Wall Street Journal Says Parents of Children with Autism Are Advocating Against Mainstreaming in the Schools
NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. -- Last fall, groups who favor placing disabled students in regular classrooms faced opposition from an unlikely quarter: parents like Norette Travis, whose daughter Valerie has autism.Personally, I think that most kids with autism really do do better outside of the mainstream classroom. That's not because true inclusion is impossible -but because it's so difficult to implement that it rarely occurs. Instead, children with autism are simply "mainstreamed" in the MOST challenging situations possible.Valerie had already tried the mainstreaming approach that the disability-advocacy groups were supporting. After attending a preschool program for special-needs students, she was assigned to a regular kindergarten class. But there, her mother says, she disrupted class, ran through the hallways and lashed out at others -- at one point giving a teacher a black eye.
"She did not learn anything that year," Ms. Travis recalls. "She regressed."
As policy makers push to include more special-education students into general classrooms, factions are increasingly divided. Advocates for the disabled say special-education students benefit both academically and socially by being taught alongside typical students. Legislators often side with them, arguing that mainstreaming is productive for students and cost-effective for taxpayers.
Between the noise, the visual stimulation, the complicated social setting, the pressure to perform on tests, and the lack of time and money to actually provide individualized educational programming, typical classrooms can be hellish for children with autism. Not to mention the disruptions our kids can create for typical (often untrained) teachers - and students.
But you may have a very different opinion - or know of situations in which mainstreaming works well for children with autism.
Share your thoughts!
Comments
I have my son in a fourth grade inclusion class. Everything hinges on his 1:1 aide - who is fabulous, they happen to have good chemistry. It is like roulette.
As far as performance expectations, if the goal is social inclusion, there shouldn’t be any academic performance expectations, to keep stress low for both child and teacher.
A good aide with the help of ABA - several hours per week of curriculum planning - can do 1:1 academic teaching for the child in reading and math, to whatever level the child can access.
Other classes should be seen as a time for social participation for the child in a structured setting with typical peers - social skills training that’s like the real world.
The minute a child who can’t report his or her daily experiences clearly is placed in a segregated setting, to me it invites abuse (mental, emotional) from poorly trained personnel, who see their main role as maintaining order and compliance, in a situation that is pure firefighting as one child is disrobing, the next spinning in circles, etc.,etc.,etc.
I think that each child should be on a case by case basis. One child may not be able to mainstream but that doesn’t mean that another child wouldn’t thrive in a mainstream environment. I hope that educators and parents can all remember that autism in a spectrum disorder and no two children are alike. A cookie-cutter approach will not be beneficial to any child. I also hope that the legistators will be willing to look past the dollar signs and remember that these children will need individual assessment. Some will need special education, some will react well with mainstreaming. But they need to be reviewed individually and not be lumped together in a group.
My daughter progressed through EI to a special preschool, inclusion HeadStart, then Kindergarten this year, fully mainstream.
Mainstreaming my daughter was the worst mistake we could have made. Much like the child in your article, she disrupted class, screeched, and was uncontrollable by the school staff.
We advocated to have her placed in a new school with Autism specific classrooms and are waiting for placement now.
I think that due to the fact that every child is different, the decision to mainstream school or not should be made on a case by case basis. It’s not something that can be taken lightly - the educational setting should suit the child’s needs.
We’ve experienced both and I have to agree with most of the commenters already…it is a case by case basis. Because my son shows some empathy for others (some discern it as mechanical)I choose to mainstream for now. If I felt that the situation changed and he wasn’t getting what he needed I’d opt for the other or something else. I think it benefits us to remain fluid and open to what may be best for our child(ren) at any given time during their education (whether they have different abilities or not).
