Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

Inclusive education for students with severe disabilities has and continues to spark intense debate. To what extent should students with severe disabilities be educated in nonsegregated environments, particularly the general education environment? For some, there is no question, but history indicates many do not agree. Agran and colleagues provide a clear, concise summation of the rationale for continued segregation of students with severe disabilities. This commentary extends those arguments, speculating on how perceptions about people with disabilities manifest in society and in schools in particular, often resulting in continued segregation and far less inclusion than might be expected or warranted.

Keywords

perspectives on disability attitudes perceptions of people with disabilities inclusion

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Agran

Jackson

Kurth

J. A.

Ryndak

Burnette

Jameson

Zagona

Fitzpatrick

Wehmeyer

(2020). Why aren’t students with severe disabilities being placed in general education classrooms: Examining the relations among classroom placement, learner outcomes, and other factors. Research and Practice for Persons with Severe Disabilities, 45, 4–13. https://doi.org/10.1177/1540796919878134

Archer

A. L.

Hughes

C. A.

(2011). Explicit instruction: Effective and efficient teaching. Guilford Press.

Barrett

H. C.

(2008). Evolved cognitive mechanisms and human behavior. In Crawford

Krebs

(Eds.), Foundations of evolutionary psychology: Ideas, issues, and applications (2nd ed., pp. 173–190). Lawrence Erlbaum.

Browder

D. M.

Spooner

(2011). Teaching students with moderate and severe disabilities. Guilford Press.

Gardner

(2015). The many faces of the reasonable person. Law Quarterly Review, 131, 563–584.

Harrower

J. K.

(1999). Educational inclusion of children with severe disabilities. Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions, 1(4), 215–230. https://doi.org/10.1177/109830079900100404

Huskin

P. R.

Reiser-Robbins

Kwon

(2018). Attitudes of undergraduate students toward persons with disabilities: Exploring effects of contact experience on social distance across ten disability types. Rehabilitation Counseling Bulletin, 62(1), 53–63. https://doi.org/10.1177/0034355217727600

Kauffman

J. M.

Hallahan

D. P.

Pullen

P. C.

(Eds.). (2017). Handbook of special education. Routledge.

Orelove

F. P.

Sobsey

Gilles

D. L.

(2017). Educating students with severe and multiple disabilities: A collaborative approach (5th ed.). Paul H. Brookes.

10.

Schalock

R. L.

Luckasson

Tasse

M. J.

Verdugo

M. A.

(2018). A holistic theoretical approach to intellectual disability: Going beyond the four current perspectives. Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, 56(2), 79–89. https://doi.org/10.1352/1934-9556-56.2.79

11.

Schulte

A. C.

Osborne

S. S.

Erchul

W. P.

(1998). Effective special education: A United States dilemma. School Psychology Review, 27(1), 66–76.

12.

Seewooruttun

Scior

(2014). Interventions aimed at increasing knowledge and improving attitudes towards people with intellectual disabilities among lay people. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 35(12), 3482–3495. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ridd.2014.07.028

13.

Wehmeyer

(2013). The story of intellectual disability. Paul H. Brookes.

Fissuring Barriers to Inclusive Education for Students with Severe Disabilities

Abstract

Keywords

Get full access to this article

References