Children Benefit from Inclusion Classroom

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Children Benefit from Inclusion Classrooms Harmony L. Sturdevant ENG/102 May 19, 2013 Melissa Gardner Would someone be pleased if they had a special needs child that was excluded from experiencing a regular classroom setting because of their disability? Would they want their child to be treated fairly and not be considered an outcast when they are placed on an Individual Education Plan (IEP)? If the answer is no to both questions, then people should consider and appreciate the rights of children with disabilities and how effective an inclusion classroom environment is to children. Children on Individual Education Plans benefit from being in an inclusion classroom because they are helping peers and teachers to understand diversity and are given an opportunity to be treated equally without disrupting a regular classroom setting. Inclusion classrooms were developed to help a child with special needs become a part of a regular classroom that is the least restrictive as possible. When a child is first placed on an Individual Education Plan (IEP), they are given some goals based on the type of plan they will be working on. Children are put on an IEP because they have physical, behavior, or academic disabilities which they require some assistance in different forms (Dildine, 2010). The federal government created the Individual with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) to help protect children with disabilities from being excluded or treated unfairly in a regular classroom setting (Ballard, 2006). Placing a child in an inclusive classroom requires a team of people to assess the individual child’s needs and prepare the child, peers and teachers for the child to reenter a regular classroom environment. An IEP team usually consists of the student, parent or guardian, a special education teacher, a regular education teacher, a representative of the
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