Inclusion programming can be wonderful. Many children with autism and other developmental disabilities can learn well in inclusive settings. The children in the class without autism or developmental disabilities often benefit too. Sometimes meaningful friendships can develop and flourish.
The problem comes when the child is in desperate need of other therapy that cannot be delivered in the inclusive classroom. This might be certain types of communication training, social skills programming, learning to develop self-control over serious problem behaviors or self-help skills. Often, teams decide that the need to participate as much as possible in the inclusion setting is the priority despite obvious other needs. Now, unless the skills learned in the inclusive setting are meeting natural contingencies, they likely won’t maintain, and in the long run won’t matter towards having a higher quality of life.
I think this is another situation where it is easy to get fooled by the data. Likely, something like this happened. The team is sitting at a meeting and the teacher, speech pathologist, occupational therapist, or other team member tells a story like this:
Let me tell you what happened yesterday! At recess, he was initiated playing with another peer. They were engaged, talking, laughing, and happy! It lasted at least 5-minutes. I was so happy that I started to cry.
It isn’t easy for the untrained eye to distinguish between situations where the child has made great progress in social skills that are likely to maintain and gains that will be fleeting. I’ve seen so many situations where it might look great in preschool or kindergarten, but by 4th grade the child is circling the playground by themselves, and then by middle school they are in a segregated setting due to serious problem behavior.
If our goal is to make a real difference in the life of the children we work with, then it is essential that we speak up. Sure, sometimes many people might not like it. We’ve been here before and we know how this movie ends.
True friendships are not likely to develop and maintain if the child doesn’t have the skills needed. Sometimes these skills can be developed in inclusive settings. But other times there is critical therapy that needs to happen outside of that setting. It isn’t an easy thing to say to a crying kindergarten teacher or parent, but it is essential.