OH, wow!!! I don’t ususally respond to articles, but HAD to in this case. My son was diagnosed with autism at age 3. He was enrolled into a preschool program at that time, and then went on to kindergarten in a special needs school. At the end of the year, they told me that they were no longer to help him academically, he exceeded his goals and the he would be mainstreamed…I was horrified!!! He was still showing the typical signs of autism and wasn’t even able to be potty-trained, yet. But they insisted that there would be a way for him to be mainstreamed. He was given a one on one aid, and an individualized education plan, and in first grade, he went to the elementary school along with typical children. Throughout the years (my son is now 16) there were some difficulties, but for the most part, he had some really great educators willing to learn along with Ryan, and now I think it is the best thing you can do for your autistic child, if you have the right “team” working together. I am happy to say that my son has had many successes (and, of course, has long been potty-trained-hee hee) and is a very successful sophomore in high school this year, and for the second year in a row, is also manager of the varsity basketball team. It took everybody working together, and a really great faculty, and group of peers all working together, but Ryan has done very well and is a very happy teen.
I am a special education teacher. My classroom if filled with awesome students. I have every part of the spectrum in my class. Non-verbal with behaviors to highly mainstreamable students. As most of you have stated, each child with Autism or without is unique. I think having specialized programs is crucial for the students who do not feel successful in the regular education classroom. For example, I have a 2nd grade student in my class that is reading at the 5th grade level and demonstrating 3rd level math skills. He is SO bright, but he is not ready for the reg. ed. class. It is too over stimulating for him. Slowly we have been taking him to reg. ed. and he does ok. In time he will be able to spend most his day there. It makes me sad to think, if he did not have a class just for him, he would slip through the cracks. I hope all parents and educators keep an open mind and work together to meet the need of all of our learners!!!
I have worked with numerous students who would benefit greatly with non-mainstreaming and are really falling behind further because they are mainstreamed.
One shoe does not fit all, and although parents have fought long and hard to get their kids included in schools, I feel it’s a similar thing as saying ABA doesn’t work for your child…you get ostricized from the community almost because you are going against what most people fought so hard for, which was the best for their children. Sadly, it’s not the best for all, but the needs of those children get overlooked. Experts say that if mainstreaming isn’t working for a student then the approach of the school is wrong. They are right in a way…something isn’t done right…some kids shouldn’t be mainstreamed.
Caroline
I agree, inclusion should be on a case by case basis. That said, I have to say that I think many children with autism and asperger’s would feel safer, calmer and more able if they could be in a more intimate social environment - a smaller classroom, special ed, or at home.
Toward the end of grade 1, I took my son out of school. The teacher and aide said they were happy with how he was doing, but he was not happy to be there, and when I helped in the class I could see that the “progress” they were talking about was him often mindlessly completing tasks put before him (without meaningful understanding), and holding back from crying. At night before going to sleep he would cry and beg to stay home with me. Home, where he felt “safe.” His word, not mine. He was simply overwhelmed.
The school was not thrilled, but I finished out the year by taking home worksheets for him to do, and this year we are homeschooling through a distance ed school. He is doing great!
I think it’s fantastic that some resources are there, and the willingness is there, to have integrated classrooms. But class sizes are what they are, noise levels can’t be reduced by much, and for our thin-skinned ASD kids, some sheltering from all these things can free them to learn, and slowly thicken that skin over time.
I think there is no right or wrong when it comes to mainstreaming or NOT mainstreaming. Each child is an individual and the needs of each child need to be considered. Personally, I think children with “high-functioning” autism do benefit from a mainstream environment, but more often then not they fail in that environment due to the lack of support needed for them to succeed. Children need shadowing, on-going behavioral assessments and additional staff is required in most cases. It is sad, but once again, money (or lack of it) gets in the way of a successful experience in school for most children on the spectrum! Let’s hope our voices are eventually heard and the system changes.
Yes, it’s case by case. It depends not only on the child, but also the school. Our daughter is not on the autistic spectrum, but she has significant LD. Around here, mainstreaming is horrific, because schools only punish students for physical violence, not for verbal abuse. So there’s horrific bullying. The bullies feel SO entitled, that if their victims stand up for themselves, they escalate to violence. After 5 years of having DD in a private school for kids with LD, where she did learn to read — our local public elementary school principal told me that failure to advance in reading still constituted a Free & Appropriate Public Education & if I didn’t believe her, I could waste a lot of money on a sp ed attorney & lose my case! - I went to due process & guess what? School lost — DD tried public high school. It was a social disaster & an academic disappointment. I’m home schooling her now.