals encounter when they come together every Sunday to learn and worship and that gives them something to look forward to each week. You are doing an exceptional job boasting moral and deserve a pat on the back. That put a smile on my face because no one saw each other as different and positive social interactions were created!!
I am a firm believer in "no disability should ever stand in the way of our interests, goals, or strengths so why should our education system?" Kuddos to you Cindy!
ReplyDelete