Free Articles from Interaction 28 Issue 2 Choice does not equal “informed choice” ... | Page 3

v28/2/’14 : interaction

Sofia of course was delighted to join the ESU class. There were new friends, one-toone attention, loads of positive reinforcement, a greater focus on life skills and
generally lower expectations. Not just lower academic expectations, but lower
expectations across the board — physical, emotional and social. With the threat of
her support being withdrawn, we felt completely trapped.
Six fairly dreadful months into Year 1, Catherine stumbled upon what became for us
a life changing paper by Prof Bob Jackson7. It was a literature review that looked
specifically at studies over the last 40 years that compared the benefits of segregation
and inclusion, as well as the impact of segregation and inclusion on teachers and
other students. We were amazed to find that not a single study concluded that there
was a benefit to any form of segregation – both for the children at risk, as well as
their normally developing peers. The academic and social outcomes for children in
fully inclusive settings, even without any support, were consistently better than in the
segregated or partially segregated environments; and, importantly, including children
at risk, had no impact on the academic performance of normal developing children,
but brought marked social benefits to these children. All of the doubts we had, the
reasons and justifications that were presented to us over the last six months were
vaporised in an instant. Then and there, we decided to move Sofia back to where she
belonged.
In a bold statement of destiny, it turned out we lived in the same city as Prof Jackson.
We attended a workshop where he was presenting the research on inclusion together
with PLEDG CEO, Darrell Wills and family members who shared their experiences of
inclusion – from earliest interventions through high school. PLEDG specialises in
parents learning about evidence and then incorporates evidence-based teaching
strategies to facilitate curricular and social inclusion. Together, they helped us to
vastly change our perception of our daughter, her abilities, her (and our) potential
and her place in the world.
With research and examples of how we were finally “informed” about our choices,
we were confident that the situation at our current school was not salvageable. We
moved all three of our children to a private community school at the beginning of
Term 4 that year. Sofia’s support funding allocation was much lower than it was at
the government school, but the school more than made up for it in attitude. We were
reliably informed “that will precedes skill and this school had that will”. There was a
principal who was always available, unlimited access to teachers and a central ethos
that welcomed parental involvement in education.
Our daughter, now 7 years old, continues to grow and amaze not only us but also
her teachers and peers. We were told that reading would be a challenge (she is now
advanced), that she would not be able to write (she now types) and that she would
Jackson, R., 2008. Inclusion or Segregation for Children with an intellectual Impairment:
What does the research say? (http://www.include.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/
Inclusion_Seg.pdf)
7

Australian Institute on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities

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