Participate: SPED 6900 Blog first entry by Wednesday, 9/14/16 – 5 P.M. [EST] and make two additional entries by Friday, 9/16/16.
Please read the question and post your response regarding "What Can We Do to Promote the Social Integration of Students with ELN?”
Blog Post #2) What Can We Do to Promote the Social Integration of Students with ELN?
Research has consistently indicated that most parents, of students with exceptional learning needs (ELN), regard social integration as a primary goal for their children. However, parents indicate that they do not feel that schools necessarily agree; and, that their children do not have the same opportunities as those provided for nondisabled students. Studies continue to reveal that children with disabilities experience feelings of isolation; and, that they feel badly because they are not chosen as friends as often as other children. What can we do to promote the acceptance and social integration of children with disabilities in our schools, communities, and our society?
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Cassie Guerrieri - Blog 2
ReplyDeleteAs someone who has been fortunate enough to work with students with ELN since I was in high school, I have many thoughts on this topic. When I was in high school I was able to volunteer at Fairhaven for their Special Olympics and that made a huge impact on me because I was able to see these individuals for all that they were, kids who were having fun. I feel as though if we want to promote the social integration of individuals with ELN we need to come up with various programs in which people of all ages get to spend time with those individuals. I know that more schools are trying to include students with ELN more and more in the extracurricular fields. It would be a great if the schools set up a program in which a typical peer could act as a guide/mentor to a student with ELN as additional support. This could not only act as a situation in which these students are able to have a social encounter but for both to have a greater understanding of each other. These moments can occur more often if we work hard at promoting these sort of programs.
If a child is in a classroom for a period then pulled into a resource room, other peers do not have much opportunity to get to know a child especially if they are with their aid throughout that time. It is our duty as educators to allow the children to have time to work on ice breakers or just various fun activities to allow these students to see that they are all the same, despite their learning levels. In the book, Education for All, it is said that,“academic and behavior outcomes for students with disabilities in a school that used inclusive delivery of services to one that used a pull-out or resource model and found that students in the inclusive setting performed significantly better on a number of indicators” (pg 81).
I recently watched the news in which an individual with autism won gold in the Paralympics this year. His new goal was to compete in the Olympics and his drive and desire proved that he would not stop until he would be there. His father spoke about how when he runs it was a way to escape his disability and he was just a kid. The club that he joined was for special needs individuals and this allowed him to meet individuals like himself and meet different “typical” individuals who run as well. His family did a wonderful job of making sure they gave him all of the opportunities a typical child would get and with that they allowed him to expand socially by putting him in “out there” and doing something that he loved.
The more we include kids in what they love and give them a chance to do what they love it helps them feel great and builds their confidence so that when we integrate everyone they are confident and ready to succeed.
I love your idea of having a typical peer "act as a guide/mentor to a student with ELN as additional support"(Guerrieri). Also, the fact that these students would get to know each other in a "fun" environment versus interacting in the classroom where it is more structured would make it easier to get to know each other and build relationships. It sounds like helping at the Special Olympics was a great and valuable experience!
DeleteWhat can we do to promote the social integration of students with exceptional learning needs? One word specifically comes to mind, Partnerships.
ReplyDeleteEducation for All Handicapped Children Act (EAHCA), 1975, the backbone of special education, and the beginning of the partnership in the mid 1970's, with the belief that "all" children have the right to a free and appropriate education. This shift in basic thinking was the first movement to promoting the social integration of students with exceptional learning needs.
The framers of that Act realized that not only were these children educationally stigmatized but their social stigma affected them daily on Main St. This partnership between the Federal Government and Children with disabilities paved the way for not only educational integration but social integration. Prior to the introduction of LRE (least restrictive environment), the children with disabilities were outcasts both at home and at school and this forced integration changed that thinking. "...if separate but equal is not allowed with regard to race,neither should it be allowed to segregate students with disabilities from participating in public school settings." (Jimenez, Graf, 2002). This integration had broken down walls for these children that had existed for decades and called for immediate partnership between parents and educators alike. Like any partnerships they needed time to strenghthen and grow.
We must take into consideration that not all partnerships are perfect and need a level of trust that does not always exist "...in many instances, schools and families interact within a culture of mistrust and intimidation." (Jimenez,Graf, 2002). We as educators must continually build those partnerships with administrators, parents and students, both with and without disabilities, is this is to work correctly and to its fullest potential.
Unfortunately, even today stigmas continue to persist and exist, but there are resources which can be utilized that are authorized by IDEA and funded by the Department of Education. PTIs (parent training and information centers), CPRCs (community parent resource centers and others to assist the parents of children with disabilities. Of course for our children with disabilities,resources like "circle of friends-involves educators, parents, or peers inviting classmates to form a support network for students with a disability so that the student will have friends (Falvey, Forest, Pearpoint, & Rosenburg, 2002). These support groups can be the "in" that children with disabilities are looking for to feel just like the other children. It is our job to educate and partner with these types of resources to socially integrate our children. With these resources and the expansion of others the question of how to integrate children with disabilities may never need to be asked.