Should My Wordless Kid Go to School with Your Normal Child?
Rob
This is an interesting article that stirs up all sorts of thoughts in me.
One way ‘out’ of the challenge of mainstreaming the education of children with any type of special needs would be homeschooling. And that would probably be beneficial for almost any child. But before anyone hoots and hollers let me just point out that one of the regular comments we heard while homeschooling our children was the “what about socialization?” one.
My guess is that if someone homeschools a child with special needs they don’t hear this comment too much, except from people who know about the importance of mainstreaming. And I do understand that there are children whose needs are such that mainstreaming is a challenge for everyone involved: teachers; school administrators; fellow students; and (other) parents.
I do have a slightly different concern. If mainstreaming children with certain disabilities suddenly became unacceptable what might that mean for…children with diabetes or epilepsy? Or children with peanut allergies. After all aren’t these also special needs that require some accommodation by the school system that educates these children?
