CASE
Lupe” Gutierrez, a third-grade teacher at the Guadalupe Martin Luther King Elementary School, has been asked to see the principal, Erin Wilkerson, after the students leave. Dr Wilkerson explains that the school is expanding their full inclusion program in which special education chil dren, including those with severe disabilities, are full integrated into general education classrooms. Congruent with school district policy, King Elementary is enhancing its efforts to integrate special education students into gen- eral education settings. Gutierrez’s classroom is one of four general education classrooms in which special education students will be placed in the next few weeks. “What this will involve, Lupe, is two students with severe disabilities. One is a child with Down’s syndrome who has develop- mental disabilities, which is characterized by severe delays in the acquisition of cognitive, language, motor, and social skills. He has some severe learning problems. The other child has normal intelligence but is nonambulatory, with limited speech and severe cerebral palsy “You will be assigned a full-time aide with edu a special cation background. In addition, Bill Gregg, the inclusion specialist, will assist you with instructional plans and strat- egies. What is important is that you prepare your students and the parents so that a smooth transition can be made when these students come into your class in January, just two and a half months from now.
Questions
What should Gutierrez and Gregg’s plan of action include?
When students with severe disabilities are integrated into general education classrooms, do they detract from the programming of nondisabled students?
Are the students with disabilities potentially a disrupting influence in the classroom?
Do general education teachers like Lupe Gutierrez have adequate training and background to accommodate students with disabilities in their classrooms?
Should they be integrated, regardless of their degree of disability?
