Thread: Inclusion Programs

Help! What is the difference between inclusion and full inclusion? Give me some background, and I'll share!

Inclusion programs include almost all students in a regular class with some exceptions. They pull out some students for certain subjects and for different types of special needs. Full Inclusion programs have all students no matter what their disability in the classroom at all times. Usually the regular classroom teacher has an aide or an assistant teacher to help with the students with special needs.

I'm not sure if I have a solid opinion here; not enough experience. What little experience I have tells me that partial inclusion is more appropriate than full inclusion. I am thinking about severe situations that make what the student is able to do profoundly different than what the rest of the class is doing. I'm also thinking about cost. The examples, in my small range of experience:

A boy with a severe, terminal medical and condition as well as cognitive disability in a kindergarten class; the positive was that he was fully accepted and loved by teacher and students. The negative was that, when he died halfway through the year, the class of 5-year-olds was severely traumatized. It was a good way for them to experience real life, surely, but they were only 5 year olds, and that teacher spent more time on griefand fear-related issues than academics the rest of the year. Luckily, that was before the current demand for kindergarten to master academics that used to be presented in 1st grade....

A girl who drowned and was revived as a 2 year-old, left with sever brain damage and related physical disabilities, including the loss of speech. She was fully included at my school K-4th grade with a permanent, full-time aide. She was never able to engage in any of the academic content in any of her classrooms; by 4th grade she still couldn't hold a pencil or recognize specific letters of the alphabet. While her classmates were unfailingly kind, they were never "friends." She understood some spoken language, but couldn't speak in return, and her hands could not form signs for sign language. In spite of copious class time spent on it, her classmates never did know how to relate to her. Each year, as her classmates matured and she did not, the problems grew worse. Her parents finally transfered her to a special day class.

A young boy with Tourette's syndrome (and possibly other unidentified issues) in addition to the continuous foul language blurted out to all his classmates, he frequently attempted to molest them. In addition to trying to touch and grab them, he frequently and loudly invited them, in highly graphic terms, to do the same to him. Sometimes he pulled his pants down to make his point. Because these behaviors were associated with his disability, we could not discipline them. You can imagine the responses we got from the parents of offended students. He left our school after 1 year; I don't know what happened to him, but I've never forgotten him.

A young boy diagnosed with 2 different psychological conditions; the acting out and role playing wasn't an issue. If he spent the entire day sitting under his desk pretending to be a clock or on hands and knees barking at us, we dealt with it. It was the violence; he could be smiling angelically one moment, and the next his neighbor would be bleeding. Or on the ground. With no warning, and no reaction from him at all; not remorse, not anger, not pleasure in the act.....

These probably aren't the kinds of situations generally involved in a partial/full inclusion debate, but these are the only experiences I have had. All were fully included. Can you enlighten me on more usual situations?

on edit...how disgraceful. My apologies for the numerous spelling and other errors in my post!