Should Down's Syndrome children be in mainstream education?

Answer 1

CHILDREN WITH DOWN'S SYNDROME

Yes- but with all the support and resources they need- this takes additional strain off the class teacher and the child, we're all different and children with Down's syndrome are all different too, if children have additional educational needs they need to be given additional support not marginalised. Children with Down's syndrome are still children.

Answer 2

Children with Down's syndrome should have the right to attend mainstream schools, rather than a specialist institution.
Children with special needs can be challenged more in some mainstream schools
The Down's Syndrome Association says it is "concerned that many parents are opting for special schools without having been offered the support needed for inclusion in a mainstream school, denying them the chance to make a real and informed choice".

Answer 3

absolutely!
we've been trying for years to place children with disabilities of any kind in mainstream education. The "new trend" is called "inclusion" and it means to include every child in mainstream class, doing of course adjustments in the environment and getting people a little closer to learn about disability.
Besides, children with Down Syndrome are usually the most easy case in mainstream aducation (when you could have autism or other much more difficult cases).

Answer 4

In a real nice world the answer would be yes and in some main stream schools it works, but, and a big but, no. I know people will be making alot of comments about it but hear me out. You see i have two boys with special needs and disabilites. One was kicked out because the school failed it offstead the other went to school and again the school failed and again son kicked out. I did over 100 meeting and everytime they failed to do what was needed and even what they agreed to. Schools dont have the staff for the main stream kids let alone our children, They get labled for it being shouted at and even bullied after all the real world still likes to take the piss. Im with a cares group and all there children are having problems with school and even attend court and won there case.Its hard schools get extra money thousandsof pounds, for the children and sometimes in some cases not all these kids get no extra care. Its a hard one to call, and it really depends on the school. The parent needs to check out the school by asking offstead and the education also seeing if they have catered for other kids and asking there parents. Now saying that there are things you can do, 1- Parent Partnership they work for the kids weather speaical needs or not, 2- statementing they can locate help for the child, 3- connections work with all kids in and out of school they can attend meeting and help when your child leaves school, 4- the doctors and hospitals they can talk to the school and even attend meeting if there from certain units, and they have certain power to insure that your child needs are met, Good luck.

Answer 5

There is a reason why placement of a student is done on an individualized basis (Least Restrictive Environment).

LRE depends a lot on how well the child learns in a large-group setting, and whether his/her behavior is detrimental to his/her own or others' learning.

With Downs, as with any other situation, it must be taken on a case-by-case basis.

In the school I'm teaching at, we currently have a child with Down Syndrome (moderate), entering 4th grade, in full inclusion with a full-time EA, and this setting is working very successfully for all involved. He started to acquire sight words this past year, and he did very well in gaining basic information from class lecture and group activities.

However, if someone came to me and said "we're doing it again with this other Downs kid because it worked with the first one," I would insist on a full discussion within an IEP meeting to be certain that such regular ed inclusion truly was that child's LRE.

Answer 6

It depends on how severe the syndrome is if it isn't too bad I think with a little help they should do fine in mainstream education. Thoes with an extreme of the disorder should have special ed teachers or schooling. Most states provide this.

Answer 7

I would think it would depend upon the severity of the "disability".Would your main concern be that such a student would be disruptive and/or distracting to the rest of the class?I would suggest you volunteer in a classroom and witness which students are actually the distraction. Most intergrated classrooms have a teacher who is skilled in adapting the lessons for the students( an IEP)and those students who require extra assistance will in many cases have the support of an Education Assistant(E.A.).Classrooms that are intergrated benefit students in other ways as well. I believe that they learn first hand that while a person may appear to be different outwardly that inside we are pretty much the same.Values of compassion, co-operation and patience can be learned on a daily basis.In our daily lives we meet a wide variety of people and intergrated classrooms can help us to realize that being different is normal too!As parents don't we ALL want is best for our children.

Answer 8

I feel that in order for Downs Syndrome children to get the most out of their lives that no they should not be subjected to mainstream education, as it is hard enough for regular children to adjust. they should be given direct education, and the rest of the time should be spent on enlightening them with things that interest them, and things that they will love to do for their short lives. a place where they will feel that they fit in and some place that will accept them with open arms and blind eyes, where they will get the best education to suite their needs. as in the mainstream school system, they could be forgotten and just passed along out of pity not out of achievement.
a lot of times in schools teachers will use these children as tools for the regular children to learn from, by pairing them up together, or comparing them to each other when there is no comparison.

Answer 9

Absolutely! Shutting any person out of a publicly funded program should be (and is) considered discriminatory. Every citizen should have (and does have) the right to a mainstream public education.

Consider the child. Every child learns differently. While some children would learn if no one managed their education, many need a very well-managed program in order to succeed. Many children with Down's Syndrome have the ability to learn "normally" if provided the opportunity. Many others will learn basic skills with a well-managed program. While some will always need help to get by in the world, they can benefit from mainstreamed programs that focus on cooperation and skills development.

Consider the mainstream school population. Our society is made up of innumerable social groups, professions, abilities, ethnic cultures, etc... Each subculture provides opportunities for enrichment and growth to the other subcultures. If a school population is entirely nerds and jocks, that population will learn to interact only with other nerds and jocks. Likewise, if a school population is only comprised of artists and poets ... well, you get the point. Including children from all reaches of society can only enhance the overall learning environment.

As a special education aide, I did a test. We were working out the program for this one child, and I kept record of the interactions this child made with his environment. I put a checkmark on a line for each time within each five minute period that this child interacted with either people or objects within his personal classroom space. I did this several times while the child was alone in his environment. Then I did the same test several times while there were one or two other children in his space. Then I did the test again, several times, while one or two other children were working at activities alongside this child. As you might predict, just having other children in his space caused this child to interact more frequently with his environment. Having another child working at activities alongside this child brought out the desire in this child to participate, as well.

We developed a peer tutoring program for this child. We began with volunteers. Guess who volunteered. Kids who were having social problems volunteered for peer tutoring. These kids really got into the program, finding new ways to work with the child and experimenting with ways to "bring him out." We had parties and even made ice cream for his mainstream class. After working with these children for two years in the peer tutoring program, I am convinced that both the child and the peer tutor benefited from the interactions. One of the peer tutors I worked with started a fund-raising program to benefit starving kids in Ethiopia and received a community citizenship award!

I understand there is some concern about funding this type of program, and there is reason to be concerned. To be honest, the expense of teaching a special needs child shouldn't be so outrageous! Yes, this child will probably need an individual aide, but the program itself can be awesome -- with little expense. How much does a plastic stool, some finger paints and paper, a pegboard, an ice cream maker, and the volunteer time of other students cost? Imagination, inspiration, creativity, and desire are priceless!

Yes, of course Down's Syndrome children should be included in mainstream education! So should all disabled children. What treasures all children are, and how precious their contributions to each others lives.
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Followup note: The reason I disagree with choosing on a case by case basis who to include is this: You are judging the child based on where he is in his learning process "right now" without the benefit of knowing where he might be 12 years down the road after inclusion in a mainstreamed program. To choose an educational program based on what a person knows seems silly. The whole point of education is to bring a person beyond what he knows or how he performs to a new level of knowledge and performance.

Answer 10

How about semi-mainstream? I feel they should be able to attend public schools along with every other child. True they would probably have to be in a "special" class, which that label sucks. But this way they would still have a chance, during recess, lunch, etc, to be around all the other kids. This was done in my daughter's school and it worked out quite well. Most of the "normal" kids ended up making friends with, eating lunch with and also tutoring their "special friends." Damn, even I'm using that label. Please know that I don't mean it in a derogatory way.