Inclusion, can it work?

Inclusion can work. You are perfectly right to ask to have your son included. The teachers are supposedly trained to deal with teaching all children not just the ones who learn the way they want to present the lesson, go ahead and keep giving this years teachers ideas..it will soon catch on and your son will benefit!Patty wrote:
>
> My son is fully included in a regular 2nd grade classroom.
> He was diagnosed with CAPD, Language Disorder expressive
> worse than receptive, ADD and anxiety. He can work at grade
> level, if he gets assistance when it comes to writing. The
> teacher in the classroom has many times said she feels he
> would do better in the resource room. Our experience last
> year in the resource room was that it was a total disaster.
> My son works at the level of other students in the room, give
> him a high achiever and he will work towards that, give him a
> low achiever and he will simply stay low. When he is
> overwhelmed he will “shutdown” or simply say no, i don’t want
> to do it. The school has been told several times, by several
> psychologists, that he is NOT being defiant, rather he is
> showing his limitations. Given a few minutes to gather his
> thoughts he can and does return to the work, however the
> school will not seem to give him that. Both the resource
> teacher and the regular ed teacher say that he can’t do that
> in class. That if they give in to him, and let him just sit
> there, the other students question that, and start to say no
> themselves. I don’t have a response to that, as I see their
> point, but if he shuts down, then my sons needs aren’t being
> met either. When he has a shutdown at home, i backtrack a
> bit, refresh information we just went over, and slowly build
> him back to where he was, and he goes on fine to the
> project. The regular ed teacher doesn’t have the time to do
> that with 25 other students in the classroom, and last year
> the resource room teacher didn’t feel he needed the extra
> help. “He can do it himself, he just needs to learn not to
> say no”. I don’t know who is more frustrated at this point,
> the teacher or me….but definetly it is affecting my son.

Regular ed teachers often have a peculiar idealized vision of “the resource room” that a kid could “do so much better in.” They should be *required* to drop in and observe what happens in there a few times for a reality check. (And sometimes it’s just that they don’t think *they* can handle the demands in their setting… and sometimes the setting is such that that’s valid.)

See if you can negotiate a shutdown plan that doesn’t appear to be a “victory” for the kiddo in the classroom — so that the other kids perceive that there is some kind of consequence attached to shutting down. Or, is there somewhere he could go when he’s shutting down (especially if he can see it coming) so that his “noncompliance” isn’t as noticeable? The fourth grade teacher?

If you can’t do that, figure out your *own* strategy so that the kiddo knows he’s okay even if hte teacher doesn’t like what he’s doing.

I believe in inclusion but I must be the only one around here that does. I believe that teachers with good experience and open minds know that not all kids learn the same way.

When I was in school, with the pilgrims, there were not all these “special classes” kids went to school with each other. There were remedial reading and help with math programs available.

The teachers I had and those my friends had always started the year by saying they would give anyone extra help. It seemed they had a great deal of pride in us kids and pride in themselves as teachers.

Of course, back in those old days kids were held back in class if they couldn’t read. I did know one boy in my 9th grade English class who was new at the school and he could not read. Our teacher a great guy taught him to read by the end of the year.

I believe in inclusion but I must be the only one around here that does. I believe that teachers with good experience and open minds know that not all kids learn the same way.

When I was in school, with the pilgrims, there were not all these “special classes” kids went to school with each other. There were remedial reading and help with math programs available.

The teachers I had and those my friends had always started the year by saying they would give anyone extra help. It seemed they had a great deal of pride in us kids and pride in themselves as teachers.

Of course, back in those old days kids were held back in class if they couldn’t read. I did know one boy in my 9th grade English class who was new at the school and he could not read. Our teacher a great guy taught him to read by the end of the year.

NO, you are not the only 1 who believes it can work. I think a classroom that has the teacher with proper experience and aide can be successful. The students and teacher must be a good match for any classroom to work. Some students do not thrive in an incusive classroom and this should be understood. It is not a one glove fits all. Just because a child has an LD does not mean they need to be in special classes—but they do need the right support and understanding. Just because inclusion exists does not mean all LD students will benefit from it. The childs needs must be met as an individual not what is most convenient for the system.

I too believe inclusion works, according to the teacher, my honor student and my dylsexic child have had a lot of the same teachers. Teachers who I thought were ok, with my daughter, turned out not to be so good, when it came to my son. Sadly, it seems most teachers just want to supply the information and not have to work at teaching.
My son also has “shut down” when he feels overwhelmed. His teacher also sees that as being lazy. Nothing makes me crazier than to have someone say he’s lazy. I tell them how would you feel if someone gave you a book to read in Chinese, would you just be willing to plug right along. I don’t think so, and that’s how he feels everyday. My solution is that every teacher should be required to live with an LD child for a few years LOL

Kathy too wrote:
Sadly, it seems most teachers just want to supply the
> information and not have to work at teaching.

Ouch, that hurts. I do live with a severely LD child. (autism) I also work with a lot of other dedicated teachers who try their best to meet the needs of all children. Coming to this group for advise for a student of mine may not be the “upper” I was looking for.
Back to the drawing board.
Mrs. B

That message wasn’t meant to be a slam at the good teacher, which I believe there are some. I commend the teacher who takes extra time with a child, who doesn’t get frustrated when the child doesn’t respond to their teaching method. I have encountered a few “good” teachers, but sadly, I’ve encountered more who are there for the pay check.

