Needs of One vs. Needs of Many

[Eeyores Butterfly]

I think inclusion if used in the manner intended and not as an excuse to not provide Least Restrictive Enviroment is a wonderful thing. That said, inclusion is not always the least restrictive enviroment for a child. Inclusion needs to be decided on what will be best for the individual child. Reasons not to place a child in an inclusion setting would be isolation, severe disruptive behavior caused by over stimulation, profound or trainable students that need to be taught a different type of curriculm(life skills).
Even for these children I can see mainstreaming for some activities like PE, music, art, etc.
I think children need to be placed in the best enviroment for their individual needs both academically and socially.
That said, the #1 graduating student at our high school this year was severely physically handicapped with C/P and had been included in regular classes since elementary school with a fulltime para. He is going to Harvard this fall on a fulltime scholarship. Mentally he had no disability but physically his body just doesn't work. And yes he had an IEP not a 504 plan. Inclusion was right for him
In the past I worked with a child who was deaf/blind and autistic. Inclusion was not the least restrictive enviroment for him. He was finally sent to a special school in Mass from Fla because that school had a program specifically for children with his issues. He bloomed there. It was so successful that several teacher were sent to be trained there and there is now a program for these children in our county.

You make some very good points TH. It is wonderful that the experiences of that young man were able to translate into benefits for the entire district!

 

[Schmeck]

The reason that social skills are taught is because some students need a systematic way of teaching those skills. I have seen flashcards of facial expressions used to teach children wtih Asperger's/autism about reading others' emotions. With some of the kids I've worked with, this was a need for them to function in society. There is only so much a parent can do at home. There is some amazing curriulum available from the CEC, and it would be very difficult for a parent to implement at home (although parents should certainly try to reinforce them at home).

How much time during the school day would one spend working on social skills with each student?

 

[jodifla]

How much time during the school day would one spend working on social skills with each student?

In my son's school, what's typical is a social group once a week for about 30 minutes.

 

[SereneOne]

THis is not true in all school districts. In Miami-Dade County Public Schools a para must have a minimum of a AA or AS. Some have Bachelors degree but for personal reason prefer to work as a para. I have one friend who because of medical problems moved from being the teacher to classroom para. It was either that or retire. She is a one on one to a terrific kid.

In Bay County, they do not even do a hair strand drug test on their employees. A person I know could not even get a job at Target because they do hair strand, but the school only does urine. She was passed from school to school being abusive to children for four years. I hate public schools.

 

[Talking Hands]

In Bay County, they do not even do a hair strand drug test on their employees. A person I know could not even get a job at Target because they do hair strand, but the school only does urine. She was passed from school to school being abusive to children for four years. I hate public schools.

There are good and bad in public schools but I've found that for the most part the good teachers, administrators, and staff far outweigh the bad. Problem is we hear about the bad more often than the good.
I also found out that many times the bad ones don't get bounced because the parents do not follow through on their compaints and put them in writing. This is what I had to do to get a bus driver removed from both my daughter's buses (same driver different routes) I had to write my complaints out and deliver it to the transportation supervisor. Many of the parents refused to do this because of possible repercussions to their child. My husband and I decided if we had to drive them so be it but this driver had to go.

 

[Luv Bunnies]

I think I understand the point of the OP's first post and I think she brings up an important question: Is inclusion always the best way to go?

I truly think inclusion should be evaulated on a case-by-case basis. It would be wonderful is all special needs kids could be successfully accommodated in regular classrooms but that's not always the case.

I will use my own son as an example. He is going into 7th grade next month and has Asperger's. Academically, he can do very well. He has no mental deficiencies whatsoever. His difficulties lie in his social skills and classroom behavior.

Things went fine until 6th grade. He was in mainstream classrooms without an aide. The IEP team always hand-picked his teacher for the next year. And because our school has split-classes, the teachers loop. He had the same teacher for 2/3 and the same for 4/5. I worked closely with the teachers and, with the help of a private psychologist, we devised some methods to keep his behavior on track. The kids were generally accepting of his differences and he even had a few friends.

Everything fell apart when he entered 6th grade. Changing classes several times a day was difficult. The classes had 35 kids in them and the teachers could barely manage that many kids. None of the teachers were willing to provide my son with any extra help. They saw him as a behavior problem. They didn't understand that his anxiety over the situation was driving his behavior. He spent more time in the office than in the classroom. It was just a bad situation all around. He no longer felt safe or comfortable or accepted in his school environment. He was basically failing 6th grade.

