What Is Inclusion?
First of all, I want to make sure to define what I mean by inclusion. Placing children with physical, emotional, and mental disabilities in classrooms with children of normal development defines inclusion. In my discussions I will be specifically referring to those children that have moderate to severe disabilities rather than mild disabilities. I will also be making the distinction between children with delays caused by immaturity rather than delays and disabilities caused by physical abnormalities of the body and brain. The first group can normalize and pull in sync with their peers through intervention whereas the second group will always need intervention and resources.
The Emotional Toll of Inclusion
Many times when we attend trainings on inclusions, the presenters show all the happy warm fuzzy moments that inclusion can bring. I will not downplay those moments. However, that is not the complete picture. Providing care for these children can be emotional draining and frustrating beyond anything you have ever encountered. This is especially true for children with autism and emotional disabilities caused by drug-use by the mother during pregnancy. These children often require you to constantly change your approach. Methods that worked the previous day will not work the next day. The euphoria of a breakthrough is usually followed by a setback that causes you to retrench. It is demanding, challenging, and will call on every character strength you knew you had and did not know you had. Will it make you a better teacher? Yes!!!! Will it make you a stronger person? Yes!!!! Will it bring you to the point of a nervous breakdown? Yes!!!! Is it for everyone? Absolutely not!!!!! That is the main point I want to make through this post. Inclusion is not for everyone and should not be entered lightly or ignorantly. Taking on a moderately or severely disabled child may require a level of work that you are not prepared to give. Inclusion is an arrangement that needs to be entered with your eyes fully open and aware of the requirements. I believe it to be unfair to require everyone to have inclusive classrooms not just for the teachers/providers but also for the disabled children. They deserve a teacher that will commit to the task at hand and not be forced into a situation that breeds hostility, contempt, and unpleasantness for all involved. The warm fuzzy moments happen only in situations where the teacher feels fully capable of handling the stresses of the job. Many, many teachers/providers do not fit that description. This represents one of the greatest unspoken reasons for teacher/provider turnover. It is not politically correct to say that you could not handle the disabled child, but it remains the reality of the situation. One day the powers that be will realize that forcing people to fit one-size-fits-all regulations creates more than half the problems we have in education and early childhood care.
The Reality of Resources for Providers
Now, I want to touch on probably the worst ugly truth about inclusion. In most states resources are provided for those children with disabilities. However, most of the time those resources involve maybe one of two visits per week leaving the majority of the care and teaching to the teacher/provider. Sometimes, children with severe physical disabilities will have a nurse or other specially trained person to provide assistance on a daily basis. However, those with moderate physical disabilities or emotional and mental disabilities very often come with only the once or twice per week visit. That does not even cover the tip of the iceberg. Let me give you a great example. I once had a toddler in my care with hearing aids. He had a speech/language therapist come in once per week. The rest of the week I was left with the responsibility of his care. I did not know but a little sign language. He had a horrible habit of hiding his hearing aids every time I turned around. We were constantly hunting for that child's hearing aids praying earnestly that none of the other children would find them and put them in their mouth. The batteries for those hearing aids could be fatal if swallowed. He needed one-on-one care at that point in his life not group care. He was a danger to the other children, and I could not sufficiently meet his needs with my level of training. I did not have sufficient resources to care for that child. I would have had to hire an employee specifically assigned to him all day to provide the kind of care he needed (an expense I could not do). Even though I had great teacher/child ratios, we were wholly unprepared to care for that child. This scenario plays itself out every day with millions of variations in schools and childcares all over the country. This is the ugly side of inclusion.
A Look at Inclusion from the Unincluded
Many of you will be offended by the title I chose for the normally developing children (unincluded), but I did that on purpose. The reality of the situation even in good circumstances is that a disabled child requires 75% of your time and attention. Some days that number goes even higher. That only leaves 25% or less of your time and attention for the other children in your care. Unless that child has his/her own personal attendant at all times, the other children in your care do not get the same time and attention. This truth remains whether we like to admit or not. A disabled child's care is time consuming. They require more attention at mealtimes. They require more attention at bathroom times. They require more attention at naptimes sometimes. The emotionally and mentally disabled can have meltdowns that require your immediate and undivided attention until you stabilize the situation. Most of these children have these meltdowns daily and sometimes multiple times per day. Avoiding the causes of these meltdowns is impossible because they can be as random and ever-changing as you can possibly imagine. I have had children on the autistic spectrum in my childcare, and I have had them have meltdowns in the middle of mealtimes when the other children were also at high risk. I had to drop everything and deal with the meltdown because I was by myself. If I did not calm the autistic child, she could have sent herself into a seizure. The safety of the other children had to be put on hold. That is the ugly truth of inclusion.
Conclusion
Inclusion is a wonderful concept but the reality of that concept does not ever really match the hype. Unless that child has his/her own personal attendant, the teacher suffers and the other children suffer. It cannot be helped. It is the nature of the beast.
I hope you have enjoyed this post. Goodbye and God bless!! https://linktr.ee/natawade
