Autistic students need inclusion

The placement of autistic children in schools is complicated with 504 plans and IEPs. These special education plans intend to help the student prosper, but it’s also argued that alternative educations instead hinder the development of these autistic students, favoring inclusion into normal classroom settings.

It’s difficult to run a classroom with the inclusion of an autistic child, learning through personal experience that autistic children require and demand extra attention. This one-on-one aid affects the rest of the class, earning less attention from an already under resourced teacher. Autistic children, whose educational issues stem from a lack of social constructs that result in academic downfalls, need social role models, which other students can provide. Given time to watch and learn from their models, they can develop socially and academically.

Autistic students can be fully-functioning students in a normal classroom setting. Reaching this benchmark, however, requires special efforts. This does not mean that they do not belong in classrooms, as removing them would take away behavioral role models and inhibit intellectual growth. Inclusion is the most beneficial educational option for young, autistic students and should be adopted by the American education system.

Brooke Barton

Spokane