Response to April 19th Presentations

Lisa's topic really opened my eyes to the special education program. My sister-in-law is a teacher in a special ed program here in Madison so I have some personal reasons why this interested me. Her program is not inclusion, but it still is relatable nonetheless. All throughout school k-12 we had special needs kids and for the most part everyone knew who they were. Some were more subtle, but we knew it when the got to leave class for the tests. Some were more obvious, they would have an aide with them in the classroom. I know it was inclusion because they were in the same classes as some of the most intelligent people in my class.

Inclusion was not a bad thing at all in my school. In fact, I thought it was normal for all schools. Lisa opened my eyes not only to the fact that not all schools had it but also the fact that the schools that do aren't necessarily doing what they were supposed to be; my school included. I had no idea that the aides were supposed to be helping the teacher's. In fact, I didn't even know the aides names either. Some of the aides just sat there and didn't even talk to the special needs student until the teacher was done talking. They also left during the tests to go to the special ed room and take the test.

I would like to see the focus of this presentation not only on the existing school programs vs. the conventional separation, but also on the existing school programs that are doing it right vs. otherwise.