A Short Course on Special Education

Here’s a dose of special education for those who, like one of your recent letter writers, believe that the education of students with developmental disabilities robs “normal” students of their educational opportunities.

Federal law mandates a “free and appropriate education in the least restrictive environment” for special education students. Funding for special education is budgeted separately from that for regular education.

The opposite of inclusion is exclusion. Another term for this is segregation, spawned from the attitude of discrimination. It is immaterial, for example, whether the parents of other students in Santa Ana High School with Johnny Palacio are “thrilled” with his “presence.” Johnny, who is one of the few Down syndrome children in Orange County attending a regular school, has a legislated civil right to educational equality with his nondisabled peers.

Every year, parents of children with developmental disabilities fight diligently to protect their children’s educational rights and to save vitally needed programs and services from governmental budgetary cutbacks.

We do not engage in these battles to deprive nondisabled children from their rights to an appropriate education, but to ensure that our children will receive the services and attention to which they are entitled and which they deserve.

Misinformed and intolerant taxpayers constantly complain about the pathetic state of our educational system, blaming special education programs for draining the budget wells dry. In truth, if parents of nondisabled students exhibited one-tenth as much interest in their children’s education as do those of us with disabled sons and daughters, perhaps they could effect a change in the system.

Blame the legislators you elect; blame yourselves; but don’t blame us.

Finally, the attainment of one’s “fullest potential” is highly individualistic. Within the so-called normal population are a multitude of variations of normal and fullest potential. If every person’s success was measured solely upon comparison with the success of another, then only a few would ever achieve success.

We have space in our “normal” regular classrooms for gang members, drug users/dealers, sadistic Satan worshipers and students who attempt to poison their teacher’s Gatorade. But just try to integrate one student with developmental disabilities, and suddenly the hue and cry of disruption of other students in the classroom can be heard echoing through the PTA meeting.

Rather than view special education students as detriments to the learning environment of nondisabled students, parents of regular students might consider the valuable lessons our children can teach theirs: acceptance, compassion, understanding, the fragility of life, and taking nothing we have for granted.

And then, they can educate their parents.