Mainstreaming : Autism in the Classroom

Mainstreaming: Autism in the Classroom

“Education is important for all children, of course, but for those with disabilities or special needs, it can mean the difference between a socially fulfilling, intellectually stimulating, and economically productive life and a future with few of these qualities”(Aron). Education, being this -important, poses an important question; should kids with special needs be mainstreamed? This is a controversial debate that has been circulating the media for quite some time. To be mainstreamed means to take someone with special needs and to put them into a normal functioning public school class room. Should students with autism be mainstreamed into a normal, functioning classroom or be sent to a class designed to fit their individual needs? Mainstreaming students with autism has been around for around forty years and despite a few negative attributes, it is a good, beneficial practice because it is beneficial to all students socially and educationally.

Mainstreaming special education students is a fairly recent development. Prior to the 1970s, there were no laws protecting these students’ civil or constitutional rights (Aron). In 1973 the Rehabilitation act banned federal funds from discriminating against persons with disabilities. Because almost all public schools are federally funded, this meant that they had to include these students with disabilities into their classes. The IDEA was passed in 1975. The IDEA is the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act. In other words it is “free public appropriate education in a least restrictive environment” (Aron). IDEA is referring only to people who fall into certain established forms of special needs such as deafness, blindness, language disabilities, emotional disabilities, and any intellectual disability. IDEA was split into three sections. Part A deals with the government funding special education programs for kids elementary through high school age. Section B of the IDEA stated that states would have to fun children ages zero to two. The final section, Part C, of the IDEA focused on ages zero to two system of early intervention.

And finally, in 1997, special education children were all allowed to be mainstreamed in to the same classroom as kids with normal mental abilities. After that students with special needs were able to be mainstreamed with a specialized IEP, or Individualized Education Plan.

Whereas most of the opinions about special needs children being mainstreamed are positive, there are a few opposing views which include unevenly distributed attention, poor performance, and financial struggle. Aron describes the first of these issues as, “The over and under identification of certain groups of students” (Aron). Meaning that a lot of special needs kids need more attention than the typical student. People argue that teachers may be giving lots of attention to the students that need it, and overlooking other students who do not need that much attention. They may not need the attention in that moment, but one of the main aspects of school is building relationships with the people around you and learning from that. If much attention is given to the students that need help, and hardly any given to the student that thrives in academics, that student is missing out on a big part of what a valuable education really is.

Students either live up to, or down to, the expectations held to them. What is found commonly in situations where special needs students are in the public school system is that people set expectations for how they will perform. Often times these expectations are set really low resulting in the kids performing poorly. Because of the low expectations, the students met the low expectations and performed poorly; whereas, if the teachers had high expectations the students would have performed up to those, scoring better on tests and earning better grades, and being overall more successful.

The final downfall to mainstreaming special needs children into public school education is the economic trouble it causes. Special needs programs are funded by a mix of both the federal state and the local governments. $50 billion is going to special education services and $23.7 billion is going toward public schools special education programs, resulting in $77.3 billion total dollars spent on special needs programs (Aron). This large chunk of money results in near 21% of government spending, and that is going purely to elementary and secondary education programs.

Despite the few reasons that people may view mainstreaming special needs as a negative move, there are two major reasons that it is an excellent move; these reasons are that they benefit all students socially and educationally. Many people would say that putting persons with special needs in the classroom has no impact socially on the kids who do not have special needs, but actually, by having the two together they are able to pick up social cues from one another. The student who has autism, learns to communicate with others around him and the student around the autistic child learn how to interact with him. Learning to not only tolerate, but interact with persons with special needs is a skill that will benefit the child not only in the moment, but for the rest of their lives. Autistic children, and children with other mental disabilities, generally have problems interacting with other people, so them being in an environment where they are forced to contribute and be an active member of a community trains them at a young age to communicate with kids and adults, both like them and different. Learning how to express feelings and emotions leads to the autistic child not being as violent as many students who are not mainstreamed do not know how to express that. Being able to release the emotions building up inside is very important, because it reduces violent tendencies. Education alone cannot solve all the problems found in special needs development, but it does play a prominent role. Dyson says it like this, “although education alone may be inadequate in addressing these difficulties, it may have a role to play, as part of a much broader social and economic strategy” (Dyson). Social interaction in a public classroom setting is therefore beneficial not only to the child with special needs, but to the rest of the class too.

