Inclusion: Issues, Strategies, and Resources for new teachers of deaf and hard of hearing students

My project, titled Inclusion: Issues, Strategies, and Resources for new teachers of deaf and hard of hearing students, is designed for those who seek information about inclusive practices for deaf and hard of hearing students. I primarily considered my audience to be other college students who are working towards teaching certification in deaf education, although experienced teachers and well as parents can gain new information from the resources I have provided.

The goal of this project was to research resources that contain a wealth of information about the many aspects of inclusion, and that these resources become available to other individuals in the field of deaf education via the internet. I reviewed many sources of information about inclusion for deaf students, focusing on teaching strategies, and various issues. I narrowed down the bank of resources to what I considered to be effective and good information. The resources that I reviewed contain books and websites. The books that I included are books about inclusion in general, not limited to inclusion for deaf and hard of hearing students. I felt that these books, as well as some of the websites, had a lot of helpful information and that many of the ideas can be applied to deaf education.

By creating this collection of resources, I wanted other individuals to have easy access to good inclusion materials. These web-based resources I provided will be useful for gathering more information about inclusion in deaf education.Inclusion: Issues, Strategies, and Resources for new teachers of deaf and hard of hearing students.

As future teachers of deaf and hard of hearing students, we will face many issues related to the appropriate instructional settings for these students. Deaf students are now being educated in a variety of settings including residential schools, mainstreamed programs, self-contained classrooms, and full inclusion. As teachers, we may find ourselves in any one of these educational settings, so we need to be adequately prepared to effectively implement instruction in each of these settings. More students with disabilities are being fully included in general education classrooms with the appropriate support services. In deaf education inclusion is being promoted, and there are many issues that deaf educators and general educators need to be aware of, so they can develop strategies and know where to go for additional resources. I have defined some major issues relating to inclusion that we will encounter, and have provided resources for different strategies, and where to go for more information.

MAJOR ISSUES:

1. AWARENESS FOR GENERAL EDUCATION TEACHERS ABOUT INCLUSIVE PRACTICES FOR DEAF AND HARD OF HEARING STUDENTS.

http://www.fsdb.k12.fl.us/rmc/index.htmlResources for Itinerant Teachers, Resource Teachers, and General Education Teachers Serving Students who are Deaf/Hard of Hearing.

providing in-service training to general education teachers with students who are deaf or hard of hearing

materials every itinerant teacher should have

Halvorsen, A.T. & Neary, T. (2001). Building inclusive schools: Tools and strategies for success. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.This can be ordered at http://www.ablongman.com/

Major concepts of this book:

Inclusion is not mainstreaming- specialized instruction and services written in an individuals IEP are brought to the context of their home school, general education classroom, and not back and forth from general education to special education, like mainstreaming

Inclusive settings provide far more variety in activities, and stimuli are not so easily controlled. The pace of a general education classroom is typically faster and more spontaneous. Ensuring that students have the opportunity to practice skills sufficiently in such a dynamic environment is critical (p. 100)

How to effectively balance systematic instruction for special education students while in the regular education setting- best practices.

2. PARENT QUESTIONS.http://www.projectchoices.org/faqFamilies.aspx What if a parent of a child eligible for special education services doesnt want an education which is inclusive?

How should parents of general education students be prepared for an education which is inclusive?

3. IS INCLUSION REALLY A GOOD ENVIRONMENT FOR ALL DEAF STUDENTS? Benefits and limitations to inclusionhttp://www.nad.org/site/pp.asp?c=foINKQMBF&b=180362

The National Association of the Deafs (NAD) position statement of inclusion

http://gri.gallaudet.edu/Publications/#PUB10

Implications and Complications for Deaf Students of the Full Inclusion Movement. 1994 ed.- Robert C. Johnson, and Oscar P. Cohen. This can be ordered online at http://gradschool.gallaudet.edu/htdocs/pub/puborder.asphttp://www.education-world.com/a_curr/curr034.shtmlhttp://ericec.org/digests/e557.html

