Bobby, a young boy, is diagnosed with autism at age 3. At age 5 his parents attempt to place him into the kindergarten class in their school district. The school district wanted to immediately put Bobby into a special education classroom that is made up of entirely special needs children of all different disorders. Knowing that Bobby was prone to tantrums and uneasy with things unfamiliar to him, his parents wanted Bobby placed into a regular classroom with normally functioning students but with extra help from perhaps an extra aide or teacher. The school district decided to accommodate Bobby's parents' wishes and placed Bobby into a regular kindergarten classroom with a one-on-one aide who would also assist a few other children in the class when needed. This type of classroom is an inclusion classroom, meaning normally developing students are placed in the same class as special needs children so they can all learn from each other.
Teacher in primary school in northern Laos
Teacher with students in Benin classroom
School children in Tamil NaduIt is not always easy for special needs children to adjust to an inclusion classroom at first, but they then usually become a successful environment.
In the beginning of the school year Bobby had frequent outbursts when told to move from one activity onto another. These outbursts disturbed the classroom and Bobby's classmates. Sometimes Bobby would scream and cry "NO!" when forced to relinquish a toy or supply to another student to teach him to share. Other times he wouldcry because he did not understand that every turn could not be his turn during games. Transition times were always a problem, because Bobby did not comprehend the concept of finishing one activity and moving onto the next. He just did not understand that the previous activity would still be there to do at another time or place. However, after a period of time and...