An awareness-raising program to enhance secondary students' appreciation and understanding of common disabilities is described. In addition to guest speakers, selected regular education students simulated vision, speech, cognitive, hearing and mobility impairments. Equipment used, procedures, student responses, and reactions from the student body…

The article describes the Finnish special education system which provides instructional modifications ranging from remedial education to individual instruction at home, with most students receiving part-time special education by resource room teachers. The last decade has seen emphasis on individual and group integration and individual special…

Nine commonly occurring activities were identified in mainstreamed kindergarten and first grade classrooms, the necessary skills for participation were analyzed, and a curriculum was developed. Evaluation of the curriculum showed that 15 handicapped preschool children learned the necessary skills, even when the instructions, environment, and task…

Social status of learning-disabled (LD) elementary students served by the Integrated Classroom Model was compared to that of LD elementary students in a regular class with resource room support. Results suggest that, although both groups had lower social status than nondisabled peers, ICM students blended into the classroom better. (Author/PB)

Surveys of preschool personnel and teachers of early childhood educators found that mainstreaming of children with disabilities in preschools increased from 1985-90; benefits are widely recognized; that activities are easily adapted for such children; and primary barriers to successful mainstreaming are inadequate training, high student-staff…

Describes the movement to integrate students with special needs into the regular classroom, explaining what inclusive education is and is not, how to make it work, why it sometimes fails, and how teachers feel about it. A checklist to help schools get ready for inclusion is included. (SM)

Assessed parents' attitudes toward integration or mainstreaming of children with developmental disabilities. Subjects had preschool children with and without disabilities enrolled in integrated or self-contained classrooms. Found that, by the end of school year, parents whose children had participated in integrated programs held more positive…

The executive director of the Council for Exceptional Children discusses the importance of collaborative action to achieve common goals, applies these principles to special education, and describes a collaborative effort with nine other national associations to identify and promote good practice principles for the planning and operation of…

Information about children who stutter is provided, including the characteristics of stutterers and techniques that preschool and elementary teachers can use in the classroom to help these students. Suggestions focus on ways to provide a good speech model, improve the child's self-esteem, and create a good speech environment. (DB)

Students with disabilities can be a successful part of a regular science classroom setting. This article describes the requirements of Public laws 94-142 and 93-112 and explains how science teachers can provide the least restrictive environments. (Contains 26 references.) (PR)

Suggests that there are far more identified children with autistic spectrum disorders in mainstream secondary schools and colleges than there were a decade ago. Offers research-based educational strategies for developing language and communication skills, social and affective information processing, social communication skills, and motivation for…

Identifies amendments to Public Law 105-17 that relate to physical education and inclusion of students with disabilities, discussing their implications. The paper highlights issues related to Child Find, personnel training, and Individualized Education Plan (IEP) team members and program development. Sidebars discuss reauthorization procedures,…

This study examined the effect of contact by hearing students (N=70) with mainstreamed high school students with hearing impairments on hearing students' evaluations of personal qualities of speakers with three levels of speech intelligibility and their attitudes toward deafness. In general, students with contact expressed more positive…

Adopting full inclusion as the implementation strategy for educating children under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) will eliminate the discretion granted parents and guardians under the act. Discusses the intent of IDEA, its legal interpretations, and implications for school social workers. (Author/MKA)

Principals of site-based managed schools face numerous special-education program implementation challenges, such as appropriate committee compositions, inconsistent service delivery decisions across schools, interschool isolation, deflection of advocates, and policy guidance problems. Principals are ill-trained for inclusion and special-education…