Blog Post #2 Jodie Bock

            In my opinion, Social integration of students with exceptional learning needs (ELN) has been an ongoing struggle for all times.  From personal experience of a child with ADHD, OCD, PDD-NOS it has been a lifelong struggle.  My child attended a relatively small school (100 in graduating class) in a rural setting.  He was one of the first high functioning child that was on the spectrum to attend the school. While my child was in elementary school the kids thought he was weird but did not bully him.  By the time he reached high school the kids were embracing him and appreciating him for his strengths i.e. high knowledge of science and trivial facts of everything.  I feel social integration is a two-way street, while the school accepted him he really never made an effort to accept them.  He was happiest for the most part to being left alone.  Unless it was one of the few topics he really liked he could not be bothered to be involved in a conversation and the conversations around him usually irritated him.  I do feel that him being a part of the school and sports paved the way for a child with autism that was a couple of years younger than him.

            Least restrictive environment is the presumption that students with disabilities will be granted access to and educated in the general education curriculum and will participate in other general education activities. `( Jimenez and Graf 2008) I believe that least restrictive environment (LRE) classroom can help and hinder the social acceptance of kids with ELN.  I do believe that when kids, especially at the younger ages, are exposed to kids with ELN the are more accepting of them and their disabilities.   Sometimes having kids in the special education classes integrated can cause stigmatizing.  As one mother stated in Education For All: Critical Issues in the Education of Children and Youth with Disabilities, “What message does that give to the other professionals or the other students when you have to take a 17- 18- 19- year old kid to the bathroom?” (p.52) The environment of the child with disabilities in the school must be set up in a way to preserve their dignity. The acceptance of kids with ELN in the inclusion classroom has to start at the teacher level.  The teacher is responsible for setting the tone of the classroom by setting up his or her classroom in a way to support the child physically and emotionally.

            At my work, we provide a summer program with peer role models in each classroom.  The peers are typical kids that are usually siblings of the child or children of the staff. The kids are placed in classrooms with children of the same age when possible. The peers come in a couple times a week and spend the day in the classroom to help model socially acceptable behaviors and help our autistic children learn social skills.  As stated in Exceptional Lives: Special Education in Today’s Schools, “Peer tutoring can lead to increased academic outcomes, enhanced social skills, stronger personal relationships, and greater school inclusion for students with multiple disabilities. ( pg 236)  Another technique for social integration used out our school is to take our kids on walks around the YSU campus.  Not only does this help us teach them social skills i.e. how to share a sidewalk and how to respond to a greeting, it brings greater awareness and social acceptance of our population to the college kids and faculty. My greatest wish is when they hear one of my 16-year-old students singing loudly that they don’t dwell on the fact that the song mighty be more appropriate for a 5 years old but to focus on what a beautiful voice he has and how happy he is.