I never realized how important the subject of inclusion is for special-needs children until I had to fight to get my daughter, Jaimie, into public school. Parents need to understand what inclusion is, what is involved in the process, and what to do if you want to set your child up for success in a public-school setting.

Inclusion: What It Is and What It Isn’t

In the 1970s, mainstreaming emerged as a way for special-needs children to join their peers in regular classrooms. These children received services suited to their individual needs and supported by individual programming based on their Individual Education Plan (IEP). The only problem was that integration/mainstreaming sought to change the children to fit into an existing system. That’s where inclusion differs. Inclusion puts the child with special needs in the least restrictive environment with maximum social integration. The focus is to change the system to suit the child’s individual needs and strengths.

It’s not as easy as it sounds, however. Like many other people, I understood the “why” of inclusive schooling but misunderstood the “how.”

Making Inclusion Work

In order to make inclusion work, everyone involved must work as a team. Many teachers support the philosophy of inclusion but lack the skills, support, or patience to take responsibility for the children in their classrooms. Some have been teaching for decades and aren’t willing to change how they carry out their curriculums. And school principals or other higher-ups may not understand enough about a specific disorder or disease to ensure that a child has everything he or she needs to be successful.

Even with all the information I provided our school principal about SPD and how it affects Jaimie, he still told me he couldn’t register her in kindergarten because of her age. (We’d kept Jaimie back an extra year because she wasn’t able to handle the social aspects of school at five years old.) Jaimie barely made it through a preschool class two mornings a week, and he wanted to put her in all-day class in grade one! After a lot of meetings, phone calls to Jaimie’s psychiatrist and psychologist, and her dad calling the head of Edmonton public schools, Jaimie was enrolled in kindergarten with her aide and the resources she needed.

The point is that in order for inclusion to work, every person involved with the child must be on the same page and agree to see the situation through the others’ perspectives. What I’ve discovered is that the idea of inclusion closely follows the expression “It takes a village to raise a child.” Inclusion involves open-mindedness and the willingness to do things a bit differently. Yes, it can be difficult at times. Yes, it requires assessments and re-assessments, but in the end, it’s worth it if the child involved excels.

Educate, Communicate, and Participate

When fighting to get Jaimie into school, I remembered the above three words from an SPD book I’d read. I thought, “This totally describes what parents need to do to ensure their child’s success with inclusion.” Principals and other education higher-ups are responsible for getting the resources; community support helps with the funding and providing the resources; teachers and assistants are responsible for the curriculum; and parents must be that squeaky wheel making sure those other people are doing their part. Here’s how:

1. Educate
This means educating ourselves about our child’s disease or disorder and everything he or she will need to thrive in school. Then we relay that information to everyone who will be involved with the child and who funds or provides the resources. We also must educate ourselves and others about our children as individuals, because they are more than a disease or disorder. They are each unique people with their own personalities, characteristics, strengths, and talents. All of that must be taught to help the child succeed.

2. Communicate
Before Jaimie started school, I had a meeting with the vice principal, her kindergarten teacher, and the representatives from the community services who’d provide Jaimie with her resources. Those representatives come to the classroom around report-card times to re-assess Jaimie’s needs and to make any appropriate changes to her IEP. That way, they’re on top of what Jaimie needs, what’s working for her (and what isn’t), and they can decide what other resources she needs.

It’s important for parents to be involved with this process, too. Teachers, aides, and others involved with Jaimie need to understand her home life and how things at school affect her at home and vice versa. I have biweekly meetings with Jaimie’s teacher, her aide, and the funding representatives so that we can brainstorm strategies, tactics, and struggles. I also let the teacher know what Jaimie’s night was like and how it may affect her day, and she lets me know how Jaimie’s day was at school so I understand how to help her at home. Communication is crucial to success. If those involved with the child aren’t talking to one another, it’s the child who suffers.

Participate

In addition to the meetings, participation also means parents should do what they can to strengthen the connection between home and school environments. In our situation, participation means engaging Jaimie in activities that give her the sensory “nutrition” she needs. It also means helping Jaimie use those activities—whether at school or at home—to help make new experiences fun for her. For example, we have various coping strategies we use for Jaimie at home when she’s overstimulated. We’ve shared some of these activities with her teacher, who uses a variation of them in the classroom. This balance and connection makes Jaimie more at ease, calmer, and more able to stay focused.

Each successful baby step Jaimie has made in school tells me we’re going in the right direction. And through education, communication, and participation, I’ll continue to make sure things stay on track.

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