I Am An Inclusionist!

My Boys & their typically developing classmates during their first week at school.

Yes, I am an inclusionist! I want my children to be included in every aspect of life just the way any other child or person would be/should be included. I want my children to play, to work and to be educated side-by-side with their typical peers (with appropriate — very often natural — support to help them succeed). I want my children to be INCLUDED in all things life has to offer, at their choosing. Not at the choosing of some government agency that decided My Boys need to be separate from everyone else because they have an extra 21st chromosome (aka: Down syndrome).

That doesn’t mean that I think that all segregated/contained/special education classes should be eliminated from existence necessarily. Though I do believe that it may mean tweaking an antiquated education system and process that doesn’t foster the best outcomes for every student it serves. It definitely DOES mean that I should be able to choose inclusion if I want that for My Boys as the research-based, best practice. It means the two options should peacefully coexist instead of folks making me out to be some sort of radical because I’m looking at the research as it applies to my children and their specific disability and choosing what is best for them… and must be made available within the letter of the law. It means that everyone should have a choice until or unless a methodology is deemed ineffective, unjust or downright cruel… like the way they automatically institutionalized people with Down syndrome in the past.

We are learning more and more about how best to educate and share the world with people with disabilities. It makes sense to put proven new methods into practice as we learn about them… instead of fighting change just to support the old way of thinking and brick-and-mortar infrastructures that were built in support of these antiquated practices in the past. Today’s research shows that inclusion results in the best emotional, social and academic outcomes for people with disabilities AND for their typically developing peers… over and above any other known method available to us right now. That’s what I’m shooting for — that’s what we’re all shooting for, isn’t it? — the best possible outcome for our children with disabilities!

Yes, I am an inclusionist!

20 Responses to I Am An Inclusionist!