Hannah Dadles

Comp A

December 6, 2015

Mainstreaming Special Education

Lets suppose you were in a room full of twenty people and everyone in the

room got a piece of chocolate except you! The teacher asked the classroom to

explain to each other what was inside the chocolate, and tell everybody how it

tasted, but you didnt know. Everyone else in the room had the same feeling of joy

and happiness except you. You didnt know how the other kids felt because you

didnt get a piece of candy. How would you feel? Would you feel left out? Would you

feel secluded or feel like you didnt belong? Well this is how many special needs

students feel everyday.

About 37% of students on the spectrum spent 80% of their school day in

inclusive environments (Shaun Heasley)(4). Which means many students throughout the

day feel the same why you would feel if you didnt receive a chocolate, but the feeling

would be more extreme. These special needs students dont get the chance to participate

with the normal kids, or communicate on the playground with them, because too many

people believe they cant. Why do people that are against mainstreaming think that their

kids are to good for the special needs students? Just because they are a little different,

doesnt mean they are animals or they dont belong. So many people have such low

standards for these kids and its not fair.

 Did you know that placing these special needs students in a mainstreamed

classroom doesnt hurt any of the other students, but does highly benefit the special needs

students. We found that children with disabilities get a big boost in their language scores

over the course of a year when they can interact with other children who have good

language skills ( Rick Nauert)(5). When these special needs students get to

communicate with the children that do not have a disability, they can learn so many new

things. These students get to have the experience that all the other kids get. They get to

see how to interact with each other, how to help each other grow and most importantly

how to learn from one another. Not only does mainstreaming help the special needs

students, but it can also help the other kids. By showing the students without a disability

that not everyone is the same is a lesson in itself. This can help a lot with showing these

kids how to have respect for one another and how to treat one another. Another thing that

is very helpful for the special needs students is that they can ask anyone in the classroom

for help rather then just one teacher. There are more chances for the special needs student

to get help if there is more than one person in the class the is qualified to help.

Researchers say, Peers help because they spend more time one-on-one with their

fellow classmates than teachers can. Children with disabilities have the opportunity to

observe, imitate, and model the language use of their peers who do not have disabilities

(Rick Nauert) (20). In a sense, the typically developing children act as experts who can

help their classmates who have disabilities (Rick Nauert) (21). In a way this is saying

that there can only be so much help from a teacher because the teacher cannot just focus

on one student. If these special needs students have multiple teachers or classmates,
these students grades could potentially go up and there would be an increase in

understanding.

There are a lot of steps to the solution to the problem, and the first is that the

parents need to approve and understand. Some parents may ask well what if their child in

falling behind because they cannot keep up or are too confused? Well, there is already a

solution to that. In the mainstreamed class room there will be something called learning

Ally which is an audio book for the students that do not quit understand what they are

reading. So instead they can listen to it and comprehend it better. Students like it better

than other tools, because they can speed up or slow down the books and they really enjoy

the features Learning Ally has as opposed to a normal audiobook (Karton, Gary)(4).

Students like this and it can benefit then a lot. The second step to the solution is that we

need to make sure all of our teachers are qualified to teach both education and special

education. And the third step of our solution is to eliminate all separate classrooms for

these special needs students. There could potentially be a part of the day where the

special need student is taking to a different classroom for a small amount of time just for

some extra help, but only for a short period of time. By making sure all of our special

needs students are put into regular classrooms can really benefit these students.

Just imagine what kind of world we would live in if we learned to treat everyone

equal. We looked at everyone as if they were the same and we didnt have doubts in

children that have a mental disability. We could change the world, just think if everyone

were equal there would be no more fights, arguments, or maybe even wars. If we could

change this world and mainstream our classrooms we can teach our younger generation
that you dont have to be perfect to fit in. Be who you are and that should be good

enough.
Nauert, Rick. "Special Needs Children Benefit from Mainstreaming." Psych Central

News. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Nov. 2015.

Over the years, researchers have found that placing students in the same classroom as
higher learning students helps them a great amount. It can raise their language test scores,
speaking skills and interaction skills. Putting these students in the normal classrooms
does not hurt those students; it only benefits the special needs students. If we keep the
mentally impaired students separated from the world their whole life, they will never
learn how other people speak and interact with one another on a daily basis.

Lawrence,, Carissa, and Demand Media. "Advantages & Disadvantages to

Mainstreaming Special Education Children." Everyday Life. N.p., n.d. Web. 30

Nov. 2015.

There are many advantages and disadvantages to mainstreaming special education

students. Depending on what mental disorder the student has depends on weather it is
good or bad. Some advantages to mainstreaming are, it puts the students in a more natural
state weather than separating them from the rest of the world. Another advantage is, once
the individual gets into the real world society is going to expect them to communicate
and interact alongside everybody else. They are not going to get an opportunity to be
separated. Some disadvantages are sometimes students may not get the one on one
interaction between the teacher and the student. There are more students in the class so
there is less of an opportunity to get one-on-one help. Another disadvantage is, the
teacher in the regular classroom may not have the qualifications to teach those students.
Mainstreaming is usually a positive thing, but there can be some disadvantages.

Karton, Gary. "Special Ed Teacher Observes Success in the Mainstream Classroom -

Learning Ally." Learning Ally. N.p., 04 Sept. 2014. Web. 30 Nov. 2015.

In order to have a well working mainstreamed classroom there has to be highly educated
teachers. Teachers work together to learn how to accommodate to these students so they
can get the best learning environment. Many of the teachers will use audio books for the
special needs students to get a better understanding of the reading. All the students are
doing the same reading, but the special needs students that need a little extra help have
the book on tape. This could be a big help to many of the students and the teachers.
Wang, Huei Lan. "Should All Students with Special Educational Needs (SEN) Be

Included in Mainstream Education Provision? - A Critical Analysis."

International Education Studies IES 2.4 (2009): n. pag. Web.

Usually when students have a learning disability they are separated into their own
classrooms, but lately we have been putting all students in the same room. It all depends
on how well the student behaves with the other classmates. Putting kids with learning
disabilities in the same classroom as normal children can help all of the kids in a
number of ways. Long ago many people did not agree with that. They thought that it was
good to segregate the special education students in their own classrooms because they
were among kids that had the same problem. People believed that this would boost their
confidence because they were all the same and they all learned the same. In todays world
they have realized that this is not necessarily true. Putting all the kids in the same
classroom can be a big benefit to all.

Heasley, Shaun. "Inclusion Rates For Special Education Students Vary By State -

Disability Scoop." Disability Scoop Inclusion Rates For Special Education

Students Vary By State Comments. N.p., 07 Sept. 2014. Web. 06 Dec. 2015.

Depending on where a child lives can depend on weather or not the child is placed
in an inclusive classroom. It its thought that children that live in the west are more likely
to be in a mainstreamed classroom. All states have different rules in the classroom and
depending on where you live can depend on how your child is placed into a classroom.