Thoughts on inclusion?

[Guest guest]

Someone made a comment on another post about inclusion always being best, and I

wanted to get some feedback from the group about that?

My oldest son, , is 9. He is profoundly gifted, he has sensory processing

issues, he has some ADHD, CAPD, and he has very mild Asperger's. After giving

the school his diagnosis, we asked for some new modifications on his curriculum,

since his current IEP does not adequately address social skills, sensory needs,

executive functions/organization, or his curriculum needs; he's bored A LOT.

So we got a call this week that they have an ok to start the process of placing

out of district. Our advocate gave us a list of 5 schools. Three out of

the five are targeted towards Asperger's. They are self-contained classes where

the students are taught at their own pace in each subject...'s in 4th grade

now but gets 6th-grade math; that's in the public school. The sensory diet is

built into the day. Social skills classes are taught explicitly, using a

curriculum designed for this population of kids. The teachers support the

social skills curriculum throughout the day. For gym, they do karate and

gymnastics, rather than team sports.

The thing is, 's very high-functioning. He has a 1:1 at school and has a

behavior plan...I guess the other kids are starting to see him as different, and

since it's so hard to work with him on team assignments (he wants to lead and

isn't always kind when his teammates don't understand something), he's becoming

more reclusive.

I wish the public school could meet 's needs. But it just isn't happening.

Anyway, this is why the comment struck a chord for me. , too, is in a

self-contained autism class, because that's where they work on speech and

sensory diet and everything. is so not ready for a typical kindergarten

classroom! How do you all find opportunities for inclusion if your child is in

a self-contained program?

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