Special Interaction

When anybody thinks about schools, what it is that they think of is the picture-perfect classroom that we have all seen in movies and T.V. shows. The general public tends to think about the ideal learning environment, with all the pieces falling into place. Based upon the American Dream, schools should all be completely flawless conglomerations. However, in reality this is not even close to being the case. One of the biggest issues that I have with schools is that there is not enough integration of special needs programs with the rest of the institution they are a part of, if they are even associated with one. Yes, there are some institutions of learning that do have special needs programs, and even a few of them have integrated these programs. Unfortunately, the majority of schools that have such programs have kept them separate from the rest of their students. Over the course of this paper, I will be introducing a brief discussion of the state of a large number of special needs programs, presenting multiple perspectives of the issue, and a discourse on what would be gained by all students by increasing interactions between typical and atypical students. I will also be providing readers with ways to increase these very interactions, as well as their importance and how having such relations at different stages have the ability to succeed in different ways. We have been making leaps and bounds in terms of improving the situation when it comes to increasing interactions between those with special needs and other students. But we have not made it far enough!

Some schools have progressed to the point of creating special needs programs, which has been a fantastic success for the system. The issue, however, is that many of these programs, while officially a part of the academic institution, are separated from the remainder of the school. It is not necessarily an issue of atypical students being in the same classrooms as typical students, for this is not always a feasible course of action to pursue. The bigger concern is that a majority of schools have created a rift between these two factions to the point that they do not have interactions with one another. Some schools have even gone as far as not only completely refraining from mainstreaming of any kind, but they have even placed such programs in separate sections of the school. By doing this, these institutions have affectively not only separated students classified as having special needs from the rest of the school, but have also removed such programs from sight completely. In doing this, a major aspect of special needs programs is totally removed. It is true that individuals who are placed in such programs received the necessary assistance over the course of their education. While this might be true, these students also lose out on a crucial aspect of attending school, and that is the chance to interact with other students, just like all of their peers have the opportunity to do everyday.

Thinking back to my time in school, my fondest memories are not those that involve me sitting in classrooms. Rather, they all involve recollections of sitting around with my friends and talking with everyone else in the quad. This is an incredibly difficult thing for special needs programs to accomplish if they are in a situation that causes them to be separated from the entirety of the school. When this is the case, these programs are usually not only housed in separate buildings or sections of the school, but they are also kept from interactions such as those I just described with the rest of their schools. From personal experience working at a school that separates atypical students from typical students, those in the special needs program usually are not even given the opportunity to share time on the playground with the rest of the students at their school. While this may appear as a small deal, for those students who have to sit in a classroom and watch the entirety of their school out on the yard together it is anything but. Jacob Artson, a 17-year-old boy who has been diagnosed with severe autism, very eloquently stated in his article “Encumbered and Blessed” in CJ: Voices of Conservative/Masorti Judaism, students who have been classified as being different from everyone else because they have “special needs” often find themselves feeling incredibly lonely. When one thinks about this in regards to the school system, the fact that often these very individuals are segregated from their peers only goes to make students in such programs feel even more alone.

On the flip side of having schools that have special needs programs, there are those programs that are exclusively special needs. In my opinion these programs are far more detrimental to the individuals who are a part of them than those that separate such individuals from the rest of their institution. By not having programs that interact with typical students, those who have been classified as atypical very easily being to view themselves in the same way that those who do not understand them. They begin to see there being something wrong with themselves, as being individuals who actually need to be completely separated from those who do are not attached to the same labels. Is it really worth subjecting individuals to such feelings when they already often feel alone in the world? Do those in special needs programs truly deserve to be in situations that force them to not only recognize that they are different than everybody else, but to believe that what makes them unique individuals is a negative attribute? Unfortunately, sometimes it even gets to the point where individuals begin to feel that the treatment they receive is something that they deserve, when in reality it is the furthest thing from what they do be worthy of.

The best way to remedy these issues that have been addressed, of those in special needs programs being separated from the rest of their schools and being put in the position of belittling themselves due to being alone, is to provide these individuals with the opportunities to interact with their typical counterparts. Before delving into ways to enable individuals to interact with those outside of their special needs programs, I will present the benefits of having such interactions. A key factor in allowing there to be inclusion within classrooms is the establishment of specifically designed instruction for those students with special needs based upon their least restrictive environment, also known as LRE. Prior to developing the LRE, it is federally required that an individualized educational program, or IEP, is created. By establishing an IEP, schools are capable of providing students with the necessary environment in which their academic futures can best be fostered, and a large part of this experience is being in the same setting as their typical classmates. While it may seem a tad bit counter-intuitive, due to the fact that children who have been classified as having special needs require the development of educational programs specifically geared towards them, they truly benefit by being in the same classroom setting as their peers. Similar ends can be reached by other methods that are not necessarily geared towards creating classrooms that are based upon inclusion, but rather tactics of integration.

