A report of U.S. Department of Education found that in the 12 years between 1977 and 1990, placements of students with disabilities has changed by a little bit. By 1990, for example, only 1.2% more students with were in general education classes. Placements of students with disabilities in separate classes went down by 0.5% and students with disabilities taught in separate public schools went down by only 1.3%.

Inclusion affects many people

It affects special education students, general education students, and sometimes teachers. It affects the special education kids because sometimes if a teacher explains something to a special education student and they don’t get it, other children can explain it and sometimes the special education kids understand it more when a child explains it in language that’s more familiar to them. General education kids also benefit from being in an inclusion class. This is because sometimes when children explain something to other children, it helps them to understand it better themselves. Sometimes the general education children have to explain how to do something to the special education students. When they get the special education students to understand it the general education students understand it even more.

Numbers show that students with disabilities are more likely to be in inclusion classes when they’re younger. About 50% of disabled children ages 6 through 11 are in inclusion classes, while only about 30% of children 11 or 12 are in inclusion classes. It seems when they get older they are less included. Why is that?

Students with disabilities 2003-2004
Type of Disability	Number served (thousands)	Number served percent of total enrollment
Specific learning disabilities	2,831	5.8
Speech or language impairments	1,441	3.0
Mental retardation	593	1.2
Emotional disturbance	489	1.0
Hearing impairments	79	0.2
Orthopedic impairments	77	0.2
Other health impairments	464	1.0
Visual impairments	28	0.1
Multiple disabilities	140	0.3
Deaf-blindness	2	#
Autism and traumatic brain injury	186	0.4
Developmental delay	305	0.6

Data complied from U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics (2006). Digest of Education Statistics, 2005 (NCES 2006-030), Chapter 2.

Disabilities Found in the Classroom

What is autism?

Autism is a developmental disorder that begins at birth or within the first two-and-a-half years of life. Most autistic children are normal in appearance, but spend their time engaged in puzzling and disturbing behaviors which are very different from those of typical children. Less severe cases may be diagnosed with Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD) or with Asperser’s Syndrome, which is characterized by normal speech with "autistic" social and behavioral problems.

History of autism

Leo Kanner documented autism in 1943. He discovered it through an eleven-subject observation of children with developmental disorders. Since that time, many changes have been made in both the perception of the disorder and its prevalence of diagnosis.

Benefits of having students with autism in typical classrooms

Students with autism are better off in typical classrooms because it gives them a chance to learn in naturally stimulating environments. It also makes it easier for friendships to develop between students with autism and their typical peers. Another reason it is better to have students with autism in typical classrooms is if the kids are in a typical classrooms they have good role models for targeted social behavior.

Autism in Inclusion

The first step toward implementing inclusion properly is to improve the training of teachers. Teacher-training programs for general and special-education teachers often coexist within colleges of education, but rarely are classes jointly taught by regular and special-education teachers. These programs must begin to cross boundaries and integrate instruction, just as the public schools are being asked to do. Classes need to focus on a variety of teaching strategies designed to address the range and abilities of the students with whom these future teachers will work.

Cerebral palsy is a non-contagious disorder caused by damage to the motor control centers of the young developing brain and can occur during pregnancy, childbirth, or up to age three. Someone with cerebral palsy has normal brain functions because it only affects muscle movement .The brain damage does not worsen, but it can not be cured.

Facts about cerebral palsy

Ø 20% of children diagnosed with CP developed it due to a brain injury during the birthing process.

Ø Approx. 765,000 children and adults in the United States manifest one or more of the signs of CP.

Ø 8,000 - 10,000 babies and infants are diagnosed annually with cerebral palsy.

Ø Cerebral palsy is identified in 1,200 - 1,500 preschool age children each year.

Ø Cerebral palsy is the second most common neurological impairment in childhood.

Ø 45% of children with cerebral palsy also develop mild or severe epilepsy.

Ø The degree of disability with CP is: mild (24.9%), moderate (43.8%), and severe (31.3%).

Ø 84.5% of children with cerebral palsy receive physical therapy 6 times a month, 50% receive occupational therapy about 5 times a month and 37% see a speech therapist about 5 times a month.

Benefits of including kids with CP

Including kids with cerebral palsy wouldn’t make such an impact on the other students because; cerebral palsy doesn’t affect the brain mentally but physically. CP affects the muscles .A boy in my school has cerebral palsy, and he has a great sense of humor. He is very smart, but people didn’t know it because he doesn’t talk. Now that we have assistive technology in place for him, and he uses his computer and Dynavox to speak, he has become a valued member of our class.

Facts About Down Syndrome

Ø discovered in the 19th century by John Langdon

Ø chromosomal condition that affects about 800 to 1,000 live births

Symptoms of Down Syndrome

· low muscle tone

· depressed nasal bridge and a small nose

· an upward slant to the eyes

· unusual shaped ear

· deep crease on the center of the palm

· small folds of skin on the inner corner of the eyes

· excessive space between large and second toe

· large tongue compared to the mouth

Benefits of inclusion for children with Down Syndrome

Children with Down Syndrome have gained many benefits over the past years from being included in the general education classroom. They gained language development, peer acceptance and real-world experience.  Throughout history children who had mental, physical, and developmental disabilities were isolated in different classrooms from general education kids, but with inclusion, kids with special needs can interact and learn in a regular classroom like every other kid!

What is Tourette’s Syndrome?

Tourette’s Syndrome is a neurological disorder inherited from a person’s parents. People are found to have it before they are eighteen years old. It makes people carry out specific actions like tapping their foot and blinking their eyes repeatedly.

The tic occurs many times a day, almost every day. There is never a tic-free period of more than three months. Kids with Tourette’s Syndrome may be ridiculed or picked on by other students who don’t have this disorder. The children with Tourette syndrome can do the same thing that other children without it can. Their actions worsen over when they are annoyed and also when they are aware of their problem and try to put a stop to it.

Treatments

Some people with Tourette’s syndrome don’t need any medication. There is no one treatment that is useful to all people with Tourette syndrome.