We fought for several months to get him on track. The district didn't honor things that were written in his IEP (that's another long story). We weren't against a special ed class but the district had none that were appropriate for him. There is an emotionally disturbed class and one for mentally disabled kids. Our son doesn't fit either profile.

The district finally gave him a placement at a private school designed specifically for kids with Asperger's. We had to hire a lawyer to help us do this but we're glad we did. Our son is now thriving in his school. He went from failing in the fall to all Bs and 1 C for his 4th quarter grades.

I think this clearly illustrates a case where inclusion didn't work. As a parent, I've always been concerned about the other kids in the classroom. I've told his past teachers that I didn't want him to be disruptive to the point of negatively affecting the other kids. Sure, it's good for them to learn that everyone is different and we need to be tolerant of those differences. But it's not fair when the teacher has to interrupt a lesson 6 times because one kid keeps calling out at inappropriate times.

We've been talking to the principal at the private school. Our plan is to keep our son there for 2 more years. For high school, we will discuss the available programs with the high school district. The pricipal thinks we'll end up with a combination of regular and special ed classes. But, that's down the road. For now, our son is thriving. His social skills have improved greatly. His anxiety level was immediately reduced when he started the new school. He feels accepted and understood by the teachers and students.

So, to the OP, no I don't think inclusion is always the best way to go. I think there is sometimes a point where we need to determine if the student's needs are truly being met. We also need to consider the impact on the classroom. Parents, teachers and administrators need to look hard at the situation and decide if it's really the best placement for the child.

 

[Eeyores Butterfly]

How much time during the school day would one spend working on social skills with each student?

It really depends on the student and the curriculum. For a student with more severe needs that is being given a functional curriculum, it can be a significant amount of time, sometimes a couple of hours. Of course, it will vary from day to day and be dependent upon the curriculum.

In the circumstances I have been in, it has been related to another therapy. The flashcards were in speech therapy (I was subbing for an SLP) so it was really working on two things at once. I have also done EIBI (Early Intensive Behavioral Intervention) at a preschool for autism. We do a similar thing with getting the kids to recognize facial expressions and other social skills like associative and cooperative play. This helps them in other aspects of life as well.

On a side note: I love the program. By Kindergarten, the majority of our kids are indistinguishable or nearly indistinguishable from their neurotypical peers. They are mainstreamed and you would have to have prior knowledge of the diagnosis to know that that child has autism. This program is a miracle for many children, and I hope that it expands to more school districts. The key is to start it by age 3. Kindergarten is typically the last year it can be used, it is the maintenance year. The research so far is that starting it in Kindergarten is not nearly as effective.

 

[Eeyores Butterfly]

How much time during the school day would one spend working on social skills with each student?

In Bay County, they do not even do a hair strand drug test on their employees. A person I know could not even get a job at Target because they do hair strand, but the school only does urine. She was passed from school to school being abusive to children for four years. I hate public schools.

You are right. I worked as a sub this past year, and while a fingerprinting background check was required, I did not have any kind of drug test. I cannot believe a schoo lwas passing around an abusive person. Talk about liabilitiy. That just irritates me. I don't blame you for hating public schools given that experience. Please know that they are not all that way.

The school district our university works with is amazing, people actually move to the area for our special ed program. It is a good program, mostly due to the university support through the Professional Development School. Another school district I know has an exceptional EBD room at the elementary level. All the students from the 11 elementary schools are bussed to this one school for the room. The principal took complete ownership and they have had tremendous gains. So far they have been able to succesfully reintegrate every child. It's places like this that give me hope for our school system.

 

[Eeyores Butterfly]

So, to the OP, no I don't think inclusion is always the best way to go. I think there is sometimes a point where we need to determine if the student's needs are truly being met. We also need to consider the impact on the classroom. Parents, teachers and administrators need to look hard at the situation and decide if it's really the best placement for the child.

This is really what I am aiming for with the discussion. As I stated earlier, although the focus of my program is Sp.Ed, I plan to teach general education. At some point I have to weigh the needs of the entire class vs. the needs of one child, because there will be times when those two collide. This is true not just of disability, but also in circumstances of gifted, multiple intelligences, moral values (at what point do I allow parents to dictate which books we can and cannot read? should one parent make that decision for a whole class?), etc. etc.

We see this problem with a lot of discussions on this board and others without necessarily naming it. Anytime the issue of a guide dog comes up this discussion ensues. If somebody is very allergic to dogs, should the service dog be asked to leave? Not even within the confines of the law but what is the moral choice? How do you weigh the needs of one person over the needs of another when they come into direct conflict? That is more what I am aiming for. I realize most of it will be a case by case basis with no easy answer, but I am interested in the discussion and the viewpoints of the posters.

