For many people, particularly those with significant intellectual and communication disabilities, community access has not led to community acceptance or integration. While uniquely-abled individuals are present in local neighborhoods and businesses, they continue to be viewed as "outsiders" and are often are met with avoidance, fear, or pity.…

Selecting competitive sports opportunities for a child is a challenging process. Parents have to make the right choices so that their young athletes will have many years of healthy, happy, active experiences. If parents make the wrong choices, their son or daughter will have, at the very least, a few unhappy hours, and worst-case scenario, could…

A parent recounts his Downs Syndrome son's integration into a regular Boy Scout troop and subsequent earning of the Eagle rank. His Eagle project involved speaking about his disability in local elementary, junior high, and senior high schools. Policies of the Boy and Girl Scout organizations concerning disabled members are summarized. (CB)

Many deaf students become perennial "outsiders," never really becoming an integral part of their mainstream classrooms. Factors contributing to this may include family dynamics, teacher attitudes, and lack of interactions between deaf and hearing children. Parents can promote their child's integration, through accessing home, school, and community…

The study examined perceptions of issues associated with inclusive education of 437 parents from a midwestern state in the United States who have a child with a mild, moderate, or severe disability. Parents responded to a modified form of the Opinions Related to Mainstreaming (ORM) Scale (Antonak & Larrivee, 1995) and provided additional…

The article looks at the role of play and recreation in the lives of children with learning disabilities and suggests ways parents can help integrate such children into recreation and sports programs. The importance of three systems of support--the family, the school, and the peer group--is stressed. Parents are urged to work toward providing the…

A mother describes the decision-making and the process involved in mainstreaming her five-year-old hearing-impaired son into a mainstream kindergarten program. The parents considered input from other parents and the need to achieve true social integration in the mainstream setting. (DB)

Parents and teachers need to work together to help children with special needs develop meaningful friendships. Emphasis is on the need for parents and teachers to build structures likely to facilitate the development of friendships. (DB)

This article, in the form of a letter from the parent of a teenager to parents of younger children with disabilities, encourages parents to take advantage of integrated educational opportunities for their children. Negative aspects of segregated education are illustrated with examples from the teenager's life. (DB)

This article examines the challenges and successes experienced over four years by three academically gifted students with deaf-blindness in inclusive educational programs, and presents recommendations about placement of students with similar needs in inclusive programs. (Author/DB)

This booklet attempts to answer commonly asked questions of parents of children with developmental disabilities about how to get children active in community recreational activities. The questions focus on accessing recreational activities and settings that include children both with and without disabilities. The booklet notes requirements of…

This document consists of three separately published two-fold brochures. The three brochures provide guidelines for families of persons with disabilities to assess the level of integration efforts by local school districts and special education cooperatives. Guidelines are presented in the form of yes-no questions about administrative commitment,…

This employment assessment tool for parents of young adults with deaf-blindness was created to assist in examining strengths and weaknesses of various employment programs in relation to their child's employment wants and needs, to guide parents in advocating for what is needed from a specific job to ensure their child's success, and to provide a…

This booklet contains an outline of, and recommendations based on, a study of 128 New Zealand children in special groups mainstreamed into kindergartens and play groups. Research goals were to explore how mainstreaming had been implemented, whether special group children were profiting from the environment's educational opportunities, and whether…

Chronicles the experiences and feelings of the authors, parents of a son who was blind from birth. It describes their encounters with the public educational system from kindergarten to college, concentrating on the boy's adolescent years, from middle school to college. Also discussed are mainstreaming, friendships, time management, contact with…