Inclusion can work. You are perfectly right to ask to have your son included. The teachers are supposedly trained to deal with teaching all children not just the ones who learn the way they want to present the lesson, go ahead and keep giving this years teachers ideas..it will soon catch on and your son will benefit!Patty wrote:
>
> My son is fully included in a regular 2nd grade classroom.
> He was diagnosed with CAPD, Language Disorder expressive
> worse than receptive, ADD and anxiety. He can work at grade
> level, if he gets assistance when it comes to writing. The
> teacher in the classroom has many times said she feels he
> would do better in the resource room. Our experience last
> year in the resource room was that it was a total disaster.
> My son works at the level of other students in the room, give
> him a high achiever and he will work towards that, give him a
> low achiever and he will simply stay low. When he is
> overwhelmed he will “shutdown” or simply say no, i don’t want
> to do it. The school has been told several times, by several
> psychologists, that he is NOT being defiant, rather he is
> showing his limitations. Given a few minutes to gather his
> thoughts he can and does return to the work, however the
> school will not seem to give him that. Both the resource
> teacher and the regular ed teacher say that he can’t do that
> in class. That if they give in to him, and let him just sit
> there, the other students question that, and start to say no
> themselves. I don’t have a response to that, as I see their
> point, but if he shuts down, then my sons needs aren’t being
> met either. When he has a shutdown at home, i backtrack a
> bit, refresh information we just went over, and slowly build
> him back to where he was, and he goes on fine to the
> project. The regular ed teacher doesn’t have the time to do
> that with 25 other students in the classroom, and last year
> the resource room teacher didn’t feel he needed the extra
> help. “He can do it himself, he just needs to learn not to
> say no”. I don’t know who is more frustrated at this point,
> the teacher or me….but definetly it is affecting my son.

Regular ed teachers often have a peculiar idealized vision of “the resource room” that a kid could “do so much better in.” They should be *required* to drop in and observe what happens in there a few times for a reality check. (And sometimes it’s just that they don’t think *they* can handle the demands in their setting… and sometimes the setting is such that that’s valid.)

See if you can negotiate a shutdown plan that doesn’t appear to be a “victory” for the kiddo in the classroom — so that the other kids perceive that there is some kind of consequence attached to shutting down. Or, is there somewhere he could go when he’s shutting down (especially if he can see it coming) so that his “noncompliance” isn’t as noticeable? The fourth grade teacher?

If you can’t do that, figure out your *own* strategy so that the kiddo knows he’s okay even if hte teacher doesn’t like what he’s doing.

I believe in inclusion but I must be the only one around here that does. I believe that teachers with good experience and open minds know that not all kids learn the same way.

When I was in school, with the pilgrims, there were not all these “special classes” kids went to school with each other. There were remedial reading and help with math programs available.

The teachers I had and those my friends had always started the year by saying they would give anyone extra help. It seemed they had a great deal of pride in us kids and pride in themselves as teachers.

Of course, back in those old days kids were held back in class if they couldn’t read. I did know one boy in my 9th grade English class who was new at the school and he could not read. Our teacher a great guy taught him to read by the end of the year.

I believe in inclusion but I must be the only one around here that does. I believe that teachers with good experience and open minds know that not all kids learn the same way.

When I was in school, with the pilgrims, there were not all these “special classes” kids went to school with each other. There were remedial reading and help with math programs available.

The teachers I had and those my friends had always started the year by saying they would give anyone extra help. It seemed they had a great deal of pride in us kids and pride in themselves as teachers.

Of course, back in those old days kids were held back in class if they couldn’t read. I did know one boy in my 9th grade English class who was new at the school and he could not read. Our teacher a great guy taught him to read by the end of the year.

NO, you are not the only 1 who believes it can work. I think a classroom that has the teacher with proper experience and aide can be successful. The students and teacher must be a good match for any classroom to work. Some students do not thrive in an incusive classroom and this should be understood. It is not a one glove fits all. Just because a child has an LD does not mean they need to be in special classes—but they do need the right support and understanding. Just because inclusion exists does not mean all LD students will benefit from it. The childs needs must be met as an individual not what is most convenient for the system.

I too believe inclusion works, according to the teacher, my honor student and my dylsexic child have had a lot of the same teachers. Teachers who I thought were ok, with my daughter, turned out not to be so good, when it came to my son. Sadly, it seems most teachers just want to supply the information and not have to work at teaching.
My son also has “shut down” when he feels overwhelmed. His teacher also sees that as being lazy. Nothing makes me crazier than to have someone say he’s lazy. I tell them how would you feel if someone gave you a book to read in Chinese, would you just be willing to plug right along. I don’t think so, and that’s how he feels everyday. My solution is that every teacher should be required to live with an LD child for a few years LOL

Kathy too wrote:
Sadly, it seems most teachers just want to supply the
> information and not have to work at teaching.

Ouch, that hurts. I do live with a severely LD child. (autism) I also work with a lot of other dedicated teachers who try their best to meet the needs of all children. Coming to this group for advise for a student of mine may not be the “upper” I was looking for.
Back to the drawing board.
Mrs. B

That message wasn’t meant to be a slam at the good teacher, which I believe there are some. I commend the teacher who takes extra time with a child, who doesn’t get frustrated when the child doesn’t respond to their teaching method. I have encountered a few “good” teachers, but sadly, I’ve encountered more who are there for the pay check.