Mainstreaming

The topic of public education for students with developmental and/or learning disabilities is an important topic to discuss. The moral and ethical imperative in the United States is understood that we allow for free and appropriate education for everyone regardless of disability, gender, race, or any other factor. Unfortunately, the resources for public education are limited. Finding the right balance of truly equal opportunity with limited funding is a practical nightmare. Mainstreaming, which is integrating students with learning disabilities into the same classrooms as students without learning disabilities to be taught using similar methods, is a great solution if we look at the issue solely from a financial perspective. The issues that arise from mainstreaming children with learning disabilities come from the idea that we are teaching every student equally and to a set standard without acknowledging individual differences. In students with learning disabilities, these individual differences are often exacerbated, and these standards that we have set are much less attainable. From a social standpoint, however, it may be detrimental to split up kids who are the same age. It is apparent that social interaction in school is important beyond just facilitating learning. If these students are separated based on learning ability, they may be ostracized further due to their apparent differences. On the flip side of that coin, integrating students with disabilities into the same classrooms as non-disabled students may build resentment of the former from the latter because of a perceived "slowing down" of the curriculum. Even if the students are taught individually in the same room, the special attention that is required from teachers to students with disabilities may seem unfair to the students without disabilities. This also means that there is a greater strain on the teachers who must find a healthy balance in their own teaching styles and time spent with students. We could put every student with a disability into a separate class specific to their disability, but the prevalence ratings of each disability are low enough that it is hard to justify the costs of doing so. This becomes especially true in areas with smaller population or lower general income. We could lump children with any form of disability ranging from ADD to an ASD into one classroom and separate them from the children without disabilities, but once again we have arrived at the issue of treating every child as the same but under slightly more refined categories. It is also much harder to find teachers willing to work with these students to the individual capacity that they need because of the notoriously low pay for teachers in the United States. Overall, it is incredibly difficult to determine what the best possible route for providing an appropriate education to children with disabilities is. Mainstreaming may help these kids to have a more involved experience both socially and educationally, but it is not without its downfalls.