With a growing population of people with disabilities in the US, many public schools are reconsidering conventional education methods. Some argue that integrating special education students into general education classrooms is to the benefit of all students; that integration creates an inclusive environment, creating more open-minded students. While this is an optimistic idea, it is to a greater disadvantage to students without disabilities. Integrating classrooms is harmful to general education students as it creates distractions and diverts the teacher’s attention away from students with lower educational needs. There are better ways to expose young children to people with disabilities than throwing them into a classroom together and expecting the teacher to adapt to the circumstances.
Oftentimes students with disabilities can act out in classrooms when they begin to feel overwhelmed or stressed out, a feeling all students can relate to. While it is understandable, these behavioral issues are at a great cost to other students who are trying to learn. Rachel Giese discusses this issue in the article, “Why integration isn’t working for special needs kids—or their classmates.” Giese writes, “Bright lights, crowded hallways, taking turns, lining up, keeping a desk organized and navigating friendships—all the basic stuff of school life—are confusing, agitating and overwhelming for kids with special needs. School doesn’t feel safe for them.” The typical school environment can be sensory overload for students with disabilities, and forcing them to learn in this environment is not helping anyone. When these students feel particularly overwhelmed they can scream, throw things, or even get physical with other students. In the long term this can create a negative image of people with disabilities in other student’s minds, which is the opposite message of integration altogether. In addition, as stated in the Personal Finance Blog, when special education students are put into larger general education classrooms, teachers are forced to consistently stop and check in those students with higher educational needs, meaning they move through the information at a slower pace. This results in more advanced learners being held back and not reaching their full potential which, “limits diversity in the opposite direction.” It also takes away from other students in the classroom who are now receiving less attention from the teacher, a frustrating feeling. In conclusion, special education students are better accommodated to learn in a much quieter, smaller space where the educator can focus all of their attention on that student alone. Classroom integration does not encourage inclusion, it perpetuates negative stigmas around people with disabilities and holds back other general education students who deserve to learn in an environment free from distraction.