Inclusion

When should students with special needs be included in the average classroom? By doing some research on this topic through the internet and through what we read in class, inclusion is a very controversial topic to discuss. Many people have different views on inclusion. Some feel that special needs students should be included in the classroom at all times. Others think that they should be placed in a separate classroom at all times. What is the right thing to do here? Where is there a happy median for all people involved, including the teachers, students and parents?

Some feel that including special needs students in the classroom at all times requires the teachers to have another degree or have aids to help in the classroom. This would obviously be a problem due to the fact that most teachers don't have degrees or certifications in special needs and education, but some do. Another problem would be finding enough aids to help out in those classrooms. Some may worry that including students with special needs in the regular classroom might hold the rest of the class back from achieving and striving to their full potential. The other side of this argument is putting special needs students in a separate classroom all together. People who support this argument think that putting special needs students together will help them improve and help each other out in someway. They think that those students need that much special attention in order for them to learn and actually get something out of their education.

Let's face it. No matter what decision is made about students with special needs and inclusion, not everyone will be happy with the outcome. You can't ever please everyone. This obviously stinks in one way or another, which is why this topic is so controversial. My view on this topic is this: Students with special needs should be involved in the classroom as long as they are receiving the proper education to fit their learning capacity. When a student has trouble learning a certain subject or has trouble doing certain things, thats when they can be taken out of the class for a period of time during the day to be tutored or helped in another way. I don't think that students with special needs should be excluded from the classroom on a daily basis because they won't be able to interact with the rest of their peers, whom which they are probably friends with. What use is trying to make a student go to school where they are miserable because one, they have a hard time learning and two, they aren't with their friends at all throughout the day. Having students with special needs in the classroom as much as possible, will benefit all students because it will help the special needs students strive more and it will help the other students learn that everyone is made a little different and other students might have a harder time at certain things than others. I feel like all students will benefit in this situation. What's your view on inclusion and special needs students?

http://www.weac.org/Issues_Advocacy/Resource_Pages_On_Issues_one/Special_Education/special_education_inclusion.aspx

http://specialed.about.com/od/integration/a/Inclusion-What-Is-Inclusion.htm