The Australian education system is in a period of change in terms of how it engages students

with disabilities. This essay will examine how school and classrooms can adopt the best
practice to adopt in order to create an inclusive learning environment .The legal system
support for students and how it has affected the classroom experience while addressing
practical concerns within the classroom surrounding the legal framework. While exploring
how teachers attitudes and parental involvement can impact the inclusive classroom
experience .The personals that can benefit the classroom experience in terms personal and
interpersonal skill sets needed to foster a positive learning environment. Furthermore this
essay will examine the positive and negative aspects of both the universal design model,
alongside the differentiation strategy for creating and inclusive learning environment.
Through this examination I will adapt to a working model that accommodates for both these
models individual short comings. This essay will have an emphasis on examining features of
the Inclusive through the framing of ASD student within the classroom but having wider
pool of students with disabilities in need of support that these students need.

The legal framework for teachers has affected the relation and attitudes teachers have for
students with disabilities has changed dramatically over the past two decades. The
cornerstone of this political change was the 1992 disability act. This act guarantees the legal
protection of students giving them equal access towards education opportunities and
outcomes (Kraayenoord 2007). This means that schools are mandated by law to
accommodate the individual needs of students .This law has been complemented with the
2008 Melbourne declaration which gave a better defined position on inclusive education as
model to achieve the legal obligations of teachers towards students with special needs
(BOYLE,C, SCRIVEN,B, DURNING ,DOWNES,S,2011). In order to achieve educations
authorities have adopted an inclusive learning approach where students are brought back
into mainstream schooling. This marks a significant shift from the previous education policy
where students with special needs were given places at specialised schools. Kannjay (2007)
defines in Inclusive as to to an accessible curriculum, a school community where students
are valued and respected and where their social, emotional, and intellectual needs are met.
.Therefore under this education policy all student needs should be catered towards all
students. However while the legal frame has been settled this has not translated into easily
creating inclusive environments. Firstly teachers have the attitude that they do not receive
adequate support to create inclusive environments (Tait 2013). While at the same time
teachers feel they lack the adequate training to cater for these individual learning need (Tait
2013). This creates a dilemma within the classroom of which support needs to be applied
with teachers existing ill-equipped to meet the new standards.

In order for teachers to develop skillset to better manage the realities of inclusive based
learning. Interacting with there is a variety of interpersonal skills that are helpful for creating
a inclusive classroom for students. Flexibility is another key social also this involves prepare
to re-evaluate your current program. This need also focuses on increasing an individuals
awareness of new technologies that can be implemented into your classroom. This skill is
vital for teachers to know how to implement technology within the classroom as, if it is
inappropriately and the teacher is unaware of full capacity the tool becomes a liability as it
merely serves as a distraction(Volberg,Anderson,Sorensen 2016) .while at the same time
communication creating a program is not enough. Fully implemented plans should be made
with other school staff and parents. This commutative skill can be divided into several small
skills in terms of negotiation, expressing and asserting your views on the current situation.

While at the same there is individual emotional skills that help cater for an inclusive
classroom. This skill Resilience to pressures of teaching students with disability. This can
lead towards emotional strain of the teacher. In teachers who have students with special
needs have higher levels of stress. Thus there is an increasing need for educators to be
emotionally prepared to teach to be resilient towards changing our own perceptions of
students with disabilities. There a variety of ways to support the resilience of the individual.
In order to build teachers need to seek support from other thereby reducing the overall
impact of dealing with students with intensive needs (Gul,S,Vuran,S 2015).

