by Annette Liike

Created on: March 04, 2010

Inclusion in education is the practice of educating individuals with special learning needs in the same classroom with their same age peers who do not have any special learning needs.  It is not simply placing these individuals with peers but also providing the services that are necessary to assure that the students with special learning needs have a successful learning experience.  At the same time it is also necessary to assure that the other students without special needs are also learning to the best of their ability without significant interruptions .  Some educators state that inclusion is when students are mainstreamed into classes such as art, physical education or music.  This is not inclusion but rather mainstreaming the special needs child into the mainstream specials.  The practice of Inclusion has proven to be highly effective for all students when implemented properly with services brought to the student rather than the student brought to the services. 

This is not to say that a special needs child is learning the exact curriculum of a student without special needs.  Usually the curriculum is modified or adjusted to meet the needs of each individual child.  Every child's Individualized Education Program Team (IEPT) determines what the needs for each child are and those needs are implemented based on each child's needs.  The IEPT is a group of individuals that sit down together to determine the strengths and weaknesses of the student and making a unique plan to fit that child's needs.  This team is comprised of the general education teacher, special education teacher consultant, social worker, psychologist, Speech Therapist, Occupational Therapist, Physical Therapist, Parent, child if old enough to attend and Administrators.  In some cases all of these individuals attend the IEP meeting in others only a few representatives are present.  This is usually based on the child's unique learning needs.  The ideal is for the planning team to come up with goals and objectives for the child for the upcoming educational year. 

These goals and objectives should be challenging yet reachable.  They should be obtained by discussing the strengths and weaknesses of the child and determining what services will be necessary so that the child can remain in the inclusive environment which would be the typical classroom with typical peers being the least restrictive.  In a perfect world

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