Juggling Education: Special and Otherwise

Special education in school is seemingly becoming something of a misnomer. Or maybe that term can relate to the idea of general education. Since the idea of inclusion, many students with diagnosed (and undiagnosed) learning and emotional disabilities are being educated in the regular classroom. This means that a single teacher in a single classroom can have many students with special needs, and that teacher must do the best he/she can to meet those needs. So where is the line drawn between the two types of education? If one taught “special education,” then would he/she be holding back the other students? If one taught with “general education” in mind, would he/she be excluding those with special needs? The line has been significantly blurred and that creates confusion on where one begins and the other ends. So, where are we with special education?

Until 1800 or so, people with disabilities had a long and difficult road on which to travel. In fact, if a school felt that it was too difficult, or that a student’s mere presence stole too much of the teacher’s attention, that child with a disability could be dismissed from the school: “…But the presence in a class of one or two mentally or morally defective children so absorbs the energies of the teacher and makes so imperative a claim upon her attention that she cannot under these circumstances properly instruct the number commonly enrolled in a class.” (Smith, 2002). Depending on the severity of the disability, getting a proper and equal education was as difficult as attempting to be “normal” and fit into the mainstream of society. Special classes and schools became somewhat prevalent in the early part of the twentieth century, but not until The Rehabilitation Act, specifically section 504, in 1973, did things really get going. Section 504 basically dealt with the issue of segregation in schools and told institutions that received federal funding that they could not discriminate against individuals that were “otherwise qualified” to be in the classroom (Salend, 2008). This opened the door for more talk on equality in education for more than just racial and ethnic minorities.

Through acts and amendments aimed at requiring schools to educate students with disabilities, and encouraging them with financial incentives, students with disabilities have a better chance than ever before to become working and productive members of society. While section 504 substantially helped to fix the issues of segregation and discrimination in schools, it really wasn’t until the Education of All Handicapped Children Act of 1975 (a.k.a.-law 94-142), which mainly sought to address the issues of educating individuals with disabilities, and not just non-white individuals. This is where the term “free and appropriate education” comes from (Salend).

Now that we have what seems to be free and appropriate education for all students, where is the U.S. regarding special education since 1975? Well, there have been more acts and amendments to acts for the education of students with disabilities and it continues to be a hot topic in education all over America. As Smith states in his article dealing with the history of special education, it was not only common, but legal to exclude children with disabilities from the classroom (Smith). Given that fact, America has come quite far in this area of education.

Explicit in law 94-142 is the idea of the least restrictive environment, and as a whole, we’ve come to believe that the least restrictive environment for most children with disabilities is in the general education classroom (Smith). So what is the big deal? If everything is all better then, why is this still such a hot topic? Well, the debate as to whether the environment is least restrictive or not, is not a closed debate. Some feel that special education kids are getting lumped into these classes without the special attention they require (Zavatto, et al. 2007). So now, America has this policy of inclusion, and the students with special needs are mixed in the classrooms, but what if they are not getting the additional help they need? One may ask why they would have been included in the first place. Zavatto believes that money, and not necessarily the philanthropic desire to include students with disabilities, is the issue. This is also what has been tossed about by teachers all over New York City. This allows for the idea that it is the least restrictive environment for the schools, and not for the students- either the students with disabilities nor the general education students. Proof of this, however, may prove difficult to hold.

All of this adds to the blurred lines in special education. Is it least restrictive or not? Is the teacher supposed to teach with the students with disabilities in mind, or teach to the general education students? Is there a difference? Obviously, there are aspects of this that can benefit all individuals- generally “able” students can gain insight and learn patience in dealing with others with special needs, and special needs students can gain confidence and self-esteem from not being excluded based on something they cannot control. However, trying to teach a class with a student who has ADHD, one who has emotional disorders, one who has MMR, one in a wheel chair, and all of the other students at the same time is not as easy as it sounds…and it does not sound easy.

America has definitely made progress in special education, but what we have now is a storm that gets foggier by the minute. We have included these kids so much that we have excluded their special needs. Should they be sent away to be in different classrooms? Not so fast, but they should be getting the help they deserve in those general education classrooms, and that means more funding for more teachers to be in those classrooms. If some in the industry are right, and money is an issue, then this may prove difficult to secure. America is still foggy in the special education realm. Until we can secure some trained individuals who can be prepared to teach in such an environment, an environment that is as real as the kids themselves, then there will be students in the classrooms that will get shortchanged. The question of which of those students will be left behind, may just be answered by good of a juggler the teacher is.

Smith, J.D. (2001). Special education in the United States: Legal history. International

Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences, p14847-14851.

Zavatto, L., Bert, G., Curtis, J., Wells, A., Kelly, D., Hampson, J., Crawford, S.A. (2007).

Is the implementation of the “least-restrictive environment” equitable for all

students? Journal of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance. v78, is. 9, p10.

Salend, S.J. (2008). Creating inclusive classrooms: effective and reflective practices (6^th

ed.). New Jersey: Pearson.