In Business Week’s Working Parents blog, Anne Newman poses this provocative question in a discussion of Including Samuel, which is being aired nationally on PBS. The award-winning documentary by Dan Habib chronicles his family’s efforts to include son Samuel (left), who has cerebral palsy, in all aspects of daily life, including education.

Newman says her earlier blog post on the film drew support from many who saw inclusion as the next civil rights movement, but a vocal minority questioned whether scarce resources should be spent on it. Wrote one: ‘Why do we even bother paying for education for these kids?”

She passed the questions on to Habib, who responded with a list of myths and realities about inclusion. “People are not limited by their disability,” he replied. “They are limited by a lack of opportunity.”

Newman asks: “What about it, readers? … Do students with disabilities in your schools learn along with their peers? Are your schools strained or strengthened by including them?”

See also:

Film teaches inclusion of students with disabilities — [Madison] Wisconsin State Journal

An excerpt:

… the film’s sponsors are leading efforts to have young people around the world hold viewing parties and take action for inclusion.

“We will get there when families without disabilities are advocating for this,” Habib said of inclusion.

From the Contra Costa [CA] Times:

Mary Crosby, the director of an elementary education program at a California’s Dominican University, has been honored for creating a curriculum to train teachers to teach children with disabilities in inclusive classrooms.

The Marin Community Foundation recognized Crosby’s 36 years at Dominican with an achievement award and $10,000.

Crosby said that when she came to Dominican in 1972, few elementary students with physical or mental disabilities were permitted to attend classes with their peers; some school districts would not accept students with disabilities at all.

(Contra Costa Times photo)

From ABC News (with video):

The Lighthouse International Child Development Center in New York teaches children lessons in simple camaraderie and confidence by instructing preschool students who are visually impaired alongside sighted students.

The school teaches kids aged 3 to 5 in six integrated classrooms with a standard preschool curriculum. There are four students for every teacher.

… according to [teacher Regina D'Ambrosio], the greatest advantage to the school is that the kids lose sight of their differences.

“They’ll never say, ‘Iliana, my friend who is blind.’ It’s ‘Iliana, my friend,’” she said.

The school is run by Lighthouse International, a nonprofit dedicated to preserving vision and providing services to people with visual impairments.

From the Denver Post:

The special education system in Colorado is struggling with inconsistent programs, funding shortages, and growing numbers of students with a confounding array of complex disabilities. As a result, many parents are giving up on the inclusive education that they and their predecessors fought to get.

Kids with disabilities have the right to attend their neighborhood schools, says one advocate, “but it also places a strain on school systems, and at times they are not equipped to deal with it.”

From the Boston Globe:

Nearly 41 percent of Boston’s students with disabilities are being educated in segregated settings, a rate that is almost three times higher than the state recommends, according to a school district report. The problem appears to get worse as students get older, with the result that segregated students perform poorly and struggle with feelings of isolation, apathy and depression.

Boston Superintendent Carol R. Johnson requested the report to help the district make recommendations for improvement. Her goal is to increase the graduation rate for students with disabilities from 37 per cent in 2007-2008 to 70 per cent in 2012.

From the Boston Globe:

A principal who pioneered inclusive education at a Boston elementary school two decades ago will be celebrated this afternoon as he retires and the school is renamed in his honor.

At a surprise ceremony, the Patrick O’Hearn Elementary School will be renamed the William Henderson Elementary school as a tribute to a principal who has improved the lives of thousands of children, according to parents.

Principal William Henderson, 59, who is blind, began teaching students with disabilities alongside their typical peers at O’Hearn in 1989, and the school earned a national reputation as a model for inclusive education, particularly among urban schools. Currently, one-third of the students at the school receive special education services.

“Boston has far too many kids in segregated classrooms and not enough schools like the O’Hearn,” said Thomas Hehir, a professor at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education and a former director of the US Department of Education’s Office of Special Education Programs. “The O’Hearn is one of the few schools in urban America that demonstrates all students can succeed.”

Henderson also shattered stereotypes about what people with disabilities can achieve professionally as his career continued to blossom even as he progressively lost his vision.

(Boston Globe photo)

See also: A matter of principal — Story and photos from Boston Globe Magazine

From the Dallas Morning News:

Twenty-year-old Adam Townsend of Mesquite, TX, has earned the rank of Eagle Scout, the highest honor bestowed by the Boy Scouts of America. He has Down syndrome.

Townsend began in scouting when he was six, and has completed years of requirements in such areas as camping skills, communications, citizenship and personal budgeting. For his Eagle project, he managed and supervised the renovation of a church parking lot.

Adam’s mother, Barbara Townsend, said she thinks it’s important for others to hear about all that Adam has accomplished. In addition to earning his Eagle Scout, he graduated from Mesquite’s John Horn High School and competes in Special Olympics basketball and track.

“For parents with children with disabilities, your child can do it,” she said. “You just have to believe.”