Inclusion and Opportunity For All

The luminescent lights were shining, the cameras were flashing, there was a red carpet…

I was attending a fashion show; however, the models did not look like the stereotypical chiseled

men or skinny women that are often depicted in magazines and on television. I looked around

and saw the biggest smiles running across the model’s faces, and the crowd was filled with proud

mothers, fathers, and siblings. The girls twirled their hair and spun around in front of the

cameras, and the boys walked down the runway with confidence and pride. All the members

participating in this fashion show experienced some form of physical or mental adversity that

they were diagnosed with from birth.

Flash forward to today, and I have been volunteering for the same organization that ran

this fashion show; it has since changed my life. Friday Night Out (FNO), a non-profit, outreach

program, has been established for three years. Once a month, adolescents and young adults with

special needs come together to sing, dance, eat food, and enjoy fun activities. FNO was

originally created to provide an inclusive environment for a small group of participants. Today, it

has grown astronomically to hosting between 40-60 people! Noralyn Giles, the founder of FNO

and my mentor, has been a huge advocate for the inclusion of individuals with special needs. She

has touched the lives of countless individuals with learning disabilities, as well as their families

and friends. Her organization has provided a platform for this group of people to express their

individuality, meet new people, and to forget about the physical and mental barriers they face by

just having fun.

My experience working with this organization has led me to find other outreach programs

for adolescents with special needs. Through my time volunteering, I have become acquainted

with not only family members, but also psychology specialists that have strengthened my
understanding of the complications and obstacles that families face when raising a child with

special needs. It never occurred to me how difficult it can be for the individuals and families to

simply feel included in the social opportunities and learning environments of the general

population as a result of the isolation that having a disability causes. Socially, academically, and

in many other ways, most take the general opportunities we get for granted. Many cannot

understand the hardships that students with special needs face on an everyday basis because they

do not need to think twice whether or not they will have the same opportunities academically and

socially as the other students. This leads me to my question: How does the inclusion of students

with special needs in general education opportunities impact their later social, academic, and

general success?

An inclusive, unrestrictive school environment promotes and encourages the

students’ individual social development. School is where children and adolescents spend most of

their time; and in most cases, kids will see their teachers and school friends more than they see

their own families. In this way, kids and teenagers experience the socialization process through

their years of schooling. With classroom sizes as big as 35 students, young kids are forced to

take part in social interactions. The most critical time being in kindergarten and elementary

school, kids learn how to play with others, how to have empathy, manners, and other necessary

feelings for positive social interactions. However, kids diagnosed with disabilities, like autism,

have a much larger hurdle to jump over at a young age. Their social disadvantages come in the

form of having a lack of empathy for others, being unable to read social cues, having little

impulse control, and having a lack of problem solving skills (“promoting positive”).

Unfortunately, students with these adversities are often set apart from general education students

in the early stages of their social development because of their learning differences. This is also
known as an exclusive educational system. Socially, inclusion is beneficial to the lives of

students with special needs because it teaches them basic necessary skills that prepare them for

more advanced schooling, and the possibility of employment opportunities later in life.

Furthermore, inclusion in the general education population is valuable simply for the social

satisfaction that many individuals with special needs are deprived of. Michelle Martorano, a

Psychologist Intern and Special Needs teacher at Lafayette Elementary School noted, “Practice

doesn't make perfect, practice makes permanent. It is better to make sure students are learning

the correct things at an early age. Many students in special education often have a hard time

making friends. Inclusion helps take a lot of the stigma away from students who deserve to have

the social aspect of their lives be fulfilled.” In the early years of education, such as elementary

school, students with disabilities are unable to learn how to overcome their large social barrier at

a young age because they lack the opportunities to “practice” in general educational settings. The

lack of social practice has been proven to detract from the schooling experience in the teenage

years of these students. Socialization is not something that can be taught through a textbook or a

lesson, it requires practice and experience. In a study conducted by St. John Fisher College, it

was found that students placed in inclusive education systems at a young age were able to

develop a better understanding of social cues, empathy, and compassion. These individuals with

special needs reported feeling socially included because they were able to make friends easily at

a younger age. Furthermore, these students faced a lower dropout rate and were more likely to

attend college after high school (Barton). Social skills are intertwined with the overall success of

students. When given the chance to practice and experience the same social interactions as other

kids, these students are learning how they can manage themselves in public. Socialization is

something that is often overlooked and taken for granted by the general population. However,
this is one of the largest adversities students with special needs face in their schooling

experience; they are never properly taught how to be socially successful. As Noralyn Giles, the

founder of Friday Night Out, explained “Inclusion is something that is a bit of a stretch. I

created Friday Night Out to give young adults the opportunity to feel involved and included, but

this group should have these same opportunities in school nonetheless”. As important as outreach

programs are to giving students with special needs a platform for social success, implementing

the same ideas in schooling is extremely beneficial to the students’ overall success.

