Mainstreaming: Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and Child

My topic for my research paper will be on mainstreaming or it is also called inclusion. I will be discussing what mainstreaming is and briefly telling you about the history of mainstreaming. I will also be talking about the advantages and disadvantages of mainstreaming for children with disabilities and non disabled children. Mainstreaming or inclusion in general is the practice of educating children with disabilities in a regular classroom alongside non disabled students. Making them part of the students everyday life in the classroom. (Allen, 2005) Children that are mainstreamed are not kept isolated from there typical developing peers. Mainstreaming takes place in the regular classroom throughout the day depending on the skills of the child and how much they can handle at one point. What this is saying is that the student will receive any special education outside of the classroom to help them out more. Mainstreamed children will spend time in and out of the classroom depending on their own basic needs and wants. Mainstreaming is practiced in many schools across America. (Gordon, 2007) The next thing I will talk about is the history of mainstreaming. From the 1920s until the 1970s we had set up different special needs schools for children with disabilities. In 1975 an educational policy came about. This policy was known as Education for All Handicapped Children Act. This law was renamed in 1990 to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act also known as IDEA. What this law entitles is everyone with a disability from the ages of 3 until 21 to an appropriate and free education. In addition this act requires that every child that has a disability to be educated in the least restrictive environment. This means that the children with disabilities to have the same environment and chances that non disabled children have so they can learn to their full potential. There were some different attitudes that people had on children with disabilities.