Blog Post #3: Ralph Rich

     As we progress through this course and examine the knowledge we’ve gained thus far about students with disabilities and the overall effect inclusion has on their lives, the list would be ongoing. Inclusion helps to bridge the gap between students with disabilities and students without disabilities. Inclusion provides children with disabilities an opportunity for a more normal life, the forming of relationships, a classroom learning environment, an everyday routine, and opportunities to participate in extracurricular activities, whether it be sports, clubs, theater, or just an invitation to a fellow classmate’s birthday party. Inclusion does what it says it will do, it includes the children with disabilities, hence the name.

     But what about the opposing viewpoint, not to sound contrary. What about the students without disabilities? How does inclusion affect them? According to Constantinescu and Samuels (2016), studies have shown that students learning in the same classroom with students with disabilities have performed poorer in math and reading from Kindergarten-first grade, have had more absences, behavioral issues and struggled socially (Constantinescu & Samuels 2016, para. 3). This is not to say that the method of inclusion should be discontinued. There is still much agreement on the benefits of inclusion that yield positive results for students with disabilities in relationships, peer interaction, socialness, and of course, academics (Constantinescu & Samuels 2016, para. 18).

     University of Wisconsin-Madison professor Jason Fletcher describes the struggles of students without disabilities as the “spillover effect” in an inclusion setting (Constantinescu & Samuels 2016, para. 12). The student with the disability may affect the student without a disability in a negative way, which may not be obvious to a general education teacher. This addresses the next concern in regards to the training of general education teachers. George Sugai, co-director of the National Center for Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports funds a partnership between the schools and the NCPBIS to provide extra training and support to arm teachers with knowledge and effective tools to best help all students in their classroom (Constantinescu and Samuels 2016, paras. 25, 27).

     Inclusion has many benefits in the classroom. In a previous paper, I noted the positive effects inclusion had on students without disabilities, such as students taking on leadership roles, and children that were at one time silent becoming more vocal. There will always be advantages and disadvantages to everything. For inclusion, the advantages outweigh the disadvantages.

 

Constantinescu, Carmen & Samuels, Christina A. (6 September 2016). Studies flag potential downside to inclusion. Education Week. Retrieved 2 October 2016.