Including students with learning disabilities into traditional classroom settings gives them

the same educational opportunities to succeed after high school, and effectively prepares students

for college. Aside from the social benefits of including students with disabilities in general

education systems, inclusion has been recognized to reap a multitude of academic benefits. The

disparity in the high school dropout rate between students with and without special needs is quite

large. Students with disabilities are four times more likely to dropout, and are significantly more

susceptible to not receiving an adequate education to have a successful future (“Inclusive

Education”). In a Kansas University study conducted in 2016, researchers found that students

with disabilities that were placed under the same academic curriculum as the students in general

education were three times more likely to be prepared for schooling and transitional programs

after high school than their counterparts who were given an exclusive curriculum (“Cherry

Picked”). Inclusive education provides a safe learning environment for students with disabilities

that gives the students the individual support they may need in order to succeed in a general

classroom setting. Often times, schools and administrative staff overlook the benefits of inclusive

education because the system is oriented at one extreme or another. This means that oftentimes

students with special needs are either completely isolated from general education, or they are
placed in the classroom directly without the appropriate support. According to Julie Damiano,

the occupational therapist at Burton Valley, “Inclusive education is beneficial for the special

education community because the way students learn is tailored to each individual child and their

needs. This includes adjusting the time spent in the general education environment to best offer

the child the ability to learn”. As schools have transitioned into more appropriately styled

systems that meet the needs of the special needs students, they have addressed the individual

needs of all students and focused on the overall success. Students with disabilities that went

through early schooling years in inclusive education were not only more likely to stay in school,

but also to attend transitional programs and college after high school. This is mainly because

inclusively styled education provides a safe learning environment that provides appropriate

support that is critical to the academic development of students with disabilities (NDLC Policy

Team). Inclusive education provides the academic support that students with disabilities need in

order to succeed at equal rates as those without mental and physical setbacks. The current

dropout rate of students with special needs is high, and is a byproduct of the lack of a tailored

education system to maximize individual success. Inclusive education helps to eliminate this

problem and encourages students with disabilities to continue their education after high school

and into transitional programs.

Students who have not been placed in restrictive learning environments are more

prepared for after-school employment than those who have. Students who experience learning

disabilities are predisposed to having a much more difficult time graduating from high school.

Furthermore, these students are also predisposed to lower employment rates and lower wages

after high school. In a study conducted by Chapman University, it was found that inclusively-

styled educational systems that included job training courses in the curriculum increased the rate
in which these students were able to find employment after high school significantly. Such

courses explain the do’s and do not’s of employment and give students with disabilities the

opportunity to learn strategies to being successful out of high school from their teachers and

peers. Although seemingly a simple solution, this step has lowered the unemployment rate of

high school graduates with learning disabilities by five percent within only four years

(“Dragula”). This drastic change is the effect of tweaking the curriculum of special education to

more adequately fit the needs of the individual students, and targeting how to manage their later

success in the workforce. Melinda Briones, a 26 year-old who has been diagnosed with severe

ADHD and mild autism, explained that at Acalanes High School she “greatly enjoyed high

school because [she] learned a lot about what to do after graduation and how to get a job… After

high school [she] worked at Build a Bear Workshop, TJ Maxx, and the Martinez Courthouse

Mailroom.” She was able to attend transitional programs at DVC that taught her more advanced

English, Economics, and Home Education. This program prepared Briones for employment after

high school, where she has created a very successful career for herself. Melinda Briones is just

one example of the thousands of students with special disabilities that have experienced success

after high school as a result of having preparatory programs in the curriculum for post-graduation

life. The disparity in success between students with and without the academic and social support

they need in their journey after high school is evident. Unlike the small majority of students with

disabilities that have been placed in inclusive education, those that are left in exclusive education

are 3 times less likely to be independent after high school. Inclusive education effectively

prepares students for life after high school by teaching the students how to manage their lives

and become independent (Levison). By transitioning to an education system that focuses more on
the individual needs of the students, the special education community will be much more

prepared for the real world and be able to join the workforce.

Adversaries argue that emphasis on inclusive education is far too expensive, and that

there are many students with disabilities that require more one on one time than inclusion would

permit. Although these claims have some truth to them, the main point and purpose behind

inclusion is being forgotten through these oppositions. Samantha Sheldon, the directing

administrator for the Lafayette Preschool of Autism, asserted that:

There are some students who truly need a small environment for learning. It is more

restrictive to have a student who requires 1:1 adult support in a general education

classroom vs a student who can be in a "self-contained" special ed room with a 4:1 (1

adult to 4 kids) ratio. Even for these students, total isolation is not the way to go. I think

different students require different levels of support and they should be treated as

individuals regardless of the ‘budget’.

