Piece of Final Essay

This is the third section of my essay.  It continues through Sean's story and explains the different extents of inclusion as well as their benefits and negative aspects.  This section shows that the issue of inclusion does not have a simple yes or no answer, but instead is very complex.

1. Section 3: Different extents of inclusion
   Continually, just as laws regarding inclusion prove complex and not easily defined, so does the exact definition of the term inclusion itself.  Although inclusion is practiced in many schools, it varies on the extent.  Sean Forsyth’s Asperger’s Syndrome is a mild intellectual disability (MID).  For students such as Sean, to benefit most from their education they must learn in the least restrictive environment possible and participate in regular classrooms.  Students with MID have many options and levels of inclusion they may participate in.
1. Full inclusion defines the situation where “the student with special needs is provided with all of his or her special education services within the general education classroom” (CITE SROUCE 4).  In a full inclusion setting, students with special needs are completely immersed in the standard classroom, expected to both behave and perform up to par with the other students.  A full inclusion setting has both positive and negative aspects to it.
1. To begin with, a full inclusion environment provides “opportunities for the student with MID to learn appropriate social skills.”  Additionally, a study performed on students in Australia showed that 89% of students made with mild intellectual disabilities made their friends in schools (CITE SOURCE 4).  Essentially, a full inclusive learning environment benefits the student as they learn to interact with other peers as well as make friends.
2. On the other hand, full inclusion poses many challenges for the students as well as the teachers.  Some teachers, specifically in rural settings, “feel unprepared to cope with a much larger range of learner needs within the regular classroom for longer periods of time” (CITE SOURCE 4).  Evidentially, if a teacher feels uncomfortable and unprepared to teach students with MID, the student will not receive an equal education as other students and may even suffer neglect in the classroom.
3. To fully include students with MID into regular classrooms, teachers must be trained not only in general education, but also in areas regarding special education and possible disabilities a student may have.  When a teacher cannot accomplish this, partial inclusion may become a second option for a student with a disability.
2. Partial inclusion involves a student spending some of their learning time in a general education classroom and some in a special education classroom or other services.  This form of inclusion allows a student to both interact with students in general education classes as well as receive individualized attention and teachings accommodating their personal disability.  
3. Continually, another form of inclusion exists called mainstreaming.  In the practice of mainstreaming, students in strict special education classes have the opportunity to participate alongside with students in general education classes in courses such as music and physical education classes.
1. Unfortunately, the common practice of mainstreaming has negative effects on the students with special needs.  Other students often see these students as different and lack the understanding and acceptance students with disabilities deserve.  When a special needs student is only presented to others in classes such as these, they often receive discrimination, bullying, and judgment.  Derk Stephens, a writer for an education magazine, says that “emotional difficulties and interpersonal difficulties (of students with special needs) affect others perception of them, as well as the child’s own self-perception” (CITE SOURCE 5).
4. All together, the different levels and extents of possible inclusion further complicate the issue regarding the integration of special needs students into regular track classrooms.  What one may observe, however, from the results of each of these extents of conclusion, is that the special needs child definitely requires interaction with other children and greatly benefits from this interaction.