Kate

Children Today, March-April, 1991 by Diana Cuthbertson

The New Jersey Coalition for Inclusive Education adopted this mission statement just one year ago. Since that time, we have been advocating for the rights of students to participate in neighborhood schools, increasing awareness of the implementation strategies for inclusive education, and providing an ongoing support network for parents and professionals.

In New Jersey the inclusion of children is proceeding one student at a time. This approach is an important practice--we should carefully identify all of the supports necessary for a given student. On the other hand, all children in our state must be given the option to be fully included in neighborhood schools. In order for this opportunity to be realized, comprehensive systemic change must occur.

We are now in the process of working closely with the State Division of Special Education to create opportunities for local school districts to learn more about supported inclusive education through awareness building and in-depth training. In order for children to be successfully included, there is a tremendous need for training and ongoing technical assistance.

One Child Is Included

Within this process of systems change there are always individual children who are, by virtue of opportunity, catalysts for change. Our daughter Kate is a "pioneer" in New Jersey, as a second grader fully participating in Mrs. Johnson's class at McKinley School in Westfield. Since she has been participating in regular classes, it is very difficult to capture the changes in Kate without a "before" and "after" video, but I will try to paint a picture of the differences.

Kate has been receiving intensive special education services since she was eight months old, when our family began participation in an early intervention program. Joining a program which had at its heart the belief that parents are the experts regarding their children was tremendously empowering and got us off to a good start. It was in this first three years that we created a vision for our family which included the determination that one day Kate would grow up in a world of close friends, that she would have meaningful employment and that she would contribute to her community.

Even then, we adopted the philosophy of "integrate early and often," though at the time we were not aware of the concept of "inclusion." We just went ahead and enrolled Kate in Baby Dance (an exercise program) and in family day care with typical children two mornings a week. Saying "we just enrolled Kate" grossly minimizes the real level of concern we had about whether we and Kate would survive the experiences, but we made the decision anyway in spite of our fears that we would not find acceptance. In fact, people always reached out to Kate.

After graduating from early intervention, Kate entered a preschool which again focused on creating a "normalized" experience for her. Despite the objections of very caring professionals--"Two programs will be too much for her!"--we registered Kate in a dual program. In the morning, she attended our neighborhood Montessori School and in the afternoon she was bused across the city to a public school program fro children with blindness and multiple disabilities. The need for the two programs occurred because it was not possible for her to receive the related services of speech, occupational and physical therapies and orientation and mobility training within the private school.

One Flash of Insight!

Family members have what I would call "lightening rod" experiences, when they are struck with insight in a falsh. The dual program provided us with just this sort of experience. The Montessori school teachers were concerned with educating the "whole child," and sought to develop in children skills of communications, concern for others, and an eagerness to accept new experiences.

Geri Kennedy, Kate's Montessori teacher, wrote of her that "the emergence of spring and warm weather led to the blossoming of friendships between Kate and her classmates. During our daily trips to the playground, we discovered that although she did not yet walk independently, Kate loved to be physically active. The children naturally and enthusiastically included her in their turns on the swing, on the slide and in the sandbox. Through this increased involvement with the other kids, Kate's language ability expanded much more quickly than it had through contact with her more doting teachers. The children expected Kate to let them know what she wanted, and Kate constantly surprised us with her improving ability to tell them.

Andrea Lo, the newly appointed integration facilitator, realized very soon that we would need to meet regularly to fine-tune the program. She brought Kate's schedule to an early meeting and we problem solved--literally moment by moment--how Kate could be included and actively participate in all aspects of classroom life.

We tried to build in supports by the typical children whenever possible, instead of always relying on adults to assist Kate. The integration strategies were prepared by Mrs. Lo and included in Kate's Individualized Education Program. It is important to stress that Kate is working on her own goals and objectives within the regular classroom.