Disability by Celest and Shinyoung

Many may argue that it is beneficial to a child with disability when they are included in mainstream education school. Being able to obtain mainstream education allows the disabled children to feel more included in the regular society. It acts as a platform where disabled children feel equalised with everyone. Education in mainstream schools helps in preparing students with disabilities for life outside of school, including college and work. In these areas, children and adults must interact with many different people, both with and without disabilities. Having disabled children spend time in regular classrooms provides the opportunity to interact with different children, not just those with disabilities. Some studies have shown that early inclusion can help children with autism improve both IQ scores and social skills. However, I believe that there is a larger risk that chidren with disabilities will be harmed in mainstream schools. Children with disabilities will need intensive and focused instruction, which is not available in regular education classes. They may not learn based on traditional teaching methods. They often received social skills training and teachers might have worked on these skills throughout the school day. In a regular classroom environment, this is not available as the teacher has a set curriculum and must teach the entire class. While many teachers will provide individual instruction on a nominal basis, there is no time for the intensive teaching that some students with disabilities may need. Some people believe that mainstreaming will cause children with disabilities to be rejected by their classmates. Because of their difficulty with social skills, there is concern that some will be made fun of or bullied. They feel that this could cause unneeded emotional pain. Therefore, I believe that mainstream schools are not suitable for students with disabilities.