Topic > The Benefits of Full Inclusion - 1626

The special education system emerged precisely because of the non-adaptability of regular classes, and since nothing happened to make these general education classes more adaptable, full inclusion will probably lead to the rediscovery of the need for the special teaching classroom (Skritic, p. 160). One of the goals of special education is to place students in the least restrictive environment for their needs. For example, you would not put a whale in an aquarium because you would be limiting it to an environment that cannot meet the whale's needs. The success stories seen show a student with a disability in a mainstream classroom with a full-time teacher aide. It's great that the child's learning has been successful, but what happens when there are four children with multiple disabilities and the school doesn't have the money to pay another teacher to stay with the students? Those who oppose full inclusion believe that many or most students with disabilities are better served outside the mainstream classroom because special education programs are appropriate for students' needs and individualization is more likely to occur in smaller classes with specialized teachers (Heubert). Full inclusion poses many confusing ideas. Will high school students with a kindergarten reading level attend the kindergarten class? Will they be seated in a classroom where the standards will be extremely higher than theirs? None of these are appropriate or support student growth