This article begins with a literature review of main-streaming students with multiple disabilities and visual impairment in general schools, stressing the importance of opportunities for peer interaction that are prevalent in regular settings. It then describes a program carried out with a 5-year-old student attending her neighborhood school in Auckland, New Zealand. Comments of the people involved in the program, including the principal, the teachers, the teacher's aide, family members, and fellow pupils, are reported, and the success of the program is discussed.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AndersonJ., & GoetzL. (1983, November). Opportunities for social interaction between severely disabled and nondisabled students in segregated and integrated educational settings. Paper presented at the 10th Annual Conference of the Association for Persons with Severe Handicaps, San Francisco.
2.
AsherS.R., & TaylorA.R. (1981). The social outcomes of mainstreaming: Sociometric assessment and beyond.Exceptional Education Quarterly, 1, 13–20.
3.
AyersB.C. (1988, September). Integration: A parent's perspective.Exceptional Parent, 1, 22–25.
4.
BogdanR. (1983). Does mainstreaming work? Is a silly question.Phi Delta Kappan, 64, 427–428.
5.
BrinkerR.P. (1985). Interactions between severely mentally retarded students and other students in integrated and segregated public school settings.American Journal of Mental Deficiency, 89, 587–594.
6.
CurryS.A., & HatlenP.H. (1988). Meeting the unique educational needs of visually impaired pupils through appropriate placement.Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness, 82, 417–424.
7.
FalveyM. (1988, December). Research on quality characteristics of friendship between students with severe handicaps and their peers without handicaps. Symposium conducted at the 15th Annual TASH Conference, Washington, DC.
8.
FordA., & DavenL. (1989). Moving forward with school integration: Strategies for involving students with severe handicaps in the life of the school. In Gaylord-RossR. (Ed.), Integration strategies for students with handicaps (pp. 11–32). Baltimore, MD: Paul H. Brookes.
9.
ForestM. (1989). It's about relationships.Toronto: Frontier College Press.
10.
ForestM., & LusthausE. (1989). Promoting educational equality for all students—Circles and maps. In StainbackS., Stain-backW., & ForestM. (Eds.), Educating all children in the mainstream of regular education (pp. 43–58). Baltimore, MD: Paul H. Brookes.
11.
GiangrecoM.F., & PutnamJ.W. (1991). Supporting the education of students with severe disabilities in regular education environments. In MeyerL.H., PeckC.A., & BrownL. (Eds.), Critical issues in the lives of people with severe disabilities (pp. 245–270). Baltimore, MD: Paul H. Brookes.
12.
GoldsteinH., & WickstromS. (1986). Peer intervention effects on communicative interaction among handicapped and non-handicapped preschoolers.Journal of Applied Behaviour Analysis, 19, 209–214.
13.
GreshamF.M. (1982). Misguided mainstreaming: The case for social skills training with handicapped children.Exceptional Children, 48, 422–433.
14.
HalvorsenA.T., & SailorW. (1990). Integration of students with severe and profound disabilities: A review of research. In Gaylord-RossR. (Ed.), Issues and research in special education (pp. 110–172). New York: Teachers College Press.
15.
HendricksonJ.M., StrainP.S., TremblyA., & ShoresR.E. (1982). Interactions of behaviourally handicapped children: Functional effects of peer social interactions.Behaviour Modification, 6, 323–353.
16.
HobenM., & LindstromV. (1979). Evidence of isolation in the mainstream.Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness, 74, 289–296.
17.
HuntP., AlwellM., & GoetzL. (1988). Acquisition of conversation skills and the reduction of inappropriate social interaction behaviors.Journal of the Association for Persons with Severe Handicaps, 13(1), 20–27.
18.
JohnsonD.W., & JohnsonR.T. (1989). Cooperative learning and mainstreaming. In Gaylord-RossR. (Ed.), Integration strategies for students with handicaps (pp. 233–248). Baltimore, MD: Paul H. Brookes.
19.
LancioniG.E. (1982). Normal children as tutors to teach social responses to withdrawn mentally retarded school mates: Training, maintenance and generalization.Journal of Applied Behaviour Analysis, 15, 17–40.
20.
LordC., & HopkinsJ. (1986). The social behavior of autistic children with younger and same-age nonhandicapped peers.Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 16, 249–262.
21.
MeyerL.H., & PutnamJ. (1988). Social integration. In Van HasseltV.B., StrainP.S., & HersenM. (Eds.), Handbook of developmental and physical disabilities (pp. 107–133). New York: Pergamon Press.
22.
MillerW.H. (1991). An array concept and the residential school: A viable child-centered option.RE:View, 23, 29–32.
23.
PorterG.L., & RichlerD. (1991). Changing special education practice: Law, advocacy and innovation. In PorterG.L., & RichlerD. (Eds.), Changing Canadian schools: Perspectives on disability and inclusion (pp. 9–34). North York, Ontario: Roehler Institute.
24.
SacksS.Z., & ReardonM.P. (1989). Maximizing social integration for students with visual handicaps. In Gaylord-RossR. (Ed.), Integration strategies for students with handicaps (pp. 77–104). Baltimore, MD: Paul H. Brookes.
25.
SemmelM.I., GottliebJ., & RobinsonN.M. (1979). Mainstreaming: Perspectives on educating handicapped children in public schools. In BerlinerD.C. (Ed.), Review of research in education (pp. 223–278). Washington, DC: American Educational Research Association.
26.
SpunginS. (1982). The future role of residential schools for visually handicapped children.Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness, 72, 229–233.
27.
StainbackW., & StainbackS. (1990). Support networks for inclusive schooling: Interdependent, integrated education.Baltimore, MD: Paul H. Brookes.
28.
StrulleyJ., & StrulleyC. (1985). Friendship and our children.Journal of the Association for Persons with Severe Handicaps, 10, 224–227.
29.
VandercookT., YorkJ., & ForestM. (1989). MAPS: A strategy for building the vision.Journal of the Association for Persons with Severe Handicaps, 14, 205–215.
30.
VeseyD. (1986, November). The perspective of a parent and special education commissioner on the benefits of integration and plans for statewide implementation. Paper presented at the 13th Annual Conference, Association for Persons with Severe Handicaps (TASH), San Francisco.
