01/06/2020
This is why I won’t give up! Everyone I’ve talked with that has experience with inclusion says it’s worth it. When done right, inclusion is beneficial not only for children with disabilities but for everyone in the class. But HOW is inclusion beneficial for everyone?
1. More Compassionate Students: Students become more compassionate and tolerant of others who are different. Since no two people in this world are the same, children need practice being around others who are not like them. When taught, children become empathic to the needs of others around them, not just the people exactly like them. I don’t think anyone can argue that more compassionate people in this world is a bad thing.
2. Better Teachers: It creates better classroom instruction. When teachers have to adapt to a student with special needs, they learn and practice strategies that help the WHOLE class. Providing accommodations, modifications, and other teaching strategies in the classroom because it is required for one student actually benefits the rest. Being patient with a child that takes longer to complete assignments helps the teacher become patient with all students. Some children need lots of visuals to learn, but all people learn better with visuals. Some children need lots of kinesthetic movement to stay engaged, but all children stay engaged longer with lots of movement. Using signs and gestures is helpful when giving instructions to a child who has trouble comprehending, but we all better understand where “over yonder” is when someone is pointing to where that is. Asking the class to lower the noise level for a student who is overstimulated creates a quieter, calmer, more relaxing environment for everyone. Giving one-step instead of multi-step instructions to children who have a low attention span to keep them from getting confused or forgetting helps all children to remember instructions. When a teacher articulates for a child with speech deficits, all children learn the accurate pronunciation of words.
3. Critical Thinking: When there are children with disabilities in the class, students get to observe problem solving strategies on a daily basis such as when the teacher uses a stool for a child who is too short to reach the sink, when the teacher presents only small amounts of work at time to students who have anxiety, or when the teacher allows a student with fine motor deficits to speak their answers when the rest of the class is writing. Students learn to problem solve when the lights are dimmed for an overstimulated classmate or when hand-over-hand instruction is provided for a student to be able to enjoy participating in an activity. They learn to think critically when they have to find ways to communicate with someone who is non-verbal, deaf, or blind or when they have to interact with someone who has poor social skills. Seeing and practicing these techniques throughout the year gives them problem solving skills which they can eventually apply to different situations in life.
4. Familiarity: We all come across people in our lives who are different, disabled, or even difficult to be around. They are at work, whether it be a co-worker, client, customer, or patient. They are at church. They are at the bank or in the check-out line at the grocery store. They are on social media. There are a variety of personalities, cultures, interests, and talents that each person possesses. Sometimes for whatever reason, certain people clash. But that does not mean we get to exterminate all the people from our lives that make us uncomfortable or are difficult for us to be around. I believe God would call us to see others through HIS eyes, as human beings made in HIS glorious image. We should embrace our differences regardless of our inclination to segregate or exclude those who seem less desirable. We must all interact with a variety of people whether we want to or not. Why not start learning appropriate ways to interact with them as a small children at school? Face it, the reason children (and adults) stare is because something is unfamiliar to them. It is a natural and understandable response to something unfamiliar. But if children begin learning and interacting with those who are different from them when they are young, they won’t feel the need to stare when they see someone who looks or behaves differently from them.
5 & 6. Student Pride and Behavior Management: Inclusion fosters a classroom community which is warm and welcoming in which students feel comfortable, loved, valued for who they are, and free to make mistakes. Typical students get the opportunity to help and feel a sense of pride for doing so. When there are children with special needs in the class, other students get a chance to teach or re-teach class material, rules, and routines to those who need extra help, which is great because we can retain 90% of what we try to teach compared with when we hear or do only. When students are informed about their peers’ special needs and they are recruited by the teacher to “help” with that student, they are often more inclined to follow directions because they feel a duty to model appropriate classroom behavior. When inclusion is implemented, students will enjoy holding the hand of another student who has trouble staying in line. Students will choose to partner up with a non-verbal child during turn-and-talk even if the communication is not reciprocated or the activity is not understood. Students will see the child who is alone and offer to play with them. Students will take the time to show another student how to follow a procedure they didn’t initially understand or how to use a toy the proper way.
When inclusion is done right, it works, for all in the class. It’s not our children who need to change to fit the mold of a rigid classroom curriculum. Its teachers, directors, and district staff who need to be re-taught inclusive practices and be better equipped to implement them the right way.
