The roots of exclusion run deep Historically, society has tended to isolate and segregate individuals with disabilities, and, despite some improvements, such forms of discrimination against individuals with disabilities continue to be a serious and pervasive social problem; discrimination against individuals with disabilities persists....
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| While early special education thinking and practice separated
students by perceived degree of disability, early researchers felt that
most students could be included in regular classes (Reynolds, "Framework
for Considering Some Issues in Special Education," Exceptional Children,
1962, 28:368). A continuum of educational environments evolved in which
many children with mild or unobtrusive disabilities are substantially included.
When this issue paper was first written in 1991 we found that nationally
and in Georgia, children with substantial developmental special needs were
mostly excluded from full participation in regular classes by a system that
still isolated and segregated students by degree of perceived disability
(National Center for Education Statistics, Digest of Education Statistics,
1989). Now, a dozen years later, we find that many students are still being
served in segregated settings; but, we also find more students each year
being served in more integrated settings, in more creative and individual
ways. On the following page you will find one such story. |
The “Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975” (P.L. 94-142), the “Education of the Handicapped Act Amendments of 1990" (P.L. 101-476, also referred to as IDEA), and most recently the IDEA Amendments of 1997 (Public Law 105-17) established a right for all children with disabilities to a free public school education. These laws stipulate that exclusion from the regular classroom can occur only when education in regular classes cannot be achieved even with supplementary supports or services. In Georgia, most children with severe handicaps (especially children labeled with mental retardation) still spend much of their school day in self-contained classes or in highly segregated schools where they are excluded from meaningful full-time involvement with typical students (see page three). Thus, special education practice has evolved into a continuum much like the one described in 1962, with most students with severe disabilities are effectively denied full participation in regular classrooms. We must continue to work for creative, individual situations for all students. |