Intellectual disabilities

Jorgensen, C. M., & Lambert, L. (2012). Inclusion means more than just being "in:" planning full participation of students with intellectual and other developmental disabilities in the general education classroom. International Journal of Whole Schooling, 8(2), 21-36. 

This article describes a process to plan for students with intellectual disabilities to be fully included in the general education classroom.  The journal article addresses a five step question based process that takes place each week to plan lessons for each subject area. The questions are:

1.       What is the general education instructional routine?

2.       What are the students without disabilities doing to participate in the instructional routine?

3.       Can the student with the disability participate in the same way in all components of the instructional routine or does the student need an alternate way to participate?

4.       What supports does the student need to participate using alternate means?

5.       Who will prepare the supports?

Further, the article includes a model that can be used for teachers to answer the above questions.  The main goal is to ensure that all students are receiving instruction grounded in the curriculum.  The author also provides districts with suggestions to find the time needed for this instructional planning.

                My own experience has been with children with mild intellectual disabilities.  I appreciate the model given and is something I could see myself using during plan time between the general and special education teacher. For true inclusion to be successful, these steps must be taken. The special education teacher must know the topics of the lesson, the delivery that will be used and the expectations of the students.  Only then will the interventions chosen have an impact on the learning

                The ideas and models included in this article are wonderful for a school in a perfect world.  Unfortunately, this is not a place I have ever seen.  I certainly will plan better in the future with my partnered teacher.  I appreciate that I need to find the time to discuss the delivery of the lesson as well as the goals set out for each student.  I am guilty of sharing only the topics and assessments to be modified.  My biggest worry for the inclusion for students with intellectual disabilities is the level of the disability.  While I can appreciate these working in mild cases, I do not see the possibility of a positive outcome for students with severe intellectual disabilities.  My mom was a nurse for CPS for the past 20 years and her last assignment was to be one-on-one with a girl at Curie High School.  She went from class to class including algebra, chemistry and writing. She was non-verbal and confined to a wheel chair.  No steps in his article would benefit her learning-inclusion at its worst!