The inclusion of your child into regular schools is dependent on his or her abilities. A child whose cognitive abilities are age-appropriate, who is able to communicate, and whose medical problems do not necessitate specialized medical care can be mainstreamed. Specifically, if a child entering first grade requires a wheelchair for mobility but can speak (or otherwise communicate) and is on the same level of cognitive ability as his or her peers, the child should most likely be mainstreamed.

The primary benefit of inclusion (or mainstreaming) is that it exposes a child with a disability to other children who do not have disabilities. This can improve his or her circle of friends and provide an expanded, more normalized school experience. Through mainstreaming, other children without disabilities are allowed the opportunity to develop a better understanding of what it is like to have a disability, thereby possibly cutting down on instances of bullying.

The major disadvantage of mainstreaming is that frequently the staff is not appropriately specialized, so that teachers without special experience with children with disabilities would be providing care and education to your disabled child. This is not a major issue if the disability does not greatly interfere with the child’s regular functioning, but the child with severe motor or cognitive limitations may not be handled well by an educational staff with no specific training in educating children with disabilities.

Another disadvantage is that many public schools do not have specialized equipment that can benefit a child with a disability. Also, mainstreaming is supported by educational administrators because it is cheaper than sending a child to a specialized facility with more equipment and a specially trained staff, which the state is responsible for under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

The decision to mainstream your child is not made just once during a child’s lifetime to apply forever. Rather, it must be continually re-evaluated as the child grows and develops. For example, a child may enter kindergarten, first grade, or second grade in a specialized educational environment, where additional expertise in early childhood education and additional medical services and equipment are available. As this child grows and develops, a decision may be made to in elementary and middle school that he or she can be moved into a regular school for part of the day, and a few years down the line attend a regular, or mainstream, school full-time. For many children it is not entirely clear whether mainstreaming will be a positive or negative experience. In these cases, this type of graduated, ongoing evaluation is especially appropriate.

If you do not feel that your child would benefit from a mainstream education, you may decide to place your child in a special education school. Special Ed. Schools were set up mainly as a result of groundbreaking legislation passed in 1975 that guaranteed disabled children the right to an education. Before that, children with disabilities had either managed to cope, without extra support, in ordinary schools, or sent away to “caring” institutions or had been kept at home by their families who did what they could for their children, or by families who isolated their children on the basis that they were “different”. At the time, the opportunity to go to school, albeit a special one, seemed like a great step forward. Today, however, we are left with a legacy from these schools which is proving to be the great educational dilemma for children of the 90’s and beyond. The distinction between therapy and education must be recognized and understood. It is not uncommon in special Ed. schools to mesh the two needs together, often prioritizing therapy over education to the detriment of academic outcome.

Some special schools are boarding schools, and in many cases the special school best suited for your child will be outside your local area. The distances that children sometimes have to travel to attend special Ed. schools and the lack of contact with their peers and their local communities, which traveling to special Ed. schools can sometimes produce, are two of the many arguments leveled against special school provision.

Some people feel that special education is essentially segregated education. The child is kept away from his or her local community and educated amongst other children who have special educational needs. Every child is a unique, so the grouping together of all disabled children does not necessarily ensure that your child will be receiving an education that is better suited to her needs than that which is available at a local mainstream school. As well as the possibility of your child not receiving any better suited education, the fact that so many special education schools are so segregated from the community can make it difficult for a person who is in the special education school system until they have completed it (usually at the age of 19) to feel comfortable in the “outside world.” As it is inevitable that your child will eventually have to be integrated into the community, either through work or independent living, many people feel that it is a great disadvantage to special education that many of the children are isolated from the rest of the community.

There are, however, many aspects of the special education system that can most readily be used as arguments in favor of special Ed. Resources being so concentrated in one area enable a child to have more ready access to other services. For instance, most special schools will have physiotherapy departments and regular input from other relevant health officials. Also, as legislation continues to be amended, mainstream schools are beginning to be more aware of the need for special resources to be available to disabled children in the same place that they attend school.

Perhaps one of the strongest arguments for special education is the expertise and equipment. Special Ed. teachers have the necessary training to educate a child with special needs, as well as the aids and specialized teaching equipment that can benefit a child with disability’s education so much.

Whatever you decide is best for your child, always make sure to revisit the question. As mentioned before, just because a child does not seem ready to attend a mainstream school in the early stages of his or her education does not mean that he or she will not be ready within a few years. Make sure to keep up-to-date on your child’s evaluations and progress.