 

[bookwormde]

I will give a response to you Scmeck’s comments first as I think it will help give some perspective.

Social skills have always been a part of schools. For kindergarten teachers this is a major part of what they provide a child and is the most important foundational skill, which they provide. In my opinion an exceptional kindergarten (and to a lesser extend all elementary school educators) has the potential to have a far greater chance of making a major impact on a child because of this opportunity to impart an appropriate school (community) social skills than in any other area. Also they guide and reinforce the executive function skills innate in most children along with helping the average student with a host of other developmental areas.

Since we have a kindergarten teacher on this thread I would love to know what part of her day is truly academic and what past is in its core intent developmental.

With that said for children with disabilities specifically in these areas or children with cognitive or heath issues which do not allow them to progress in these areas as other children do, these non-academic skills have to be learned in the later years. This is why there is an additional focus on teaching these skills for children who did not obtain them in the earliest years. Again I would love the comments of the teacher, but from my consultations without these “kindergarten” skills academic leaning is severely impacted and is therefore much more difficult and in some cases almost impossible.

As to the perception of “bent over backwards”, I agree in many cases the implementation of LRE is very uncomfortable because of poor planning (IEP) and incomplete implementation, lack of recourses and inappropriate placement, but it does not have to be this way. When it works as stated it can be almost miraculous in some circumstances.

Also major clinicians for higher level spectrum children such as you are teaching recommend 2-4 hours per week of individual or small group non-academic skills and of course generalization occurs as the opportunity permits. With a 1 on 1 my estimate would be 10 hours a week but it is really hard to carve out the specifics since in the generalized setting academic and non-academic are often intertwined. With that said, only at the most progressive school, do these children get this amount of time.

Now for the question about;

The first issue you have to get past is that academics are the primary need for many disabled children. This is a very hard concept for educators who were only trained in academic delivery and academic success gauges to accept whole-heartedly.

With the above as a basis. In many cases it is my experience that school personnel are overly concerned with academics or perhaps more accurately do not recognize the need for certain non-academic skills to be effective in teaching the academic skills. Yes depending on the disability and where the child is with the non-academic (as many call them “kindergarten skills”) needs, it may be the primary focus. I think all quality teachers are concerned about the needs of their disabled children.
This issue is on of understanding of the level of importance for some children and administrative support to provide it. Primarily most type of evaluations of students built into the district and governmental systems are completely academic. So that passes through as the primarily evaluating tool for administrators to evaluate teachers

Again I would love the observations from some of the teacher on the thread as to what percentage of their formal training (or even their certification tests) involved the non-academic curriculum like social skills and EF.


Long winded as usual but I hope this answers your question

Additionally as to the issue of inclusion, if it is done properly (Well constructed and implemented IEP, adequately trained and committed staff, adequate administrative support and proper placement to meet the need of the child to get an appropriate education) is has limited negative impacts and some significant benefits for the non-special ed student. The problem is not with the concept of LRE it with the implementation and the situation that when there is a problem the first thing that is looked at is the placement instead to the other factors. I get to “consult” on quite few “Inclusion” messes and in the vast majority of these it was not placement but the other issues. There have been a couple where because of inadequate support for the child in the past, it was appropriate to temporarily change the LRE placement until the child had the support that he should have been getting all along and was able to get his needs for an appropriate education net in the original setting.

Sue,

I agree fully that the IEP forms are a mess. In my child’s last meeting (with a new form) there was no place to mark for modifying the code of conduct, so they decided it could no loner be done. Of course after a quick check with the state office I confirmed that it was just that they were supposed to check the “other box” and the state mandated use of the forms before they had completed the training on then. I actually provide a version of the IEP for the team which puts the needs, accommodations and goals for each area on the same page right below each other because the forms are so unfollowable.

