Entry #27: Searching for a successful
special education inclusion plan

Developing a plan for the successful inclusion of our special needs children is very much on my mind. At this point I have more questions than answers and I'm looking for a way to expand the conversation.

Two weeks ago I teamed for three days with a wonderful Special Ed teacher. We kicked around a lot of ideas about the types of accomodations which the children would need. We talked about the flexibility and planning required for teachers to click and work together. We agreed about the need to get started, and we located and ordered a film called "FAT City".

My colleague thought that viewing the film would be helpful for our entire staff. I haven't seen it yet, but based on her experience and our stage of development, or perhaps I should say our lack of development, it seemed like a good idea.

Since Dee's visit I have been thinking about ways to prepare the children for the changes which inclusion will mean. I've also thought a whole lot about expectations, mine, the kids' and the teachers'.

I've decided that a brief questionnaire that asks the kids to write down their thoughts about labels like "retarded", "LD" and "Special Ed" is the first step for them. Figuring out how to start with the adults is trickier.

Our kids call each other, and sometimes themselves, their clothing, or actions, retarded, all the time. Some of our students also put the special needs students down when they pass them in the hall or in the lunchroom or assemblies.

While I haven't overheard the insults, my special needs kids have shared with me in class their experiences and their feelings about this treatment.

I think that if we get the kids to look at what the labels really mean, as opposed to their use of them as busts, it will make a difference. I also think that we need to help them look at the number of learning disabled, prominent people who have achieved success.

Yesterday, in the course of a discussion with a dyslexic colleague, we found an online list of famous dyslexics which included Leonardo Da Vinci, Whoppi Goldberg, Winston Churchill, Jay Leno, Picasso, Albert Einstein and many others.

A quote by Churchill which I found particularly interesting was, "I am always ready to learn, but I seldom like being taught."

Churchill's words made me think about all the really bright and engaging students and adults I know, who do not, or did not, like school. I've often wondered what happened to these folks in their schools to make them feel so negatively about the whole process.

I read on the web that 30-40% of the population is affected by some form of dyslexia and that it affects males in dispoportionate numbers. It's something like 8 males to 1 female!

How many students have actual processing problems and how many are just turned off or discarded because they don't fit the prescribed mold imposed by our System?

When you don't fit in our boxes . . .

I remember reading that the playwright, August Wilson, dropped out because a teacher accused him of plagiarism when he turned in his writing. I've also heard that Billy Joel dropped out of school. Thinking about his lyrics and musical skills, it seems like he might not have fit into one of our neat little boxes...

In Mr. Wilson's case, racism seems to have played a significant role. Given the high numbers of minority males in our special ed population, I can't help but wonder about this tie-in for many of our current students.

I'm also wondering if there's a hormonal/chemical basis for these learning problems in boys or if girls have just learned to go unnoticed when they don't understand. Do lower expectations of females allow them to slip through quietly?

When I look at the difficulties our ESL population faces, my head really starts to spin. Recently, I read an excerpt by Leo Buscaglia, the author and motivational speaker, in a book called "Mentors, Masters and Mrs. MacGregor: Stories of Teachers Making a Difference". Buscaglia describes his misdiagnosis as being "mentally deficient" because of his cultural and language differences. He came from a household where Italian was spoken exclusively.

A teacher saw beyond Mr. Buscaglia's "differences" and moved him back into the mainstream after a few short months in Special Education. How many of our kids have been incorrectly labeled and lost?

About six years ago I got a new student from Georgia. He was a likeable boy who did his work, but could get rather silly. At the first report card conference, I remember his mother's seeming amazement as she learned that her son was progressing in my regular ed classroom. He had been in special ed in GA, but because his records arrived well after he did, he was placed in my regular ed class. He went on to be the commencement speaker at his eighth grade ceremony.

Expectations and behavior

This year I teach Special Ed sections seven times a week. I have continued to design real lessons and activities for these classes, resisting their requests for computer games and free time, but our success rate has fluctuated. Sometimes my lessons have missed the mark or I've tried to rush ahead without enough consideration of their need for a slower pace or a more directed approach. Lately, my directions have been better and so have the results.

However, I've become painfully aware of the difference in their behavior when they are with me and when they are with their advisors. When the colleague I mentioned earlier, was in my room, the students filed in pretty quietly and got right down to work. No time was wasted. I didn't have to remind anybody about their language and or their behavior.

I can't help, but wonder whether my lower expectations have fed into their acting out, which has sometimes been extreme... Do lower expectations and the segregation of "special" students add up to increased behavior problems? If you walk into a room knowing that the general population thinks you're "different" at best and "retarded" at worst, does it invite bad behavior?

We had an assembly on Thursday and there was a disruption in the last row. The offending class was removed from the program and as you might have guessed, it was a "special" group.

Did sitting in the last row where they could barely see or hear contribute to their behavior? Did their anxiety about next week's standardized tests, the subject of the assembly, push them over the edge? Would another class have been removed for laughing about somebody's passing gas? "Gas" is a standard part of middle school humor, why the over-reaction?

"I'll start where I usually do, by reading...."

I refuse to dodge all these questions anymore, although I'm not certain exactly where to begin. I guess I'll just have to start being more aware of my/our expectations and responses, and I'll start where I usually do, by reading more about these topics.

Just this morning I came across a book called, "Dyslexia, My Life" by Girard Sagmiller. I learn best through reading or hearing other people's stories, so I'll start there.

I'm also going to recommend that we use the questionnaire and a novel, "Yellow Bird and Me" by Joyce Hansen with our students. Bird is a class clown, who covers up his reading problems by performing in class. He eventually succeeds in school with the support of a fellow student, who is initially reluctant to get involved.

The novel was written by Joyce Hansen, a NY teacher, and the characters ring true. What's more, Bird not only gets help, he gives it too. A few weeks ago, I received a response to my diary that cautioned against looking at special needs students through a "deficit only" lens. Sharing this novel and examining the accomplishments of the famous dyslexics I mentioned earlier should start to cut against that onesided view.

Hopefully, by probing the students' views and sharing their responses, we'll all begin to own some of our own biases. I mentioned in the beginning of this entry that I was unsure of how or where to begin with the adults' discussion. Our feelings about inclusion are much more covert. We know better than to be blatant. So the dilemma remains, how can we surface our misconceptions and correct them? How can we avoid the pitfalls of guilt and or defensiveness, neither of which will lead to change?

And finally, how can we step around the million and one delaying tactics which get posed. The folks who say we can't start until we know exactly who the affected staff and students will be. The teachers, like me, who need more training before we start and the list goes on....

I'm not sure of the path right now, but I know that if enough of us forge ahead we'll "make the road by walking" and it's high time we did.


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