Mainstreaming - failed policies

[Cookie]

Mainstreaming is the practice of taking special needs children and placing them in regular public schools to acquire services there. The concept is that by being around non-special needs children they'll learn better socialization and the non-special needs children will learn how to deal with people who have special needs. The ultimate purpose is to make people with special needs more visible so in adulthood there aren't misconceptions about them and, thus, they will less likely be discriminated against.

In reality, there are some special needs children who spend ALL DAY in the special classroom. They rarely see any other children because a regular classroom will not serve their needs - and in some cases, never will. Instead of getting needed services, due to budget constraints, they are often isolated and ill-served.

Then there is the reality of dangerous emotionally and mentally handicapped special needs child. These are children who act out, often violently. They are placed in regular classrooms where they frequently put the teacher, other children and themselves into physical danger (throwing desks, threatening with sharp objects, biting, kicking, hitting, etc). Because these children are so difficult to handle, schools have a policy to spread them out among several classrooms so one teacher doesn't have to deal with more than one handicapped child at a time. As a result, the non-violent children get to witness violence almost daily and have no respite from almost constant learning environment disruption.

You may ask why these children aren't removed from the classroom and punished. My answer is because they have an IEP and are protected by various laws for special needs students. They "get a pass". Because of their handicap they can't be disciplined like a non-special needs student.

How do I now? My DD is special needs and has an IEP. She in definitely non-violent. She is also a flippin' genius and is in the gifted program (her only respite from the violent special needs kids). She refuses to go to the special needs classes because the violent and disruptive kids trigger her fears and make it impossible for her to concentrate. She needs a safe, secure, quiet learning environment and her school (none of them - she'd been to more than one) can't provide that for her because of failed mainstreaming policies.

I contend that one of reasons we're having so many problems in our public schools is because of some mainstreaming practices. What started out as a policy that was meant to show kids that "hey, that kid in the wheelchair is no different from you" has developed into a policy that demonstrates to average children - on a daily basis - that you can talk out, be sassy, threaten a teacher and be disruptive - and there are NO consequences. All that will happen is you'll get out of class for a little while and you'll be right back at it in a few hours.

 

[Cookie]

What can we do to improve public education. Throwing money at the problem obviously doesn't work.

 

[prepster]

Mainstreaming is the practice of taking special needs children and placing them in regular public schools to acquire services there. The concept is that by being around non-special needs children they'll learn better socialization and the non-special needs children will learn how to deal with people who have special needs. The ultimate purpose is to make people with special needs more visible so in adulthood there aren't misconceptions about them and, thus, they will less likely be discriminated against.

In reality, there are some special needs children who spend ALL DAY in the special classroom. They rarely see any other children because a regular classroom will not serve their needs - and in some cases, never will. Instead of getting needed services, due to budget constraints, they are often isolated and ill-served.

Then there is the reality of dangerous emotionally and mentally handicapped special needs child. These are children who act out, often violently. They are placed in regular classrooms where they frequently put the teacher, other children and themselves into physical danger (throwing desks, threatening with sharp objects, biting, kicking, hitting, etc). Because these children are so difficult to handle, schools have a policy to spread them out among several classrooms so one teacher doesn't have to deal with more than one handicapped child at a time. As a result, the non-violent children get to witness violence almost daily and have no respite from almost constant learning environment disruption.

You may ask why these children aren't removed from the classroom and punished. My answer is because they have an IEP and are protected by various laws for special needs students. They "get a pass". Because of their handicap they can't be disciplined like a non-special needs student.

How do I now? My DD is special needs and has an IEP. She in definitely non-violent. She is also a flippin' genius and is in the gifted program (her only respite from the violent special needs kids). She refuses to go to the special needs classes because the violent and disruptive kids trigger her fears and make it impossible for her to concentrate. She needs a safe, secure, quiet learning environment and her school (none of them - she'd been to more than one) can't provide that for her because of failed mainstreaming policies.

I contend that one of reasons we're having so many problems in our public schools is because of some mainstreaming practices. What started out as a policy that was meant to show kids that "hey, that kid in the wheelchair is no different from you" has developed into a policy that demonstrates to average children - on a daily basis - that you can talk out, be sassy, threaten a teacher and be disruptive - and there are NO consequences. All that will happen is you'll get out of class for a little while and you'll be right back at it in a few hours.

I have ADHD, and I was mainstreamed. I had no problems learning in a regular public school environment. Eventually, I was able to almost completely get by without any special services. The only service I had at the end of high school was extra time on examinations. Now that I am in college, I still have the option of getting extra time on examinations, but I rarely use it.

With that being said, I think mainstreaming is not right for everyone. The education system needs a complete overhaul, and individualizing education, including the education environment, for children of different abilities and preferences, is one step that needs to be taken.

 

[Cookie]

I'm glad it worked out for you - as it does for many students.

What I'm talking about are the students who are so violent and so disruptive, they impede any learning in the classroom. Unless you have been in a classroom recently, you may not realize what I'm talking about.

I know a grandmother who adopted her special needs grandson. He was drug exposed, has fetal-alcohol syndrome and was brain injured when his biological mother tried to kill him by drowning. He has a whole host of emotional, psychological and impulse control issues. He is violent daily. His mother/grandmother cannot afford to send him to a private school and the state isn't willing to pay for it. As a result this kid continues to attend the local public school. They have no resources to divert this kids behaviors. NO ONE is winning in this situation. The kid's needs aren't being met and the kids in his class hate him and/or fear him. Yes, he has injured kids in his class. The only break his classmates get is when he is admitted to the state mental hospital but that only lasts a few weeks.

My DD had the same kind of student in her class last year. Almost everyday I heard about something the kid had done. My DD would be so angry that her teachers couldn't get through the material they had planned because of something he had done. She feels like she has lost a great deal of her year in education because of this kid. So far, he has only be violent with the teachers. I'm hoping he won't be in her classes next year but who knows what other mainstreamed students are out there.

It occurs to me that one of the reasons private schools do so well, is because they don't tend to have special needs students with severe handicaps. They aren't required to provide special needs services and they don't have to write an IEP (individual education plan). Without the extra services, parents don't send their special needs student to a private school - well, not the ones with violence problems. Those kids are kicked out and returned to the public school system.

 

[DGS49]

My brother was a teacher's aide for a couple years where his main function was to shadow potentially violent "special needs" kids in a high school, making sure they didn't hurt anyone.

One might ask, who, exactly, did this benefit?