Bacon's Rebellion

Democracy Thrives in Sunlight

This is What You Get When Hokies Go to HooVille

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by

James A. Bacon
in

Virginia Tech is sponsoring an early childhood conference in Charlottesville with a focus on “development through inclusion – regardless of physical or mental ability.”

Workshops will examine “cultural differences and disabilities in children in order to provide collaborative, instructional strategies and curriculums designed to meet the needs of all children.” Speaker Mara Shapon-Shevin will expound upon the idea of applying “the practice of inclusion” to all classrooms “in order to eradicate inclusion’s general association with special needs children.” Blah, blah, woof, woof, eyes glaze over.

Is it just me, or does this sound like a touchie-feelie fest? Does anyone really think that more “inclusion” will help special needs students? Am I overlooking something when I observe that “special needs” students have special needs — that they need specialized exercises and programs tailored to their level of cognitive development? In some instances, I would guess, children could be mainstreamed with their peers and given special instruction for an hour or two per day. But certainly not all. Am I sounding cold and callous by suggesting that “inclusion” of inappropriate children in mainstream classes will result in the dumbing down of the curriculum for students who are not disabled?

Disabled children certainly deserve our compassion, but is “inclusion” truly the best way to help them? I don’t know the answers. I’m just asking questions.

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  1. Hollywood Avatar
    Hollywood

    My wife was a special education teacher before becoming a stay at home mom (a much harder job). She was expected to teach 1st, 2nd and 3rd graders in the same class at the same time. Hey, I’m a Hokie, but whoever thinks you can design a program for all students, especially in the same class, is full of crap.

  2. Will Vehrs Avatar
    Will Vehrs

    This is a very difficult, very sensitive topic. Inclusion, when it is appropriate, is a wonderful thing for both parties. Figuring out when it is appropriate is not easy.

    Check and I think you will find that special education, from transportation through staffing through lawsuits brought by parents, consume huge portions of most school budgets. No parent wants anything but the best for their child, but the same mindset that we saw in Terri Schaivo’s parents is sometimes present in the parents of special needs children. I think generally schools try to do the best they can in this area under frequently difficult circumstances, but parents often disagree.

    My wife was for several years a substitute aide for special needs children. She accompanied individual children to their “mainstreamed” class and rarely saw much that was positive; her job often was to keep the special needs child from disrupting the class. Many other students had such profound special needs that the school was a de facto temporary institution that changed diapers and fed the children. Why a public school was deemed the provider for this level of care was hard to explain.

    Like any ongoing bureaucratic program with little hope of change, these “touchie-feelie fests” are a part of the landscape. I must admit that I’d rather see us spend tax dollars to send a beleagured special ed teacher to a conference where he/she can relax and learn something than send a DGIF big-wig to a Las Vegas trade show.

  3. Paul Avatar
    Paul

    Jim: That’s funny, because when I started to glaze over that touchy feely language until “blah blah woof woof eyes glaze over” woke me up.

  4. Jim Bacon Avatar
    Jim Bacon

    Paul, Can you believe that there are people in the world who spend all their time talking that way? Poor bastards.

  5. Waldo Jaquith Avatar
    Waldo Jaquith

    Does anyone really think that more “inclusion” will help special needs students?

    As a kid, my middle school was next door to a “special needs” middle school. We shared a parking lot and a playground (with a chain-link fence down the middle) with that school. The kids in my school spent a lot of time making fun of the kids in the other school. And those kids at the other school sure did look sad all the time.

    Then, in 8th grade, the schools started to mix it up. The most egregious offenders (students in my school who would do things like trip the retarded kids from the other school) were matched up with special-needs kids, and they spent about half an hour together each day. The kids would come over to our school for assemblies, and started having classes in our school. They weren’t in the same classes as the rest of us, of course, but we all mingled in the hallways.

    The result was a huge, huge success. These assholes in my school became these kids’ biggest defenders. It became common to see a pair of 12 year old boys hugging, since many of these retarded kids were in an emotional state at which that’s simply how they express happiness with somebody else. I guarantee you that damned near every kid in my 8th grade class now considers themselves a defender of mainstreaming and its benefits.

    I have no idea of whether inclusion is the “best” way to help them, but it’s a pretty freaking great thing.

  6. Susan Hardwicke Avatar
    Susan Hardwicke

    This type of conference is prima facie evidence of why so much is spent on education with so little result in improved learning and knowledge.

    Evidence continues to mount that cognitive training can be employed successfully to improve learning of previously low performing students, including those considered “special needs.” Yet, what are we talking about? A social agenda with the veneer of credibility from the university associations.

  7. CR UVa Avatar
    CR UVa

    With an autistic cousin, I know that it can be challenging to educate special education students. My uncle and aunt have had to work very hard get her as far as they have.

    This is a case where something in the middle may actually be the best option. Obviously, special needs students require a different education to those in your standard public school. However, the hope is that, one day, we will be able to integrate these students into the real world. So, at least some social interaction with their peers is needed. I can’t propose a solution to this, as it might be difficult to place some of them into standard courses, and only allowing interaction during lunch and recess periods may not be quite enough.

    Waldo’s idea might work in some cases, but there are some rough kids out there who might not like to conform. This idea could be potentially risky (though, if the teachers are doing their job, one would hope that it wouldn’t be). I will agree that it is not the “inclusion” that would help those with special needs, but the exposure might. Special needs certainly doesn’t mean dumb; they can learn a lot when dealing with others. And in real life, the “normal” students will have to learn with many different people; this is not “diversity”, but diplomacy.

    One big key; avoid the PC crap. The special ed students are different. Students need to learn that they are fully capable of leading full lives, but teaching the students that they are not different is just plain a bad idea.

    In the end, we can’t make this about what’s “fair” or “nice”, but what is best for the special ed students. It might not seem fair for them to have seperate classes, but if we find that it works best, then that option should be the way the schools go.

  8. Old Zach Avatar
    Old Zach

    What does one get when Hoos visit Blacksburg? Roadkill or target practice. Take your pick.

  9. Jeremy Hinton Avatar
    Jeremy Hinton

    I saw an interesting statistic the other day: 25-35% of teenagers with learning disabilities will abuse alcohol (American Psychiatric Assoc). Is this a result of taunting and exclusion from their non-disabled peers? Their own inability to deal with their differences and issues? Who knows. But it seems to me that approaches like the original cited may attempt to address more than just the cognitive development needs of these students. This taps the broader issue of just what the purpose of school is. Is the pursuit of knowledge the sole purpose of our educational system, and development of socialization skills just a happy byproduct? Or do we expect our schools to do much more than just teach ABCs?

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