Special Ed, Mainstreaming and Discipline Problems

Q. My son is just starting kindergarten, and there's a boy with special needs who is really interfering with my son's ability to concentrate and learn. This other little boy is constantly asking my son to play with him and won't take "no" for an answer. He frantically waves his hands in front of my son's face, and touches him a lot, despite being told not to. I've emailed the teacher, and she just says she's going to "give it time" and hope it goes away on its own. I don't like the sound of that, and have even thought of putting him in a local private school. I have compassion for the special-ed child, but since when should his right to learn be superior to my son's?

�� Welcome to the world of mainstreaming special-education students in the regular classroom. It's also known as "inclusion." Under federal law, the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), all students in schools that receive federal funding must be placed in the "least restrictive environment" possible.

�� In theory, that sounds great. In practice, it's causing a heck of a lot of problems in the regular classroom with behavior problems, distractions, and diversion of teacher attention and school resources. Actually, your case is mild: there are huge problems with violence, sexual assault, pinching, biting, noise distractions, and other consequences of mainstreaming that are serious difficulties for public education.

�� Sadly, special education officials have their hands so full with managing inclusion in schools that the problems it causes for regular-ed students are often swept under the rug. When conflicts arise, many educators err on the extremes: they either fail to act to protect the rights of regular-ed kids, or they overreact in favor of the special-ed kids, largely out of a fear of getting sued or in trouble with the feds.

�� It's a potentially serious problem for your son, because kids who are stuck in classrooms with behavior problems are at risk of developing learning problems themselves, along with isolation, fear for personal safety, loss of self-esteem, and lots of other consequences you don't want.

�� Unfortunately, parents with attitudes such as yours are privately ridiculed by some special-ed officials as "whiners" and "troublemakers" who are selfish and greedy for their own kids and don't care about others. It's unfair, but it happens. So you may not get a fair hearing; be advised. Also, schools that don't give a lot of support to classroom teachers on how to discipline special-ed kids, teach them social skills, and manage a diverse classroom, are those in which all kids suffer, not just those with special needs. Yours sounds like it may be one of those.

�� You could document these incidents with times, dates and places, and make an appointment with the teacher for a face-to-face talk. Ask for a copy of the school's discipline policy or code of conduct. If they don't have one, that's a red flag. Ask about the differences in discipline and expectations for regular-ed kids and special-ed kids. Ask whether there's a positive behavioral plan in place for this child, if the teacher has talked with him about this, or if he has been sent to the counselor. Ask whether his parents know about these behaviors, or if there is a specialist or a counselor at the school who could teach him social skills at lunch or recess.

�� If little is being done, and the distressing behavior keeps up, you could ask the principal to move your son to another classroom or even another school building.

�� If all else fails, yes, move to a private school. Life is too short, and your child's education too important, to let this go on for too long.

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Homework: See the kinds of problems that teachers deal with in special ed and discipline problems on these chat sites: http://teachers.net/mentors/special_education/index2.html

and http://teachers.net/mentors/discipline