Additional benefits of inclusion and integration of those in special education programs are abundant, as are those for other students as well. One of the major upsides to such projects is opening these individuals to environments with increased stimulants. There are a number of instances of course, caused by certain neurological conditions, where this increase in stimulants can make it more difficult for individuals to receive the education which they rightly deserve. Even more than being provided with environments that further stimulate their minds, inclusion programs for those with special needs provide these students with role models who emulate positive behaviors with which some of these individuals struggle, such as communication and social interactions. At the top of the list of benefits to inclusion programs is greater acceptance of those in special needs programs by their peers. In creating environments that foster an increase in the acceptance of those who are a part of such programs, individuals outside of the program are more willing not only to accept their peers who they had previously viewed as being different and not worth they time, but also to spread what they learn about their peers to others. Opposite the benefits of those within special needs programs are those for their peers outside of the program. As stated previously, interactions between typical and atypical students enable those students classified as typical to increase their acceptance of individual differences. At the same time, these same individuals become more comfortable with those students who have been termed as having disabilities. Often times individuals are uncomfortable interacting with their fellow students who are a part of special needs programs because they find themselves in situations that are unfamiliar. So, there are all these advantages to institutions having inclusion/integration programs, but how do they go about making those outside of the program more comfortable and make such policies viable?

A key step to making special needs programs more inclusive and geared towards integration is increasing the visibility of those who are a party of such programs. The accomplishment of such a task is not as difficult as one might first suspect. There are a number of very simple, steps that can be taken by schools, which are quite easy to enact and do not even require the hiring of additional, specialized staff members. One of the easiest ways to increase the visibility of special needs programs that are already in place at schools is to allow students in these programs to share time on the playground with their typical counterparts. By providing these students with a few minutes of time on the blacktop with the rest of their schoolmates, they are empowered to feel more like the rest of children. By being given the chance to feel like the rest of their schoolmates, they are provided with a reason to no longer doubt themselves, but rather to become more confident in their abilities and in their social skills. Another simple step that can be taken, which would accomplish the very same ends is to allow individuals who are in special needs programs to share a lunch period with other students. A final suggestion of a way to make special needs programs that have previously been separated more visible is to the rest of their schools is to have shared hallways. In having shared hallways, a goal that can be accomplished by having both special needs students and other students having their lockers on the same hall, visibility of special needs individuals can easily be seen and those who have not been classified as being special needs, or do not have experience with such individuals, have a means of becoming more familiar and therefore more comfortable. These are only a few of the many methods that could help in accomplishing increased, or even initial, inclusion and/or integration of those students in special needs programs.

While it is important to set-up a system that enables there to be integration and inclusion of those labeled as having special needs, the level of success can very much be dependent upon at what stage these policies and processes are put into practice. Steps such as those suggested in the previous paragraph can be put into action at virtually any stage in one’s education, but I believe that the later on one begins to be exposed to such policies as would increase the integration of special needs programs, the less successful these steps will be. A major benefit that results from these actions is increasing the level of acceptance of special needs individuals and of individual differences, which will be reached with more successful results if begun at a younger age. In doing this, beginning at a younger age, typical students are made more comfortable and familiar with special needs and everything that surrounds those with special needs. As exposure to the world of special needs is increasingly made a part of the education of younger students, they become more familiar and comfortable with those individuals in such programs.

The term “advancement” is defined as “the process of promoting a cause or a plan”. When it comes to special needs programs, all school systems have advanced an incredible amount. Originally, there was absolutely no recognition of the fact that those with special needs require an education just as much, if not more, than their peers without the label. The first step in this advancement was the recognition that educating such individuals is a necessity. The next step was to create a system by which individuals with special needs effectively receive the education they rightly deserve. A third, and major step in the advancement of special needs education was the creation of programs specifically for those with special needs. After this, the integration and inclusion of such programs is the next, and currently the most pressing, step to be taken. While it is quite possible to integrate and include those in special needs programs with the rest of the school, there have not been massive actions taken to make this possibility a reality. There are some schools that have successfully enacted policies that have enabled those with special needs to become a part of their school communities. As I have previously stated, it is my opinion that these actions are either not enough or they have not been taken by enough schools to truly accomplish the end that it easily could. Despite the fact that the integration of special needs programs has not necessarily been successful to the ends that it could be, this situation could possibly be remedied with the enactment of a number of rather simple conceptions. As I have previously stated, a very key, and initial, steps that should be taken in order to achieve the integration, and to certain levels inclusion of, special needs programs is to create policies that serve to increase the visibility of both the programs and their participants. Yes, there are a great many more steps that not only should, but also actually need to be taken, in order to achieve proper and necessary levels of integration and inclusion. But how is advancement in any area made? Not by expecting everything to fall into place and all happen at once. Rather, by taking things one step at a time, all advancements not only occur, but actually do so infinitely more effectively. And the case of inclusion and integration of special needs programs is no different than the advancement of any other issue. It all happens because of the enactment of small steps, and with special needs programs, the next small step to be taken is to increase the visibility of these programs.


