Discusses the myths and facts about including students with significant cognitive disabilities, and then suggests ways that teachers and students can be supported to overcome the harmful effects of the myths.
Shares how student Jaimar Fish’s communication network was expanded through participation in a peer network, how students formed lasting friendships, and how the Kentucky Peer Support Network Project has benefited students with and without disabilities.
Supporting students with complex communication needs is an important part of creating inclusive classrooms. Five strategies are described for using augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) in schools.
Presents ten lessons learned through working toward inclusive education systems, focusing on the systems-level changes that are needed to make inclusion work for students.
Introduces the TIES Center, the National Technical Assistance Center on Inclusive Practices and Policies for students with the most significant cognitive disabilities.
Soldovieri describes some of her own schooling experience, and how she came to understand that inclusion is a whole life process. (See “We Expect Them to Teach All Students” for a companion piece.)
Two teachers, one coming from a special education background and one from a general education classroom, share their realizations based on co-teaching together for two years. (See “Together We Are Better! Collaborative Teaming to Support Authentic Inclusion of Students with Complex Support Needs” for a companion piece.)
Three educators share guiding principles that arose from their work in implementing an inclusive service delivery model. (See “Inclusive Service Delivery: A Proactive Model for Better Educating ALL Students” for more information.)
Presents information about the Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) data for students with disabilities. It demonstrates a significant difference in LRE for those students with the most significant cognitive disabilities. (See “The Hope of Lessons Learned: Supporting the Inclusion of Students with the Most Significant Cognitive Disabilities Into General Education Classrooms” for more information.)
Beth Foraker, Founder and Director of The National Catholic Board on Full Inclusion, asks “who’s missing?” in Catholic schools. (See companion pieces “A Family’s Journey of Inclusion and “I Have Great Friends.”)
A parent shares how she learned the safest space for her daughter, Maggie, was not in a sheltered classroom, but in a classroom surrounded by typical peers. She also details how Maggie’s friends helped the adults around her understand and better address her needs and desires.
A companion piece to “A Family’s Journey of Inclusion;” in it, Thomas Bryne describes his experiences being a student in an inclusive setting. (See also: “Who’s Missing? The Essential Question for Catholic Schools.”)
TIES Communication 101 is a new asynchronous professional learning series created with our partners at the University of Kentucky (UKY). It provides evidence-based strategies for supporting AAC users in inclusive classrooms. One hour of ASHA credit is available for Speech-language pathologists at no charge.
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