In the Fall of 2009, I had the opportunity to attend the New Jersey Division for Early Childhood (NJDEC) 2009 Fall Conference. NJDEC is a subdivision of DEC, The Council for Exceptional Children. http://nj.dec-sped.org/ I attended a workshop on Preschool Inclusion. It was presented by three Inclusion Teachers and a Master Teacher from Orange, NJ. Orange, like many other districts throughout the state and country are encouranging inclusion throughout all grades. As we have learned, full inclusion is the least restrictive environment for students who are classified. It is amazing how things have changed over the years. When I did my student teaching, well over ten years ago, the building I worked in had at least six self-contained classrooms all on one floor. Over the years things changed and those classrooms moved from being on one floor to each self-contained room being placed next door to their age appropriate regular education classroom. At this point, there are two self-contained rooms in the building and a majority of students are included full time in their regular grade level. Some of the classrooms have a special education and regular education teacher working together full time. Others have a special education teacher come in part time to do in class support. Times have really changed.
Inclusion
Think about inclusion and the least restrictive environment (LRE). Also, think about the disabilities we have discussed so far speech and language impairments,