When I start with setting up my child’s IEP the team was so focused (fear of federal and state audits) on stetting up the particular measurable goals for every goal in the IEP that they just skipped the overall goal for the area. Also the structure for measuring the goals was so cumbersome that is was obvious to me that it was “silly”. My next question to the team was now that you have written a bunch of goals for and area how much time is documenting this going to take away from the teachers and paraprofessionals time teaching my child or if his needs are met the other children, when we made estimates the cumulative total for the was ridiculous and clearly would impact my child’s need for an appropriate education. So here is the system that we are working with now. For example, for social skills portion of the IEP has a goal of 30 per year (dynamically selected from the known universe of social skills by the team throughout the year based on my child’s needs and the teachers experiences). It has only 4 as specific measurable goals for this and the structure for measuring them is very simple and something that most teachers would do anyway. Yes they are still expected to accomplish the 30 and catalog which were worked on and when my child is with each skill but this is just common sense teaching practice for continuity and effective teaching. The team still makes me a state in the minutes that this structure is at my request even though they agree that it is far superior to writing 30 static measurable goals.

So what does this have to do with inclusion? It is just an example of how the “system” looses focus on the needs of the child in an effort to try to meet the “technical” requirements, just as people become focused on a particular LRE rather than analyzing the maximum available support that can be accomplished for the child in each setting and then see what is the least restrictive environment where with the maximum support the child can get and appropriate education. This cart before the horse way of doing things in my mind is one of the primary reasons why there are so many unfortunate situations with inclusion and LRE

Love bunnies

I am curious, do you think the problem was that “Inclusion failed” or was it that the school failed to follow the IEP and add additional supports as needed for the placement to allow inclusion to be successful.

I will say for your child in the situation you were faced with you did well to get his needs met since it does not sound like the school was fully supportive of inclusion

Bookwormde

 

[J'aime Paris]

I'll throw my 2 cents in. I'm a para at an elementary school, working in K, 2 and 3rd grades.
The "system" for kids with special needs is far from perfect, but continues to evolve. One thing I'm working on changing is access to a childs IEP. As a para, I'm not given a copy of the IEP, nor an I in attendance of the yearly review. I think this is crazy! My supervisor (the sp. ed. teacher), works with these kids a fraction of the time that I spend with them (because she is so loaded down), and she gets the information.
I could service these kids so much better if I could have their IEP's.

As far as training goes, we don't have any. But I'm not entirely sure it would be beneficial. Each child's scenario is so completely different, that no class could ever address them all. We use "in the trenches" training. We work with each child to find the best fit for him/her. And "go with" whatever works. If that stops working, we change the approach until we find the best fit again. We use every resource given, throw in some imagination, and some gut instinct.

To the parents of kids who have para's: Please remember that we love your children dearly and try to do our absolute best for them! We are under paid, overworked, and under appreciated. Yet, every morning I walk into school with a huge smile, because each new day is full of possibility!!!!

As to the OP question about inclusion.........Inclusion, good or bad, is a reality. And it's my job to facilitate it to the best of my ability.

 

[mgilmer]

I think I understand the point of the OP's first post and I think she brings up an important question: Is inclusion always the best way to go?

I truly think inclusion should be evaulated on a case-by-case basis. It would be wonderful is all special needs kids could be successfully accommodated in regular classrooms but that's not always the case.

I will use my own son as an example. He is going into 7th grade next month and has Asperger's. Academically, he can do very well. He has no mental deficiencies whatsoever. His difficulties lie in his social skills and classroom behavior.

Things went fine until 6th grade. He was in mainstream classrooms without an aide. The IEP team always hand-picked his teacher for the next year. And because our school has split-classes, the teachers loop. He had the same teacher for 2/3 and the same for 4/5. I worked closely with the teachers and, with the help of a private psychologist, we devised some methods to keep his behavior on track. The kids were generally accepting of his differences and he even had a few friends.

Everything fell apart when he entered 6th grade. Changing classes several times a day was difficult. The classes had 35 kids in them and the teachers could barely manage that many kids. None of the teachers were willing to provide my son with any extra help. They saw him as a behavior problem. They didn't understand that his anxiety over the situation was driving his behavior. He spent more time in the office than in the classroom. It was just a bad situation all around. He no longer felt safe or comfortable or accepted in his school environment. He was basically failing 6th grade.

We fought for several months to get him on track. The district didn't honor things that were written in his IEP (that's another long story). We weren't against a special ed class but the district had none that were appropriate for him. There is an emotionally disturbed class and one for mentally disabled kids. Our son doesn't fit either profile.

The district finally gave him a placement at a private school designed specifically for kids with Asperger's. We had to hire a lawyer to help us do this but we're glad we did. Our son is now thriving in his school. He went from failing in the fall to all Bs and 1 C for his 4th quarter grades.

I think this clearly illustrates a case where inclusion didn't work. As a parent, I've always been concerned about the other kids in the classroom. I've told his past teachers that I didn't want him to be disruptive to the point of negatively affecting the other kids. Sure, it's good for them to learn that everyone is different and we need to be tolerant of those differences. But it's not fair when the teacher has to interrupt a lesson 6 times because one kid keeps calling out at inappropriate times.

