This survey found that teachers (n=775) are willing to have mainstreamed students in their classrooms if students do not exhibit emotional or behavioral problems. They are willing to make interactive adaptations but not spend time conducting preplanning or postplanning. Elementary teachers were more likely to make planning adaptations. Barriers to…

Describes Improvised Musical Play (IMP), a teaching strategy that uses simple rhythms, chanting, and singing to make participation in social play with nondelayed peers easier for developmentally delayed children. (BB)

This article discusses the relation between instruction prescribed by standardized commercial curricula and reading achievement of mainstreamed students with learning disabilities. An instructional template for use with these curricula is described and its results examined. Limitations of generic instructional procedures adapting mainstream…

The author of "Life Centered Career Education" (LCCE) comments on reasons for the curriculum's success, what LCCE offers for the 1990s, how easy it is for a school system to implement LCCE, how LCCE can be used in mainstreamed settings, and what is needed to implement a comprehensive program like LCCE. (JDD)

This study compared the differential effects of in-class and pull-out service delivery models on attitudes of students (n=194) in grades four through six toward students with disabilities. Results revealed that students from classrooms where services were being delivered through in-class service delivery models had more positive attitudes.…

Inclusion advocates support heterogeneous programs where special education students are educated within the confines of a regular educational classroom. An array of services are provided that are coordinated across educational and community agency personnel. Districts must make sure the students are ready to be included, the staff is trained, and…

This discussion looks at the functional curriculum approach to educating students with disabilities. It addresses identifying functional knowledge and skills, starting a functional curriculum, needs of students with disabilities for such a curriculum, and the relationship of the functional curriculum to the traditional curriculum and to inclusive…

Data on the placement of over 3,389 English and Welsh children with Down syndrome (born between 1980 and 1992) were collected over the 12-year period studied. Analysis showed an increase in the proportion of children attending mainstream schools and a disproportionate number of boys in special schools. (Author/CR)

Describes characteristics of learning disabled (LD) college students, noting pedagogical assumptions of foreign language (FL) faculty that make it difficult for such students to complete FL requirements. The paper lists strategies that address the needs of LD students in FL, proposing a systems approach to instructional design that could help in…

In an age of inclusion, schools for blind children may seem an outdated delivery model. Student outcomes show that these placement options are justifiable, legitimate, and critically essential for many children. Although specialized schools are more expensive, they provide more services and produce well-qualified graduates. (MLH)

Discusses the major components of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 applicable to day care facilities. Offers guidelines for admitting disabled children, and for determining whether an accommodation is reasonable or an unreasonable burden. Considers an ADA case involving discrimination against a diabetic child for insights into the…

This article describes how students with disabilities in regular classes are using the WebQuest lesson format to access the Internet. It explains essential WebQuest principles, creating a draft Web page, and WebQuest components. It offers an example of a WebQuest about salvaging the sunken ships, Titanic and Lusitania. A WebQuest planning form is…

Mainstreamed students (N=37) with learning disabilities (LD) and an equal number of nondisabled (ND) high school students were compared on five independent variables: grades, time spent on homework, scholastic competence, global self-worth, and school membership. ND students reported higher grades and more favorable ratings of scholastic…

A survey of 23 specialist and 49 mainstream Scottish teachers, 22 with experience of autism, 27 without, investigated attitudes towards inclusion. A minority of mainstream respondents believed children with autism should be integrated where possible. Mainstream teachers with experience of autism showed more confidence. Specialist teachers were…

Explores the possibilities of full inclusion for students with disabilities by responding to myths that block thoughtful and comprehensive implementation (for example, that there is no research or data, segregation is not inherently a problem, special educators are extinct, special services require special places, and other children's education…