Mainstreaming the Learning Disabled

(Mainstreaming in Education, B) (Mainstreaming in Education, B)

Mainstreaming the Learning Disabled
Kristine Isham
Chapman University

The controversy over whether or not to mainstream students that have either learning disabilities or behavioral problems is an ongoing debate. Mainstreaming is defined as the integration of children with special needs into a regular education classroom. The debate between the pros and cons of mainstreaming remains intense. The arguments supporting mainstreaming   tend to outweigh those against mainstreaming .   Many parents of special needs students feel that their peers, despite their differences, will accept their children into their classrooms. Many teachers feel that they lack adequate training and support that they need to handle these types of students. Many parents that do not have special needs children feel that by having a special needs student in their child’s classroom will take the teacher’s attention and time away from their child. Simply because mentally disabled children do not have great academic potential does not mean that they should be stripped of the experience of attending a regular classroom. This is why mainstreaming the learning disabled is so important.
In the public school systems throughout the United States the special education department is designed to meet the needs and abilities of the learning disabled and special needs students. Special needs students have conditions that affect their progress in regular education classrooms. Most special needs students that are served by Special Education programs are between the ages of six and seventeen (Susan Bray Stainback). Mainstreaming is an inclusive form of education in which students are taught in a comprehensive school system. The Special Education programs are available for the students with special needs but the goal is for the majority of the regular student’s ad those with special needs to learn in the same classroom (Mainstreaming)....