We've been talking to the principal at the private school. Our plan is to keep our son there for 2 more years. For high school, we will discuss the available programs with the high school district. The pricipal thinks we'll end up with a combination of regular and special ed classes. But, that's down the road. For now, our son is thriving. His social skills have improved greatly. His anxiety level was immediately reduced when he started the new school. He feels accepted and understood by the teachers and students.

So, to the OP, no I don't think inclusion is always the best way to go. I think there is sometimes a point where we need to determine if the student's needs are truly being met. We also need to consider the impact on the classroom. Parents, teachers and administrators need to look hard at the situation and decide if it's really the best placement for the child.

Very well said.

 

[SereneOne]

You are right. I worked as a sub this past year, and while a fingerprinting background check was required, I did not have any kind of drug test. I cannot believe a schoo lwas passing around an abusive person. Talk about liabilitiy. That just irritates me. I don't blame you for hating public schools given that experience. Please know that they are not all that way.

The school district our university works with is amazing, people actually move to the area for our special ed program. It is a good program, mostly due to the university support through the Professional Development School. Another school district I know has an exceptional EBD room at the elementary level. All the students from the 11 elementary schools are bussed to this one school for the room. The principal took complete ownership and they have had tremendous gains. So far they have been able to succesfully reintegrate every child. It's places like this that give me hope for our school system.

The whole school experience left me bitter and I had four children that went through the school system in that district. We where very poor (I had custody of my son, DH had custody of his three, exes that did not pay support and did not finish our college educations) and there were different rules for us. The schools where very political. When we moved to SC they where finishing high school and we are now middle class, however we found it to be a much better experience. With Meghan (five this October) we have had a wonderful experience with the center she attends, incredible teachers and staff, I can not say enough good things about them and I am hopeful that things will continue to go well.

Meg has her heart surgery this Monday, however when we get back, we will be inquiring about her placement. We where told that someone from the district would come and evaluate Meghan for placement in "regular" school. Meghan is very smart, but she does need an OT (she has strength issues) and she is tube fed but eats by mouth. She is small for her age (39 inches tall and weighs 27lbs, however she just had surgery for an impacted bowel, imperforate anus with fistula and they found Hirschsprungs Disease which they fixed, and after the hole is fixed in her heart they said she should begin growing like a weed). She is very personable, however she has teenager mannerisms...being raised with four teens that cater to your every whim will do that ...so it will be interesting to see what they come up with to "integrate" her.

Actually, maybe I should post this separately and hopefully those of you will more experience can give me some tips on how to best help my daughter? It would be greatly appreciated. My only experience was a couple of years ago when Meghan was interviewed by a school psychologist, social worker and a speech therapist and they recommended her for services.

 

[ireland_nicole]

O.K., I'll chime in, too.

The needs of the whole vs needs of the individual (feel free to read Marxist or Nazi propaganda, they certainly support group over individual needs.)

All groups are made up of individuals. It's easy to make a theoretical argument until you are the one that is "different" or "difficult" - or your child is. Since both of my children are unpredictable and challenging, should I have chosen not to have them? Their needs are certainly inconvenient, should I have chosen to have them raised in an institution?

There is right and wrong, even though situational ethics would have you believe otherwise. To say that an individual with a disability is worth less time, attention, or value is wrong. Always.

LRE is a seperate issue, and yes, best suited to be decided individually by those who are protective of a child's best interests.

And by the way, parents DO NOT get "what they want" in terms of placement or IEP's - except perhaps in Fantasyland. Otherwise it is a constant give and take, and sometimes battle.

And yes, I am offended - and discouraged...

 

[freepixie]

I'll jump into this one too

I'm a teacher with Head Start - its a preschool program for children from low-income households and was created to give children who normally would not be able to afford preschool the opportunity to have a "head start" when going to Kindergarten. Its a wonderful program and I believe in it and it does work (despite what some people in congress want to say... but thats a different issue...) The children in my class are all 3-4-5 years old.

Anyhow, our program is all-inclusive. We take children no matter what their background, restriction, or anything, as long as they meet the income guidelines, we take them in! Many times children come to us with an IEP already in place (from Early Intervention Services) or through our screening process, many times Head Start creates the IEP. There are only a few circumstances when they cannot be included, I'll talk about later..

