Continued research writing

1. Introduction: Sean’s Story
   As a Special Education major, I have always loved working with students who face mental disabilities and special needs.  Throughout my life, I have felt the calling to reach out to those with disabilities and share my own personal gifts and talents with them to further develop their own.  The education system in America has recently begun to address an extremely significant issue: the mainstreaming of students with special needs.  While I continue to progress in my own education, I also personally face this dilemma as I develop my own opinion and take a stance on this issue.  Should special needs students be integrated into regular-track academic classrooms?
1. Sean Forsyth, the son of one of my mother’s close friends, is an 8-year-old boy with Asperger’s Syndrome, a neurological disorder with autism-like characteristics.  Essentially, Sean faces many challenges that autism entitles on a daily basis that effect his behavior, attitude, attention span, learning, and many other aspects of his life.  His parents currently face the challenges that come along with providing the best possible education for a child with a mental disability.  
1. Born in 2003, Sean struggled for many years as he developed.  At the age of 2-years-old, Sean displayed the typical “terrible-two” symptoms of tantrums and misbehavior.  However, unlike most children, Sean continued his “terrible-two” behaviors and never outgrew them.  
2. In 2008, Sean entered Pre-K at the age of 5, where he proceeded to misbehave in the classroom, not sitting still, listening or cooperating.  Diagnosed with ADHD in 2009, Sean’s parents asked their school district about obtaining an Individualized Education Program (IEP) for their child.  The school district, however, refused to comply with the Forsyth’s wish saying they did not provide Individualized Education Programs for those with ADHD, and that they would just wait to see how Sean performed in kindergarten.
3. Not even a month into Sean’s kindergarten education, the Forsyth’s began receiving phone calls on a regular basis regarding Sean’s misbehavior.  Continuing to deeply love and care for their child, the Forsyth’s proceeded to strive for a better education for Sean.  Unfortunately, Sean received harsh bullying throughout school and began to make himself throw-up during class just to come home.  
4. Feeling lost and confused, wanting the best for their child and continuing to see the love and good qualities in his heart, the Forsyth’s called the Alliance Health Wraparound.  Meeting with the principal of Sean’s school, the director for Alliance Health demanded Sean to undergo tests for Asperger’s Syndrome, which he was diagnosed with in April 2010.
5. With this newfound information, the Forsyth’s faced extreme distraught, however, became even more motivated to obtain an effective, accommodating learning environment for Sean.  Surely, the Forsyth’s thought, the school district will provide an IEP for Sean with his new diagnosis.  Unfortunately, however, this did not happen.  The school district refused to give Sean an IEP as they claimed he was too high-functioning to qualify under their standards.  Within 24 hours of this news, the Forsyth’s put their house on the market to sell and registered their child in a new school district. 
6. In this new school district, Sean had an IEP as well as a behavior plan in place within a month and also had access to a sensory room and worked closely with a special education teacher.
7. Sean’s parents refuse to place him in a strictly special needs classroom as they believe Sean greatly benefits from interaction with the other students.  “With the right support,” Jen Forsyth says, “Sean is able to learn and complete his work just like a normal child.”  On the other hand, however, they do still worry if Sean will face a future of bullying again.  For now, Sean happily attends his school, receiving accommodating attention, yet still interacts with the other children.
2. I found Sean’s story interesting as it addresses multiple areas regarding the integration of children with special needs.  The obstacles the school district gave the Forsyth’s to accommodate Sean seem unjust and unfair.  Regardless of disabilities Sean, or any other students, for that matter, face, he deserves an education equal to every other student, even if this requires accommodations and extra efforts.  Sean’s parents continue to fight for their child to have a bright future.  As one can see through Sean’s story, the answer to the previously prosed question is not a simple yes or no.  It depends on multiple factors such as current laws, severity of disabilities, and effects integration will have on other students as well as teachers (CITE SOURCE 3).