The first way that Mainstreaming is a positive practice in how it benefits all students socially, but it is also beneficial to all students educationally. Having all the kids together in one class develops tolerance. When they are all together, they learn together. Though they develop at different paces because of the way their brain functions, they develop together forming an unbreakable bond. There is a large difference between schooling and education. Schooling is the curriculum that is being taught in the classroom. In schooling, Learning is limited to the classroom; whereas, in education, learning is expanded to everyday experiences (Ryan). Education however is not limited to the classroom, it is learning from curriculum and everyday experiences. The students who do not have special needs, they learn from being in this environment with kids who have autism. They learn from how they react to certain things, what makes them special, and really how to understand people who are different like you in either a major or a minor way. Most importantly the people without special needs in that class learn and grow with these kids so they are educated on what makes them who they are so they are not snobby and they do not feel superior because they understand what is going on. Special needs kids benefit educationally by studying the kids around them. Though they may feel conspicuous because they know they are different, they can observe what is happening around them, copy them and thrive. What is amazing is that 70% teens with disabilities that were mainstreamed into the public school system were able to graduate on time with their class (Aron). This outstanding graduation rate just goes to prove that kids with disabilities develop and learn more in a typical public school learning environment. Ferraioli states it like this, “Many people on the autism spectrum, if provided with an appropriate educational and interventional experience beginning early in their lives, can move into and benefit from a more typical educational setting(e.d., lovas 1987; Smith et al. 2000), whether full-time or part-time, depending on the needs of the child”(Ferraioli). Mainstreaming children with special needs is a good thing to do because it helps them learn not only from a curriculum but from interactions with others. Experiencing one of their classmates playing basketball could inspire them or teach them something new that would not be found in a textbook.

Mainstreaming in education is becoming more and more popular, but many people still do not understand the ins and outs of it. What are the benefits and what are the drawbacks? The two main benefits that sums up the essence of mainstreaming education is that it benefits all students, not just the ones with special needs in the areas of social interaction and learning through education. The few drawbacks such as uneven attention, poor performance, and finances are not as important when considering how amazing the benefits are. This question of mainstreaming is incredibly important to be educated on today because everyday scientists are discovering more and more forms of mental disabilities on the charts of special needs and so this issue is becoming more and more substantial. An agreement must be reached. Once the public is educated on this issue and they understand how substantial the benefits are, they will agree that  Mainstreaming students with autism is an amazing solution to the issues in education today because it benefits all students socially, and educationally while pushing them to be successful, contributing members of today’s society.

 

Works Cited

Aron, Laudan, and Pamela Loprest. “Disability and the Education System.” The Future of Children 22 (2012): 97-122. Www.futureofchildren.org. ERIC, 2012. Web.

This source is written by Laudan Aron and Pamela Loprest and contains information about the history of mainstreaming and some pros and cons to it.

 

Dyson, Alan. “Social and Educational Disadvantage: Reconnecting Special Needs Education.” British Journal of Special Education 24.4 (1997): 152-57. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, 1997. Web.

This journal, written by Dyson, captures the history and development of special education and the advantages and disadvantages of mainstreaming.

 

Ferraioli, Suzannah J., and Sandra L. Harris. “Effective Educational Inclusion of Students on the Autism Spectrum.” Journal of Contemporary Psychotherapy 41.1 (2011): 19-28. Springer. Springer US, 1 Mar. 2011. Web.

This journal, written by Ferraioli and Harris, talks about how students with disabilities can benefit from being in a normal, public school classroom.

 

Ryan, Kevin, and James Michael Cooper. Those Who Can, Teach. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1972. Print.

This book talks about the various aspects of education including special education and mainstreaming.

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