Every day in my classroom is a balancing act - I need to get the 4 and 5 year old children ready for Kindergarten with reading and writing skills as well as early math skills, etc. Also I need to meet the needs of the young 3 year olds who need to learn how to tie their own shoes, learn basic colors, and learn socialization skills. In addition, I need to meet the needs of children on IEP's whose goals may be in speech, cognition, or behavior. Then we also need to meet the needs of those children who come to us who are not even potty-trained, and we need to get them to use the potty on their own - and we dont even have access to a potty on our floor!!!

While it is very tricky to keep them all engaged, it is not impossible! Many times I will group the children according to their needs and engage one group in one activity, while the other group may have some free-play time, or vice-versa. During whole-group activities, I try and vary them - for example is calendar time - we sing the months song for the younger kids to learn the months, but I ask the older children to read to us what month it is. I ask the younger kids to count the numbers on the calendar, and I ask the older children to find the pattern for the calendar numbers. For the weather, I would ask a younger child to draw a picture of what the weather is today, but I would ask an older child to write the word. Same goes for special needs, I try and meet them on their level for whatever their goals are. If their goal is behavior, I praise them for sitting quietly for circle time, if their goal is speech, I try to engage them in the class conversation, while reinforcing the words.

Sorry for such a long post, but this is what I do to support our inclusion. It is very few and far between when a child is asked to leave the program to go to a more specialized program. That only happens when the child is placing himself or his classmates in danger of physical harm. We do not have enough staffing to help children in these circumstances. I had a child earlier this year that would flip the 50-lb tables in our classroom - that was placing himself in danger as well as the other children, so he was asked to go to a behavior-specialized program.

But anyhow, at the end of the day, I'm able to teach these babies what they need to achieve in school, and I have had many children who have moved on come back and tell of their success in elementary school! Head Start works!!

 

[SereneOne]

O.K., I'll chime in, too.

The needs of the whole vs needs of the individual (feel free to read Marxist or Nazi propaganda, they certainly support group over individual needs.)

All groups are made up of individuals. It's easy to make a theoretical argument until you are the one that is "different" or "difficult" - or your child is. Since both of my children are unpredictable and challenging, should I have chosen not to have them? Their needs are certainly inconvenient, should I have chosen to have them raised in an institution?

There is right and wrong, even though situational ethics would have you believe otherwise. To say that an individual with a disability is worth less time, attention, or value is wrong. Always.

LRE is a seperate issue, and yes, best suited to be decided individually by those who are protective of a child's best interests.

And by the way, parents DO NOT get "what they want" in terms of placement or IEP's - except perhaps in Fantasyland. Otherwise it is a constant give and take, and sometimes battle.

And yes, I am offended - and discouraged...

You stated parents do NOT get "what they want," what I would want would be what is best for my daughter, I must be in for a rude awakening...they can dictate to me where my child will be placed or not placed even if it is harmful to my child? I feel really sorry for them because I will make their lives a living hell.

 

[freepixie]

There is right and wrong, even though situational ethics would have you believe otherwise. To say that an individual with a disability is worth less time, attention, or value is wrong. Always.

I believe everyone has a value and a purpose, why else would God put someone on this earth? Although we may not know the purpose of each and every life, it is indeed IMPORTANT, life is so precious!

 

[ireland_nicole]

Serene One- welcome to my world; we are currently fighting w/ our school district re: placement for DS (6). And to make it more interesting, they have now "lost" his file with all his most recent testing (which I don't have results of yet) and are trying to tell me it's "too late" in the summer to retest! Good times, good times...

 

[ireland_nicole]

Freepixie: Thank you for your words,and the work you do - I bet there are some appreciative parents around you

 

[freepixie]

Freepixie: Thank you for your words,and the work you do - I bet there are some appreciative parents around you

Your welcome.

I think what it comes down to is that I believe in what I do every day when I go to work - there are too many teachers out there that do not. I believe I will make a difference in the lives of each child - a change for the better! So many of my co-workers just hang around saying how "bad" the kids are. No, they are not bad, they need you to show them what good children they truly are! Many of my co-workers complain when they get a new child on an IEP, and some have made things up to try and get them out of their room Its horrible! But can you believe most of those kids end up migrating to room 102 (thats me!) and have a wonderful experience.

I believe inclusion can work and does work, its up to the willingness of the teacher to be creative in meeting the needs of the children in her care.

Even with my table-flipper, before the higher-ups talked to the family about leaving, I tried to help him think of other things to flip, like pretending to make pancakes in our house area. I even let him flip his coat! It worked for a few days