Inclusion: Practical Strategies

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In the Winter 2006 issue of Canadian Teacher Magazine, Laura Saunders wrote a heart-warming article supporting inclusion of special needs students in our elementary schools. Ms. Saunders clearly outlined the benefits to all students and society in general, and I have witnessed these benefits. [Editor’s note: Back issues of CTM are available in pdf format at www.CanadianTeacherMagazine.com]
My son has Down Syndrome. I have worked closely with his teachers to facilitate his integration, and I would like to share some practical strategies that made his time at school productive. I have focussed on curriculum planning and behaviour because those seem to be the two most problematic areas.

Curriculum Planning

Make your IEP (Individual Education Plan) goals very specific regarding skill acquisition so the goals are easily measured. For example, rather than “He will learn numbers 1 to 20,” say “He will be able to independently identify numbers from 1 to 20 at random.” With crisp, measurable goals, the IEP directs the plan for daily work.

Follow a formula for creating daily teaching activities for the academic program. A simple formula makes planning straightforward. For each academic goal, we aim for five different activities to teach the skill. No more, and maybe less depending on the skill. That’s one activity for each day of the week. For example, the spelling goal could have as activities the Edmark spelling program, and practising the spelling words in writing assignments and by dictation at home and school. Activities that match the student’s learning styles and interests are most successful. Once the activities are chosen, gather the resources needed to carry them out. With a selection of activities, the student learns to generalize the skill and boredom is avoided. Also, very importantly, the student’s daily program is clearly laid out, giving the required direction to the teacher aide.

Look for academic curricula adapted for special needs and with clear increments of skill acquisition. These programs can move on with the student from year to year, providing continuity and significantly lessening preparation time. Ask for recommendations from district specialists and the student’s parents. The predictability of these programs can be very important for student comfort, which contributes to success. The Edmark sight word program, for example, has increasing levels of difficulty, built-in reviews, and a spelling component. In lessening the curriculum preparation load, these “ready to go” programs free the teacher to focus time and energy on providing richer integration experiences.

Ask teachers of younger students in your school for materials that you can use with your special needs students. Special needs children may learn at a slower rate with more need for repetition, but they may still follow the general learning continuum and be ready for materials that their age-mates used in earlier grades—except that older students need less space for printing!

Track and measure daily for easy reporting. For daily record keeping, we created a weekly feedback grid with days across the top and IEP goals with associated activities down the left. This provides a block of space for writing about an activity on each day of the week. The adult working with the student records how the activity went and any milestones achieved. Abbreviations save space and make data recording faster (e.g., number each activity for quick reference). References to any program modifications that were required can be made in a notes section at the bottom of the grid. As a bonus, the grid tracks the activities as they are completed so that the teacher aide or a temporary replacement does not repeat activities later in the week. The information thus collected is useful for reviews and reports.

Measuring the level of independence in each activity by identifying the prompts used is an easy addition to the record on the grid. Any intervention necessary for the student to be successful is a prompt, whether it is hand-over-hand or a verbal hint. Alberta’s Programming for Special Needs [i] defines a typical prompt hierarchy. Awareness of the prompts used is integral to having them fade out in a timely fashion so that students can obtain as much independence as possible in their work.

Periodic tests may not be effective in measuring progress for special needs students. In addition to the feedback grid, we found ABA (Applied Behavioural Analysis) programs and datasheets very effective for planning and tracking learning. ABA programs are developed with small steps defined for progress towards a goal. Each step is measurable and practised in a controlled context. ABA has been used extensively with autistic children, and it is beneficial for all special needs learners. The clear measures in each step remove any subjective assessment by the instructor, resulting in an easy and true assessment of skill acquisition, and show exactly when it is time to move on. The student does not stay too long on one step, wasting precious learning time and getting bored, which could result in disruptive behaviour. Consider an ABA style if smaller learning steps are needed.

Hold team meetings each week during school time. Meeting regularly ensures clear communication as the student moves on and IEP goals, activities and resources need to be changed. It offers the opportunity to plan for the inevitable exceptions to the usual school week. It helps us remember that we are a team that supports the student—and each other. We found that a half-hour per week was enough, but an hour was necessary at the start. People that support the student on a day-to-day basis, i.e., classroom teacher, teacher aide, and the parent(s), need to attend. These weekly meetings may or may not be the place to include other professionals (e.g., school psychologist).

Behaviour

Start by believing that all behaviour is a message. Logic says this is true because it is hard to believe that any human being would choose to go around scowling all day for no reason. Imagine that you lack the ability to reason and quickly process information, that your environment travels at a pace at least three times what is comfortable for you, time is a higher level concept that you do not understand, and nobody is paying attention to what you need. How else will you get someone’s attention but through behaviour? All behaviour is a message that tells about an unmet need.

ABA can be used to change behaviour. Susan Peoples, in her book Understanding How Children With Down Syndrome Learn [ii], notes Everything you want to be learned must be taught. Behavioural compliance can be taught. My son learned behavioural compliance using ABA. For more information on our experience, please go to <www.cdss.ca/en/resources/personal_stories>.
Look to yourself to effect positive change. As the teacher, you set the inclusion tone in your classroom, and you are a model for our society about caring, compassion and understanding. Consider what a high school teacher in special education said recently, I find that if I am positive, I don’t get behaviour. Consider also that research has shown that the predictor of the success of special needs students is teacher attitude (The Educational Challenges Inclusion Study) [iii]. Like children with typical ability, special needs children do well if welcomed and respected.

Know that it will become easier. In her article “From Inconvenient to Ordinary” [iv], Kathie Snow explains how planning for inclusion at school is the same as any other challenge in life in that the first time is always the “biggest” in our minds. The first time a teacher plans for a special needs student, the newness makes the task cumbersome, unfamiliar and even difficult. As the experience is repeated, however, the planning gets easier until it is just usual and normal. Snow writes, Inclusion is, first and foremost, a state of mind. If you believe a person with a disability will be, can be, should be included, it will happen.

We know the benefits of inclusion to the students involved. We know the benefits of creating a more compassionate and caring society. We also know that raising and educating special needs children takes time and effort and can create problems. The students themselves, however, are not the problem. They have been placed on this Earth just like everyone else, and they have a right to be accepted and educated. We need to address the real problems that inhibit inclusion and integration because they can be solved, and often very easily when we support each other.

i Alberta Education, Special Education Branch. 1995. Programming for Students with Special Needs. Book 2: Essential and Supportive Skills for Students with Developmental Disabilities. Alberta Education, Edmonton, Alberta.

ii Peoples, Susan J. 2004. Understanding how Children with Down Syndrome Learn. Special Offspring Publishing, L.L.C., Fort Wayne, Indiana. www.specialoffspringseries.com p. 37.

iii National Down Syndrome Society. 1996. The Educational Challenges Inclusion Study http://www.altonweb.com/cs/downsyndrome/index.htm?page=wolpert.html

iv Snow, Kathie. From Inconvenient to Ordinary. www.disabilityisnatural.com