| There
is no other topic in the profession of educating children who are blind
and visually impaired that stimulates discussion and heated debate than
that of inclusive education. Depending on the country, inclusion is a
service delivery model that is based on the belief that all students with
disabilities receive their total instruction in the regular schools throughout
the day. Some countries treat inclusive education as part of a continuum
of placements options that are offered, based on student needs, along
with special classrooms, resource rooms as well as residential special
schools. As we enter the 21st millennium, the international community
has come together to support inclusive education as one of the alternative
models of service delivery on the condition that all necessary steps are
taken in order to first put in place the required number of teachers trained
in the special needs of blind and low vision children and the essential
support systems, and necessary equipment such as, braille books, and low
vision devices. Further they promote a high quality education in special
schools as an alternative to inclusive or mainstream education and advocate
for support for valued alternative forms of education, both formal and
informal, for those who cannot benefit from an inclusive, integrated or
special education program. (Joint Position Paper on Inclusive Education
of Children With Visually Impairment by The International Council for
Education of People with Visual Impairment and The World Blind Union April
2003)
Some believe that educational
decisions must not be made simply based on the availability of an educational
model or service delivery system. The decision of educational placement
must never overshadow the individual needs of the blind or visually impaired
child. Regardless of setting, if the blind child is provided with timely
and adequate specialized services by appropriately trained personnel,
students who are blind or visually impaired can develop skills that will
enable them to achieve success and independence as responsible citizens
in a fully integrated society. If these students† do not receive
appropriate instruction designed to develop competencies that meet the
sensory deficits of blindness and low vision, critical learning opportunities
will be lost, thus diminishing the potential for future accomplishments.
Ample opportunities for instruction in such areas as braille, abacus,
orientation and mobility, and low vision and the use of prescribed optical
devices must be made available to students, in order to insure inclusion
in an integrated society.
This issue of The Educator -
Reaching the Unreached Through Inclusive Education - discusses the complex
issue of inclusion from a variety of perspectives pointing out the critical
need to discuss this and other topics within a multicultural context.
There is no right or wrong service delivery placement system but rather
a continuum of placement options that are child centered and based on
individual needs at a particular time and place in the educational development
of the child.
Nagel and Stobbs point to the
key elements for successful inclusion that serves as a guide for all us.
Mary Valera emphasizes the importance of teacher training discussing their
innovative Program of Educational Extension. Syaulis and Bruno challenges
us to look at the inclusion of students with multiple disabilities admitting
that not all school systems have the necessary resources to meet specific
and complex needs. Malawi addresses issues often found in the itinerant
teaching model of service delivery such as difficulties experienced due
to poor travel conditions and large caseload sizes negatively effecting
the time spent with students. Hatlen suggests that there is no reason
that "the champions of inclusion" cannot be leaders in schools
for the blind" and suggest the special school with its experienced
and most expert teachers serve as the hub or state or national resource
center for educational services for blind and the visually impaired children
regardless of where they go to school".
It is apparent that inclusive
education often has the potential of reaching the unreached, and in many
countries that is better than visually impaired children being excluded
from any type of education at all, but it serves us well to remember the
warning of those parents who responded to Tula Baxter's questionnaire
when they said they believed† their child was "integrated"
but not included.
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