Educating Children Who Are Deaf or Hard of Hearing: Inclusion

4. COLLABORATION BETWEEN GENERAL EDUCATION TEACHER AND DEAF EDUCATION TEACHER.

Walther-Thomas, C., Korinek, L., McLaughlin, V.L., & Williams,B.T. (2000). Collaboration for inclusive education. Developing successful programs. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

This can be ordered at http://www.ablongman.com/

Major concepts of this book:

Students with disabilities are more likely to succeed in effective inclusive schools because teachers, administrators, specialists, paraeducators, volunteers, and typical classmates are working together to ensure that every student is valued, respected, and accepted for who he or she is and is provided with meaningful and appropriate learning experiences. (p. 22)

Seven features fundamental to appropriate and effective inclusive programs: (1) a collaborative culture, (2) shared leadership, (3) coherent vision, (4) comprehensive planning, (5) adequate resources, (6) sustained implementation, and (7) continuous evaluation and improvement. (Chap. 2, p.27)

Values and beliefs of inclusive schools:

1) Caring relationships and genuine friendships

2) A sense of belonging for all students, no longer isolation

3) Holistic, heterogeneous, and flexible learning opportunities

(p. 6-9)

The development of inclusive services must be a collaborative effort. Key participants are classroom teachers, special education teachers, related service specialists, support staff, central office and school administrators, board members, students with and without disabilities, and their families. (p. 29)

5. EFFECTIVE INSTRUCTION FOR ALL STUDENTS

Male, M. (1997). Technology for inclusion. Meeting the special needs of all students. (3rd ed) Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

To order: http://www.ablongman.com/Major concepts of this book:

Learning goals can be met through using the internet, and telecommunications (Chap. 11)

Different types of computer based programs for assessment- curriculum based assessment, electronic portfolios, etc.

Including computer use in IEP goals and objectives, and listing specific programs students will use to meet these goals.

http://www.as.wvu.edu/~scidis/hearing.html#sect2Strategies for teaching students with hearing impairments

6. MORE IMMERSION INTO THE HEARING SOCIETY, MORE COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT

http://ericec.org/digests/e557.html Educating Children Who Are Deaf of Hard of Hearing: Inclusion

http://www.uni.edu/coe/inclusion Children who learn together, learn to live together.- teaching strategies, adaptations, glossary of inclusion terms, resources/websites.

7. IMPLEMENTING INCLUSION

Tilton, L. (1996). Inclusion: A fresh look. Practical strategies to help all students succeed. Shorewood: Covington Core Publications.

A resource for general education and special education teachers to use before implementing inclusion. Provides strategies for modifications (and examples of modified lessons and tests), games, classroom book lists, etc. This book is more of a guide for inclusion with many ideas for each characteristic of the inclusion process rather than a research based book on inclusion practices.

http://inclusion.com/videos.html videos (Inclusion press)

http://www.uni.edu/coe/inclusion8. LOCATING GOOD RESOURCES

These are additional websites that may be helpful for more information on inclusion:

http://inclusion.comhttp://fsdb.k12.fl.us/rmc/

home page for: Resource Materials & Technology Center for the Deaf and the Hard of Hearing

207 N. San Marco Ave.

St. Augusine, FL 32084

1-800-356-6731

National Information Center on Deafness

Gallaudet University

800 Florida Avenue, NE

Washington, D.C. 20002

http://clerccenter.gallaudet.edu

*This project allowed me to look at the wealth of information that there is on inclusion. The internet offers many helpful websites that give important information on this subject and the many issues associated with inclusion in deaf education, which was my focus of this research. Many of the websites that I have identified gave unbiased information, offering the benefits and limitations of inclusion. It is easy to take a side for or against inclusion, but we really need to be aware of both sides of the issue before making any decisions. I hope the readers of this project find these resources helpful.

You can email me at mbonello@kent.edu if you have anything to share.