Works Cited
Artson, Jacob. "Encumbered and Blessed." CJ: Voices of Conservative/Masorti Judaism.
Spring 2010: 37-9.
Block, Martin E. “Rational for and Benefits of Inclusion?” About.com.
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/Inclusion2.html>.
Greenberg, Judith. “Inclusion and your Special Education Student Who Benefits?”.
Internet Special Education Resources. ed.html>.
National Center For Educational Statistics. “Inclusion of Special-Needs Students”.
U.S. Department of Education Institute of Education Sciences.
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Office of State Superintendent of Public Instruction. New Horizons For Learning.
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Watson, Sue. “Setting Them Up for Success Checklist”. About.com.
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Wisconsin Education Association Council. “Special Education Inclusion”. WEAC.
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The Price of Success

As alluded to in my previous post, "Student-Teacher Relationships", we all strive to succeed and reach greatness. But what is the cost we all must pay in order to reach the level that we desire? Can the success we all strive for be one of the obstacles to achieving that very end? According to Stephen Mack in his post "Climbing the Ladder of Success (or Be Careful of What You Wish For)", the renowned author makes the claim that the economic success of our country is quite possibly one of the greatest threats to the ideal of democracy upon which the United States was founded.
We, as Americans are continuously striving to end inequality, but in our efforts really only succeed in furthering inequality. In attempting to bring equality to the country, we have brought to the attention of all that we are a nation truly divided based upon economic standing, a fact that once people are enlightened to can no longer be ignored. When people are educated to the fact that, based upon economic demographics, they are considered to be above others, inequality is not, in general, combated, but rather is accepted as inherent to society.
Why accept this fact? Why not further educate ourselves on the issues which have created the apparent disparity between classes in America? Once we have done this, it will be infinitely easier to succeed in righting the issue of inequality. It is time that we all do a little self-education and start climbing the ladder properly, along with our peers.

Student-Teacher Relationships

Of course being interested in a particular subject makes sitting in a classroom enjoyable and enables students to get through any given class period. But more than having an interest in the topic, having a relationship with one's teacher goes even further in accomplishing this end. I do not mean this in the sense of the student-teacher relationships that we all see plastered over the news, telling us of the sexual indiscretions to which some educators are party. When I say that it is vital for there to be a relationship between teachers and students, I am talking about not only seeing one another in these two roles, but rather having a deeper connection closer to that of friendship.
While the establishment of a positive student-teacher relationship seems to be something easily accomplished, it is quite the contrary. On the one hand, creating a relationship of this nature is difficult because of the fact that students often see their educators as authority figures and nothing else. However, on the other hand, teachers must tread carefully so as not to cross any lines and, at the same time, maintain the status of authority figure within the classroom. In large part, these issues of forging a positive relationship rests upon a mutual understanding of teachers of their students and vice versa.
For those of us who work with students it is often difficult to remember what it was like when we were their age. This first step is necessary in teachers forming an understanding of their students. Remembering what it was like to be in our students' seats is key because it allows us to recall what we thought of our teachers at that age, which in turn opens up the possibility of understanding what it is that those we are teaching think of their educators. By forging positive relationships of this nature with our students, they become much more eager to listen to what we have to say and to learn from us.
From my experience these relationships do not stem solely from how the two roles interact with one another in the classroom. The teachers I always had the deepest connections with were those to whom I could relate, those who took a vested interest in my education. But they also took an interest in me as a person. They were the teachers who asked me questions about what I took an interest in, and made the effort to stay up to speed with my activities. I even had a handful of teachers who I would see on the sideline at my sporting events and those of my classmates. These teachers, who took a vested interest in my life, both in the classroom and outside of it, are those who I had the best relationships with and who have influenced my educational life the most.
It is these teachers who are the reason I have taken such an interest in my own education and am pursuing a career to help others come to the same realization for themselves. A study conducted in 2009 suggest that those students sharing a healthy relationship with their teachers have been known to achieve higher success rates. The earlier in one's educational career one begins to form positive and healthy relationships with teachers, the more successful the individual will be as a student.
As teachers we of course aim to impart our particular areas of expertise to our students, but more importantly we hope to impact their lives in a lasting manner. We, as educators, hope to influence students to continue to actively pursue their education.