An inclusive education does not aim to completely dismantle the special education system. It

does, however, try to meet the needs of all students by allowing for those with disabilities to be

in the learning environments that best suit their demands. This means that those students that are

more advanced than others have the opportunity to be in general educational facilities while the

more demanding students can remain in a smaller teacher-to-student ratio. It is important to

remember that inclusion has been set up to individualize learning facilities to create different

experiences for each student. However, this system of education is costly because of that. For

special education to be completely effective, it is absolutely necessary and critical for specialists

in the field to be hired. Often times, teachers or aids with little prior experience in special

education are hired when schools make the switch from exclusive to inclusive education. This is
the least costly and easiest option for schools. Sadly, this is a reality for many special education

programs, and it does little to influence the progression and development of the students because

the staff hired to administer this process are not qualified to do so. In this way, hiring capable,

certified specialists to work in the special education department is imperative for the

effectiveness of the program (Ainscow et. al). It is more costly to hire more professional,

qualified staff; but, is there a price tag on the success and development of students? Critics of

inclusive education will continue to illuminate the problem of taking an already small budget and

using it for a small population of students attending schools. However, this small population of

students has a dropout rate four times higher than the average high school student, an

unemployment rate that is much higher than other groups of high school graduates, and faces

social stigmas that affect their later success (“Special Education in”). Inclusive education is an

important factor in erasing the social and academic stratification that the disabled community

faces, and can create a new, accepting societal perspective.

So how does inclusive education impact students with special needs academically,

socially, and generally? Education is a fundamental part of life in the United States. Society has

placed so much emphasis on the degree that one receives, the job title an individual has, and how

much money a person makes. If this idea is so deeply embedded into what it really means to be

successful, why is the special needs community excluded from having the same platform and

opportunities from everyone else? Inclusion eradicates social stigmas. Students with disabilities

can learn how to socially manage themselves when they are given the opportunity to practice.

They feel more included, and have the opportunity to make more friends. Inclusion creates a

social environment that is more accepting of the disabled community and improves the

socialization of these individuals. Furthermore, providing the proper academic support for
 students with special needs would significantly reduce the dropout rate, encourage these students

to continue their education after high school, and prepare them for being more independent after

graduating. Inclusion is not something that can happen overnight, but it is something that can be

done with the support of families, students, teachers, and the community.

Works Cited

Ainscow, Mel, et al. From Exclusion to Inclusion: Ways of Responding in Schools to Students with

Special Educational Needs. Distributed by ERIC Clearinghouse, 2013. Accessed 10 March 2019.

http://www.csie.org.uk/inclusion/what.shtml

Barton, Kasey. “Pull-Out or Push in? Impact on Students With Special Needs Social, Emotional, and

Academic Success”. Saint Fischer’s College, Accessed 12 March 2019.

https://fisherpub.sjfc.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1336&context=education_ETD_mast

ers

“Cherry Picked - Study Shows Students with, without Disabilities Recognize Benefits of Inclusive

Schools.” KU School of Education, 4 June 2017. Accessed 13 March 2019. soe.ku.edu/cherry-

picked-study-shows-students-without-disabilities-recognize-benefits-inclusive-

schools.

Dragula, Peter. Preparing Students with Moderate/Severe Disabilities for Employment. Chapman

University, 2009. Accessed 1 April 2019.

files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1137308.pdf.

“Inclusive Education and Its Benefits.” New Brunswick Association For Community Living (NBACL),

nbacl.nb.ca/module-pages/inclusive-education-and-its-benefits/.
Julie Damiano, Occupational Therapist, Lafayette Preschool of Autism, CA. Personal Interview. 4

April 2019.

Levinson, Edward, and Eric Palmer. Preparing Students With Disabilities for School-to-Work

Transition and Postschool Life. 2011, Print. Accessed 29 March 2019.

Melinda Briones, Adult with autism, long term member of Friday Night Out. CA. Personal Interview.

12 March 2019.

Michelle Martorano, Psychology intern and teacher at Lafayette Elementary School, CA. Personal

Interview. 7 April 2019.

NDLC Policy Team. “IDEA Full Funding: Why Should Congress Invest in Special Education?”

NCLD, 2018. Accessed 18 Jan. 2019.

https://www.ncld.org/archives/action-center/what-we-ve-done/idea-full-funding-why-

should-congress-invest-in-special-education

“Promoting Positive Social Interactions in an Inclusion Setting for Students with Learning

Disabilities.” NASET. Accessed 15 March 2019.

faculty.uml.edu/darcus/01.505/naset_social_inclusion.pdf.

Samantha Sheldon, Directing Administrator of Lafayette Preschool of Autism, Lafayette Preschool,

CA. Personal Interview, 5 March 2019.

“Special Education in the Schools.” Council for Exceptional Children, CEC, 2019. Accessed 29

February 2019. www.cec.sped.org/Policy-and-Advocacy/CEC-Professional-Policies/Special-

Education-in-the-Schools.