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Katie Stone

March 5, 2007
K 370 Case Study #1

Watching the movie on Peter, a boy with Down syndrome, and reading the article about

Eli, another boy with Down syndrome, was very informative and showed many different aspects

to the controversy of inclusion of special education students in the general education classroom.

Individuals with Down syndrome have noticeably specific characteristics. Physically, these

individuals stand out, with big eyes that seem to be slightly offset, a flat appearing facial

structure, small feet for their body size, low-set ears, and a mouth that seems to be too small for

their tongue, causing it to stick out. Peter, particularly in elementary school, repeated many

actions that seemed to be related to his disability. For example, Peter would continuously get up

in class, disrupting the people around him or disobey the class rules or instructions given to him.

He would also kick, hit, strangle, or tackle other classmates for no apparent reason besides

wanting attention. In high school, he didn’t appear to be as violent as he was in the primary

grades, but still retained the disregard of direct or indirect instruction, and would, it seemed,

intentionally not do what he was told.

As an educator, having any student with a disability in the classroom is challenging, and

Peter did provide particular challenges to his general education teachers. Off the bat in

elementary school a mistake was made when Peter’s disability was not explained to the other

children in the classroom, causing them to misunderstand his behaviors. If the children would

have known and felt comfortable with the differences he had, they may have been more prepared

to help him. Also, if the general education teacher is going to be the primary educator, they

should be given background information and training on how to handle this type of student.

Peter’s teacher admitted that she was unsure of how to help him properly, so she lost a lot of

precious educating time just trying to build the foundation of acceptance and basis of education
within her classroom. If from the beginning of their time together she would have set up a system

of how to deal with outbursts and class management, many of the problems they had wouldn’t

have been as big of an issue. Peter was not incapable of following the rules, he just preferred to

have outbursts because that outlet was easier then trying. By holding him responsible for his

actions, he was much more able to control himself and thus get more education out of the day.

In high school, the education Peter received was interesting. The video showed him in

math class where the class was learning about calculus or something advanced, while Peter was

working on simple addition and subtraction. Every general education class had to be severely

altered to fit Peter’s level, which didn’t allow Peter to ever truly belong with his classmates. He

was only out of the general education class for a portion of the day where they worked on life

skills with him. More of an emphasis should have been placed on everyday performance and

interaction skills, and less on sitting in general education classrooms, so that when he got out into

the work force, he would know how to perform. Interactions with the general population is

crucial, but sitting in a math class not even paying attention to the lecture doesn’t provide him

with those specific interactions, it instead wastes time that could be spent on more specific skills.

Inclusion, in this sense, is a highly debated topic. In the primary grades, inclusion helps

the child with disabilities and the children in the classroom by teaching acceptance and

interaction skills for everyone involved. The curriculum at this level could be applied to the child

with disabilities and thus is beneficial. The outbursts could be hard to handle, but it teaches the

student first hand how to behave and not behave in a public setting. The children at this age are

also more accepting of differences, and are more apt to include a special education student in

their everyday activities. As the students get older, however, the difference gap increases, making

inclusion much more difficult. The difference in the intellectual level of the student compared to

the student with disabilities grows each year, and the emphasis placed on ‘fitting in’ and being a
certain way increases. The students at this age may no longer accept someone with a disability

like Down syndrome because they cannot relate to them as they do with their non-disabled peers.

During these years of development, students are very judgmental and are constantly just looking

to belong. Being friends with someone with a disability would not be seen as ‘cool’ and thus is

rarely engaged upon. Typically developing students also would find it hard to relate to a student

with special needs because it would be difficult to carry on conversations or just hang out with a

student that constantly needs specific attention and has difficulties with memory or speech. This

hesitance for acceptance leads to social isolation and depression for the student with a disability

because they can no longer fit in with their peers.

Classes at this stage are also way above the level of the student with a disability, so if

they are in a general education classroom, every activity and assignment must be altered for that

student. At this point, it appears the special education student is no longer benefiting from the

majority of the classes they are sitting in, and while social interactions are beneficial, many peers

rarely engage in traditional conversations with them. While they may say standard greeting or

carry on small talk with the individual, it is very rare that they would invite a special needs

student to participate in a normal adolescent conversation. Educationally, the focus for most

general education students is on college, while the student with Down syndrome needs to focus

more on skills that could enable them to be out in the work force. To do this properly, the student

should be pulled out of the general education, to a more confined area that allows them to

concentrate on these skills. However, by leaving the general education setting, the student is

potentially missing out on the interactions needed to learn socially.

Eli is a very interesting case of a child with Down syndrome in the sense that he is very

clear of what he wants for his own education. He was not blind to the fact that he was different

and seen as different by his peers. Every adolescent wants to fit in and be accepted, but Eli knew
that in the general education setting this was not possible. The short conversations with his peers

weren’t enough to make him feel a part of the school, unlike when he was with other students

who were like him. Being with other students with Down syndrome made Eli feel as though he

belonged and was accepted, as well as allowed him to participate in classes and lessons with his

peers. Eli wanted an education, however he didn’t want to be educated with peers that didn’t

want to be with him or learn the same things. Eli was not happy in general education, and thus

did not feel the motivation to try. Without feeling that effort is worthwhile, no furtherance of

education can be obtained. Eli’s parents made the right decision to allow him to pick his

education. If they would have forced him to stay in a general education theory, they would be

taking away his self-determination, or ability to decide his own future. Eli had dreams and

aspirations, and by deciding for himself where he wanted to learn allowed him the tools to be

able to work towards those dreams and hopefully some day reach them.

In a classroom, many strategies can be implemented to try to help bridge the gap between

students with and without disabilities and to try to help facilitate friendships among them. One

strategy would be to pair up typically developing students with students with disabilities in order

to help all students become comfortable with each other. This strategy would also help the

students find other students whom they clique with, and thus find someone specific who they can

build a foundation of friendship with. Providing background information on special education

students that pertain to aspects that students at those ages find important could also help peers to

become more accepting. An example of this at the high school level would be to find out if that

student has a girlfriend or boyfriend and some details with that in order to provide the typically

developing student with something to talk about with the student with disabilities. Having a non-

education related topic to discuss would help both students to feel more comfortable and possibly
even accepted because they can find a topic that is very common to talk about at this age, making

the peer with a disability feel as though they belong.

Watching the videos and reading Eli’s choice brought up many changes to the standard

way of thinking about inclusion. Usually, inclusion is always seen as beneficial because it

provides ‘normal’ children with exposure to all types of students, but through the examples of

these cases, inclusion may not always be beneficial. The general education classroom is a great

place for students with disabilities to learn interactions, however without a lot of outside help

with the interactions and approval among students to view their ‘differences’ as acceptable, true

benefits cannot be made. General education students may learn tolerance for students with

special needs, but rarely see each other as equal. The curriculum in later years is not appropriate

for students with special needs, so constant modification is necessary. While it is rarely

recognized, these adjustments can increase the differences between the students, and widen the

gap of being able to fit in with each other. While I personally never thought full inclusion was

right for most students with disabilities, I now think that at a certain stage of schooling no

general education classes are appropriate for these students, because the focus should be placed

on the future skills needed for independence and survival. Extra-curricular classes should still

have inclusion, but I think that the students they are included with should be chosen and not

randomized because not all students are accepting of differences, and thus would just increase

the acceptance gap. All students want to feel comfortable in their surroundings. If a student with

disabilities feels comfortable and is benefiting from inclusion along with their peers, then that

placement is appropriate. It is when their benefits are compromised that actions must be taken to

either change the placement or the interaction with students so that the best education, both

intellectually and socially can be achieved.

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