Acceptance of Diversity – Integration of the Special Needs Community into Classrooms

In this modern era that we all live in, it is important that children with Special Needs be integrated into the classrooms. A website for teachers, Teachernet, defines “Special Needs” for children as children who have learning difficulties or disabilities that make it harder for them to learn or access education than most children of the same age. There are many areas of Special Needs and the two most common ones are Autism and Downs Syndrome. Rainbow Dreams, a locally written book on the care for special needs children tells us that Autism in itself has a wide range which ranges from mild to servere. And about 40% of all autistic children show hyperactive tendencies as well. Reasons for the cause of Autism are still relatively unknown and it can be caused by many reasons. Downs Syndrome, however, is caused by genetic disorder. 95% of all Downs Syndrome have the disorder called the Trisomy 21. In this case, there is an extra chromosome 21, so there are 3 chromosome 21s instead of the usual pair. Downs Syndrome is one of the most common forms of Intellectual Disabilities. The ratio in the population is about 1 in 800, (Lyen, 1997). So there are many people who are intellectually challenged in our community and they should be a part of our community, not apart from it. In the area of schooling, children with Special Needs have to be part of the normal schooling system. This has to start from the early years as much as possible. This may not be possible for some children with Special Needs need to have early intervention. But for those who can, I encourage their parents to integrate them into the childcare centres.


There are however four problems which faces the integration into the classrooms. Firstly, it is the different levels of integration. Integration on its own can be classified into the physical presence, mental acceptance, acknowledgement of the child and awareness. The physical presence is just integrating the child and his or her body in the classroom and not working further. The child’s physical body is in the class but his or her mind is not there as there is little to stimulate the child. This can be seen in our centres today and it is not good for the child at all. Like this the child just fills up a space in the class and is not given his or her chance to be part of the class. The next level is the mental acceptance. Here, the teachers communicate and interact with the child. But the physical environment is lacking. There is not enough in the environment which stimulates the child. Just as the child needs to interact with the teachers and peers, he or she needs to look to the environment for guidance from time to time. Thirdly is the full acknowledgement of the child in the class in both the environment and the teachers. Lastly, it is the awareness in the community. In order for full integration of special needs children in the classroom, teachers, principals, parents, the immediate community and the government needs to be aware of the characteristics of these special needs children.


In most instances, we are at the level where we acknowledge the child. With some centres accepting special children into their classes and parents who are willing to send their special child to a kindergarten despite the prejudices, everyone in the community has a part to play. The second problem facing integration is the prejudice facing the special child in the class. Parents of mainstream children need to teach their child about differences in people and to accept them. There was a story which I heard which saddened me deeply. Jane a 4 year old child went up to Timothy’s (Timothy has Downs Syndrome) mom and told her that everyone in class dose not like her son. And that they will not play with him because he is different. When I heard about this, I wondered what Jane’s parents and/or teachers have been teaching her. For acceptance and understanding of others, needs to be taught from home. So it is really important that parents themselves understand the needs of the community.


The third problem that integration faces is the teacher’s role. Some mainstream teachers seem to understand that these children are so “special” that only to experts know how to handle them. This is true to some sense but there are courses available for teachers to improve on their abilities. And besides, as teachers in schools, we have to be able to cater to different types of learners, Schoeman (1998). The role of a teacher is to accommodate diversity in the classroom and give equal chances to all the students as how they need it. It is not uncommon for teachers to focus on the achievers and forget those with less potential. Therefore, the role of a teacher is extremely important.


The last problem facing integration is attitude. There has to be a right attitude within the lay people and professionals to accept the diversities in the community. The right attitude is also needed to see the positives in the integration of special needs children. Research from Downsed has shown that there is not much difference in academic matters except in mathematics and writing in the special schools from year 1986 to 2000. This shows that in the evolvement of the special schools, there has just been an improvement in academics, and not in social aspects or emotional areas. So from here, we can see the importance of having an integrated classroom. There will be a lot of barriers and stereotypes to break down but in the long run, special children in mainstream schools would turn out with more confidence and self-belief. So once again the attitude of the community is essential for integration as it builds the foundation of acceptance and helps people from both parties(people working with special needs children and those who have not at all) to see the positives in integration.


In understanding the problems facing integration, we can now move on to see the benefits of an integrated program. But, when talking of such changes in education, there can be no doubt that government policies have to come into the picture. There are certain legislations affecting disabled children and some of them are the Education for All Handicapped Children Act and the Education Amendments which is the commitment to educating children with disabilities and providing training for teachers as well. These are just some examples on how Lawmakers are recognizing the needs of the special needs community, (Lerner, Lowenthal, Egan, 2003).


In conclusion, providing and creating opportunities and being aware of the community is what makes the integration of special needs children in the classrooms possible. Being able to have the right attitude and understanding how parents and teachers feel on this matter is important as well. The belief that special children are children first before the disability, and should be accepted into the ordinary world like any other, is what sustains this cause for integration, (Bird, Buckley, 1998). So unless all children grow up together, there can never be a full acceptance of diversities, be it race, religion, culture, and disabilities. Therefore, special needs children must be integrated into the classrooms.

By: Jonathan Szeto