School begins for most students in the Allen County area this week, and I have heard rumors some schools in Indiana started at the end of July! What is happening here? Like many of you, the beginning of school kind of feels like summer is over. Luckily, my grandkids are not accustomed to the old days when summer break went from Memorial Day to Labor Day. As a matter of fact, some children, including my own grandkids, are excited for school to start. And honestly, I don’t hear many moms and dads complaining either. However, as a new school year begins, there are littles who have never attended school and moms and dads concerned about how their children may fit in, especially those with children with disabilities. Having inclusive classrooms has changed the education and lives of everyone for the better but parents of non-disabled children can also contribute to help make inclusive classrooms better for all students.
Just like not starting school until after Labor Day, I grew up during a time before we had inclusive classrooms for students with disabilities. An inclusive education is “a process of addressing and responding to the diversity and needs of all learners through increasing participation in learning, cultures, and community…”.1 Although I saw some students in my building with disabilities while I attended school, the students were not in any of my classes because they were separated from regular education classes. Although, now that I am aware, it seems crazy that the All Handicapped Children Act was passed in 1975, but it was not until the 1990s that inclusion was fully enacted (education world)2. As an educator, I certainly saw first hand how inclusion benefited all my students, but I also saw some students bully and make fun of those students. As a teacher, I addressed the problems when I saw them, but as a parent I discussed inclusion with my own children as well.
Because we live in a multi-cultural, diverse world, our children are attending schools with not only students with disabilities but also with children with different ethnicities, religions, skin colors, values, languages, and cultures. As parents, we can help make this world better by discussing how to get along with others before our children attend school. It’s important to teach children not about everyone’s differences but what we all share as humans. As I watch my 4 year old granddaughter play with other children at the park, I realize she plays with them because of what they have in common. They are all there to have fun, swing, chase, play hide and seek, giggle, and make friends. They focus on what they like, not what they dislike. This is the key to inclusion as well. Teach your children that children with disabilities may sometimes look different or act differently, but they are still children who want to fit in. They probably enjoy the same music or movies or have the same dreams to go to Disney or to grow up to be a fireman or teacher. We need to encourage our children to see not what is different but what is the same.
We at CORE are excited for everyone, especially some of our participants with disabilities who head back to school this month to have a fun yet meaningful school year. We encourage everyone to focus on what we have in common instead of what makes us different. It’s what we have in common that makes us friends.
Footnotes
- Weissant, Abdul.When Did Inclusive Education Start, 7 July 2022, www.timesmojo.com
- https://www.educationworld.com, 30 July 2025.
