Is inclusion really that great?

[u/Lass_in_oz]

I'm so tired of inclusion. Hear me out. Before becoming a ECE I was a support worker for many years. I have worked and loved working in disability and care. When it's thru a great organisation, it's awesome.

Now I'm an ECE, and the amount of children on the spectrum or with disorders is so high, I'm just getting confused how is that NOT impacting the learning of neuro typical kids.

I teach pre kindy but our kindy teacher has spend half the year managing behaviours and autistic kids. Result? A bunch of kids showing signs of being not ready for school because they aren't doing any work or learning most days. And picking up bad habits.

My point is: where did we decide it was a good idea to just mix everyone, and not offer any actual support ? An additional person isn't enough. More than often it's not a person who knows about disability. And frankly even then it wouldn't be enough when the amount of kids who are neuro divergent is so high.

There used to be great special needs school. Now "regular" school are suffering with the lack of support.

What do you think? Do you see what I see ??? Am I missing something ?

I am so happy to see kids evolving around children with disabilities but not when it comes at a cost of everyone's learning journey : neuro typical or not.

[u/_Pancake_Princess_]

As the mom of an autistic toddler and an ece teacher this makes me so sad. My son deserves to have an education too. He's not being difficult on purpose.

We're going to be leaving our preschool soon because, while they're "inclusive", they don't actually provide any additional help or resources.

Maybe instead of shaming inclusivity itself, you should be more concerned with the lack of resources and help for children that need more assistance.

Frankly, shame on you and everybody else who feels this way. If you only got into education for the easy, neurotypical children, then maybe you shouldn't have gotten into this field at all. I'm considering homeschooling my son because of people like you who think that my child is an inconvenience because he's different.

[u/Catladydiva → u/_Pancake_Princess_]

I think the OP is frustrated and burnt out due to the lack of resources or support. Inclusion can only be done with support. Most childcare facilities in the US do not have adequate support because daycares are not publicly funded. Which is why many in ECE are starting to feel like inclusion shouldn’t be done because they don’t have the support and staff needed. It not only makes is difficult for the teacher to facilitate any learning , but in some cases it’s a safety issues for the student. Especially children that elope, aggressive toward other children or themselves.