Autism-World

The following is an excerpt from a paper written by Bernard Rimoland, Ph.D. in the Autism Research Review International 1993, Vol 7 Issue 1 Page 3

Is there the parent of an autistic child who wouldn’t be delighted beyond words if the child would simply blend smoothly into a regular classroom?  That is the dream we all share.  For a few, the dream becomes a reality.  Over the years I have heard from a number of parents who have shared with us their joy, their pride and their good fortune:  “Billy has been included in a regulare classroom!  He is having a hard time adjusting, but he is making it!”  But, for every parent whose child “makes it,” there are many more who are not so fortunate.

Much as my wife and I would like to have our autistic son Mark be able to cope successfully in a normal school, it is very clear to us that he could not have done so.  He has come along much farther than we ever dared hope, and we are quite confident it is because he was always in special classes, taught by experienced, skilled, caring teachers, exhibiting monumental patience, who had gone to great lengths to train themselves in methods which would help Mark and the children like him achieve their full potential.

……If your child functions far below the normal child intellectually, academically, and socially, does it make sense to insist that he or she be “included” in a regular classroom?  Certainly not, in my view, and in the view of many, if not the vast majority, of parents of autistic children.

Today special schools and special classes for autistic children are under heavy attack by people promoting “full inclusion”  What is full inclusion?  Full inclusion means abolishing the special educational provisions that are vitally important to autistic children.

Unfortunately, many professionals and parents have adopted the ideology that full inclusion is the only option that should be made available for any child, irrespective of how inappropriate it may be for that child, and irrespective of the wishes of the parents of that child.  What is worse, these people have managed to sway legislative and educational policy so that other options are prohibited.  A quarter of a century ago those of us who pioneered public education for autistic children struggled long and hard to compel the educational system to provide things that we knew were necessary to the appropriate education of our children.  THIS INCLUDED, FIRST AND FOREMOST, TEACHERS WHO WERE TRAINED IN THE TECHNIQUES OF BEHAVIOR MODIFICATOIN AND WHO UNDERSTOOD THE PECULIARITIES OF AUTISTIC CHILDREN.

IN the last issue of the ARRI we published a small article title “Full inclusion: the right choice?”  Our article was based on a report by Simpson and Sasso in which they noted that there was no empirical evidence showing that full inslusion was beneficial to autistic children.  That short article brought a surprisingly strong repsonse from our readers.  It seems that the full inclusion movement has been so quickly bought by the educational establishment that those who believe that a full range of options should be available have not had time to organize any meaningful opposition.  We received many letters and calls of thanks form parents who were pleased to see that we were addressing this issue.

………..”Some educators believe that disabled children will be much more accepted, and society as a whole will show much greater compassion for the disabled, if all children are in regular classrooms.  Knowledge does not necessarily lead to compassion.

‘There is a common belief that when disabled children are in physical proximity to normal children they will tend to adopt more normal behavior patterns.  This is obviously not the case with many autistic children, who generally begin life surrounded by normal families.

“Full inclusion is not the right thing to do.  It is one right thing to do, sometimes.

“any organization…that endorses full inclusion is taking an extremist position that has no place in an educational system and a society that prides itself on its choices and multiple ways to achieve a desired quality of life.”

There is more in the article.  This is just an excerpt.

This entry was posted on Sunday, April 1st, 2007 at 12:33 am and is filed under Autism Education Issues.