“Inclusion” refers to including children who have significant special needs.  These needs may be physical (as when children have difficulties with seeing, hearing, moving about, or using their hands), academic (as when children need curriculum adapted so that they are able to access it successfully), social (as when children have an autistic spectrum disorder that causes them more difficulty than average in their interactions with others), or emotional (as when a child’s brain function or experiences make it more difficult than average for him/her to control their emotions).

Before the 1990s, most of these children were sent to separate classrooms; these classrooms, staffed by specialists in learning and other disabilities, are called “self-contained" classrooms. These classrooms still exist; there is one in the King building now. The parents, teachers, and specialists who work with these children have decided that, at least for now, this is the best educational setting for these children.

But many children, including some who have previously been in self-contained classrooms, do better in “regular” or “general” classrooms. Current law states that, "to the maximum extent appropriate, children with disabilities . . . are educated with children who are not disabled, and that special classes, separate schooling, or other removal of children with disabilities from the regular environment occurs only when the nature or severity of the disability is such that education in regular classes with the use of supplementary aids and services cannot be attained satisfactorily" [IDEA Sec. 612 (5) (B)].

There are many reasons children with disabilities benefit from being in the general classroom. They have more opportunity to excel in the areas in which they have average or above-average abilities. They have more social contact with a wider range of children and so more children who are likely to become friends. They are less sheltered from the mainstream of activity and so better prepared to deal with the world outside school.

But what if your child doesn’t have a disability? How does “inclusion” affect him or her?  It depends on the kind of "inclusion" we're talking about. Because the inclusion model is still young, the term is defined differently in different places. The current King Open staff talks about "small i" inclusion and "big I" inclusion. Some of the children in your child’s current classroom (maybe your child’s close friends) are "small i" included children nearly every current King Open classroom has “small i" included children. Their disabilities may be completely or nearly invisible to you or your child. To be labeled a "small i" included child, a child must have an IEP, or individualized education plan. This is a plan worked out between the child’s parents, teacher, and specialists with the goal that the child’s learning needs will be met. The IEP may call for the teacher to present work in a certain way to the child, or to guide him/her into work in a certain way, or to allow him/her extra time to complete a project. It may call for the child to leave the classroom during the day to work with a specialist.

"Big I" included children have more significant learning, social/emotional, health, and/or physical difficulties that interfere with their ability to access the general education curriculum. To stay in the general classroom and make progress, they require "specialized service delivery." This may mean that they're allowed to use certain tools, such as a calculator or computer, when other children are using pencils. They may require books on tape or large-type books and documents. They may use wheelchairs or other mobility aids. Some "big I" included children have "one-to-one" aides; each aide is matched with a "big I" included child and works with him/her throughout the day so that the child can complete his/her schoolwork. 

The King Open inclusion staff is very well regarded and experienced and the King Open teachers already strive to provide individualized instruction to all students and have extensive experience serving "small i" included children.  Because King Open teachers recognize that all students (including those who have no diagnosed disabilities) have different ways of learning, tailoring some aspects of their instruction to included children should have no negative effect on your child. To the contrary, it should have a positive effect because to keep the classroom running smoothly the teacher must continually think about how she/he is presenting material and whether those presentations are effective. In addition, the specialists who work with included children help teachers by suggesting and supporting teaching techniques that help all children. Moreover, although one-to-one aides are responsible only for their assigned children, they are part of the classroom community; in day-to-day reality, they end up helping with classroom management by interacting with other children. And, of course, what’s probably most important, each included child, just like each “typical” child, is one more element of the human diversity essential to a healthy classroom.

From a social justice point of view, inclusion is the right thing to do. Studies show that it also enhances the academic environment of “typical” children.