Voted out of kindergarten?

There was a collective shudder in the hearts of parents of special needs children felt across our country a few weeks ago when a Florida school teacher had her special needs student stand in front of his classmates while she asked her young students to vote whether they wanted to have this classmate kicked out of the class. These impressionable children voted according to their perception of their teacher's guidance, and they sent this young child packing.

The Christian Science Monitor published another parent's perspective on this tragic story

Recently, a Florida teacher seeking relief from a challenging special-needs student named Alex Barton did the unthinkable: She stood him before his kindergarten peers and encouraged them to say what they didn't like about his behavior. Then she asked the students if they wanted him back in class after his reportedly disruptive actions earlier that day. By a vote of 14 to 2, they booted him.

Alex's mom was understandably outraged; she plans to sue. The resulting media sound and fury has brought to light the quiet revolution in public schools across America: the placing of special-needs students into regular classrooms.

Federal law holds that children with disabilities have a right to a "free and appropriate public education." But free for whom? Not for the taxpayers, who must foot the bill for the testing, evaluation, special therapy, and classroom support needed by the differently-abled students, who are increasingly popping up in classrooms.

That has parents everywhere asking themselves an uncomfortable yet critical question: Does the practice of inclusion detract from my child's education? Is it really worth it?

It all depends on your point of view. Mine has changed in the past 30 years, a result of having raised two generations of children – and seeing some unexpected benefits from having my son Jonny, who has Down syndrome, enrolled in regular school.

My oldest went to school when "special ed" kids were housed in trailers behind the school. That was a step up from the days when they were institutionalized, but the segregation still emphasized their differences.

But true to our country's melting pot idealism – in which the public schools are traditionally called on to do the stirring – special-needs students were soon included in the mix. It was a welcome change, but it created individual challenges that had to be confronted and hammered out between parents and educators on a case-by-case basis.
read more... http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0610/p09s01-coop.html?page=1

Everyone in the community loses when an individual or family is excluded. The question, whether in schools, neighborhoods, or the workplace, needs to be "how" we will include everyone within a community with dignity, not "whether."

Teachers need extra support as well as administrative and community leadership to assist ALL of our young people to grow up to be caring and productive citizens. Community leaders working on school boards cannot do their job if the schools fail to provide them with the information about all of the available tools. While special education can be expensive, it is far less costly than ignorance. We cannot afford to lose any community member because he or she learns differently than the "norm."

Utilizing currently available technology provided by a professional trained in research and clinical methodology can bring out peak performance within communities, including in schools.

For information regarding technology for peak performance as well as classes and advocacy to assure everyone's success, please visit my website at www.techpsychologist.com