what is your opinion on inclusion in the regular classroom?

Answer 1

It depends on so many factors. A child with special needs who has reasonably appropriate social skills and behavior can gain a lot, especially in the early years of school, by being with their peers in a regular class. It can also be a benefit to the typcially developing students to have a relationship with a person who has a disability of some sort; they can gain empathy for others, and it helps them to see that people who have disabilities are people who are really mostly just like themselves.
For kids who have challenging behavior, full inclusion is often not a great option. Difficult behaviors can be disruptive and even frightening to the general ed students, and rather than helping the other kids become empathetic and understanding, the child with special needs may become ostracized.
Much depends on the attitude of the classroom teacher, too. If a teacher really doesn't want a special needs child in his/ her classroom, it's not going to be an optimum experience for anyone. And sadly, because of the testing frenzy spawned by No Child Left Behind, many classroom teachers feel overwhelmed by the amount of material that needs to be covered, so they have less time for anything that is out of the core subject area. This often means less time, or even no time, for things like art, music, physical education, and recess. People even in their 20s and 30s would be surprised to see how different elementary education is than when they were students. I have been a teacher for more than 25 years, and truthfully, there is a lot less time for curiosity, working at one's own pace, and just plain joy of learning than there used to be. So for a child in an inclusion placement, there may need to be a lot of modifications to the curriculum, and that does add to the load of a probably already over-stressed teacher.
In theory, I totally support the concept of full inclusion. In actual practice, it is often less successful than we would hope. And as the children get older and the academics get more complex, it gets harder for the children with special needs to be truly included. As a special ed teacher, I have referred students to full inclusion because I felt that, on the whole, they would benefit from exposure to a broader curriculm and more challenges than I could provide in a special day class. But far more often, I have had students from full inclusion referred to my class. And despite the fact that "Special Ed Class" has a stigma - mostly among adults, not peers (at least in elementary school) - I can't count how many parents have eventually told me that having the child move to a special day class was the best thing that ever happened to them.
Why? There are so many reasons. But one "case history" illustrates a lot of them. "Sally" (not her real name) was a cute child with normal speech, average physical/ athletic skills, acceptable social skills, and parents who weren't ready to admit the full extent of her cognitive impairment. Sally had a one-to-one assistant, modifications to the curriculm and activities, and she did just fine in kindergarten and early first grade. By the middle of first grade, the rest of the class had advanced so far beyond Sally that it was no longer just modifications to the curriculum - it was her own personalized curriculum. Still, she was asked to play by the other kids on the playground and everyone was pretty happy with the situation. Second grade was even harder, and the other kids began to notice that while they were writing paragraphs, Sally was still working on printing her name. By third grade, everyone noticed that Sally couldn't do any of the work they were doing, and Sally noticed it, too. She started acting like class clown, probably because it felt better to have kids laugh at her when she was trying to be funny than when she just was confused and making inappropriate answers. Kids stopped asking her to play, and she became an easy target for bullies, especially kids who weren't doing that well themselves, but at least they were smarter than Sally. Sally shut down emotionally, started thinking of herself as a loser, and didn't want to go to school any more.
Sally's dad was horrified when he first visited my class - some of my students had more obvious disabilities, such as Downs Syndrome, and he kept saying, "But Sally isn't like this!" But Sally was placed in my class, and within a week, she was enjoying school again. And within a month, she had gained more academically than she had in the previous year in full inclusion. In my class, she wasn't an oddball or an outsider or a "loser" as she had been in full inclusion. We could teach at her pace, give her plenty of more creative activities, and give her the opportunity to shine at her areas of strength, such as singing and putting on plays. Her parents were thrilled at her progress and, more importantly, that she felt good about herself again.
So, to summarize my very long opinion, the answer is: It depends on so many individual factors that there is no one right answer.

Answer 2

I have to agree skater...Including a special needs child in the classroom as much as possible isa good thing. If the child has to be removed for behavioural problems then he should be for a short time but returned. If the child is very disruptive then he should be removed indefinetly, so not to interfere with the others learning.
We had a autistic child in the classroom from jk-5 he had to be removed for several classes due to behaviour the other children were suffering because the teacher was focusing on the child.

Answer 3

Depends on the child! I have had kids come to me after 6 or 7 years where they sat and "look liked" they were learning but really didn't get an education in a logical, sequential method, according to either disability or IEP! They could have learned so much more if they had had a more individualized program specific to their needs!
Depends on the teachers: enough said, some can, some can't no matter how much they are trained.
Depends on the support staff.
Depends on the parent to monitor and advocate for the kid.
Got all that? Then it will work.

Answer 4

I think it is good for all students the special needs kids get a chance to experience real life and the regular students get a chance to practice a little humility and acceptance. I wouldn't try to mainstream special needs kids for a full day but I certainly think they need the exposure.

Answer 5

I think it is a good idea. because it helps the Special Education students learn to be around different types of kids and teachers. at first make it one or two classes and slowly make the student more mainstream. at lease thats what my mother and father did for me when I was in school.

Answer 6

It depends on what you are including. A child with the same educational ability, although not the same physical ability ABSOLUTELY. A child with out the same educational ability? I don't think a child that is advanced should be in the same room with a child that needs extra assistance...that's not fair to either child.

Answer 7

I think it's a good thing. Segregation is out-dated.