The Parents have a roll towards creating an inclusive environment for the student in the
classroom. as notes(Schulz,Able,Screkovic, White 2016,) parent information and advocacy
was viewed as essential for teachers and peers to understand and accept students with ASD.
Positive examples included parents sharing in-formation about their child with the class,
.This relation between the student teacher and parent is therefore, to essential counter
negative association with of ASD with the school community .However as this relationship is
not always met as perceptions within teachers and parents may influence this relationship,
Schulz et al (2016) argues that parent do not normally treat parental input into the affairs of
the classroom in an equal footing. Teachers showed a desire to involved but only to a
limited extent where parental input was considered one way .Furthermore in the US based
study they found that leading cause of this was that teachers believed parental involvement
could at times be overbearing or the opposite experience was felt when the parents lacked
the information about their childs condition to organise an effective position of advocacy
for their child. Therefore rather than encouraging these relationships to develop, higher and
lower discouraged the relationship. Schuls et al (2016) suggest that the teacher need to
learn to moderate some these interactions with parents .There is a need to provide solid
boundaries for parental involvement while at same time providing guidance towards these
parents about their childs situation. While this may not necessarily be appropriate In the
Australian school setting .The suggestion for providing guiding the parents and the child for
the school counselling service to get these parents informed .However if parents engage
through positive input there are benefits towards having interconnected extends beyond
the immediate class room .

Differentiated learning focusses upon changing the individual lessons to accommodate

towards the individual learning needs of the student .One method that teachers can use to
differentiate in the class is through Expository text based instruction. Carnahan Williamson
(2016) argues that the benefiting effect on all students through breaking down complex text
structures. While at some time using this model adaptions to the individual learning needs
of students, as it can be adjusted through providing signal words to help students
understand the text a deeper and more fundamental level. This provides students access
towards the source material for all students within the class. Another approach that can
differentiate the class room experience for students is through adopting technological
assistive learning .The significance of using the technological assistance tools was that It
increased engagement of students with ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder ) and ASD
(Voldborg, H., & Sorensen, E. K.2016).However there are criticism of the differentiated
learning model . Voldborg, H., & Sorensen, E. K. (2016) study highlights how students often
meet the same tasks as their peers, and even though they might get a helping hand or an
assisting tool, they still will be evaluated against the same curriculum. This impacts their
experience of self-efficacy or being good enough. Therefore creating an issue of equity
between which may limit the inclusive nature of the classroom.

Comparatively the universal design for learning (UDL) builds upon the differentiation model.
However the UDI approach in order to meet the wider needs of the class without being
bogged in equity debates .Kraaynord (2007 ,392) provides clear distinction between the two
models

The main difference between differentiated instruction and Universal Design for Learning
lies in the fact that differentiated instruction refers to the making of changes to lessons,
outcomes, activities, and assessment tasks, after the fact-that is, through the use of
accommodations and modifications retrospectively in the planning process or during the
delivery of instruction. In contrast, from the outset, Universal Design for Learning involves
the conscious and deliberates creation of lessons and outcomes that allow all students
access to and participation in the same curricula

Kats(2013) provides a clear working model for UDI to be implemented within the classroom.
This model has three differing stages .The first block focus on the social and emotional
learning. The second phase of block based learning involves instructional planning through
the physical environment for students. While the third stage of three block model focus on
the creating team based group learning. The benefit for students who participated in the
three block UDL model conducted by Katz (2013) had a greater level of engagement with
the classroom setting than other students. Therefore counteracting the possible limitations
differentiated learning using the UDl creates an environment that allows for .However as
Katz (2013) argues there is limited research to fully understand the impacts of adopting a
UDl model. Demonstrating that while schools need adopt UDI models there is room to
towards scepticism for within the school system towards thus approach. Furthermore if
anything this feature reinforces the need of teachers to be flexible with their approach, if
the UDI model is not working within their classroom .There made need to adapt their
program to better suited the needs of the classroom

When planning a lesson for students with ASD (Autism Spectrum disorder) there is several
considerations need to factor in order to create an inclusive environment. In order to fully
adapt the teaching method to the UDI model. The first step that needs when trying to adapt
an UDI model involves acquiring background knowledge. The reason for this is that when a
teacher is dealing with ASD since it is a spectrum there is no single way to manage the ASD
students, you may be dealing with a range of different problems within the classroom
(Boutot 2007). Thus it is important to try and gather evidence to what makes ASD students
have positive or a negative experience. Once the school or teacher has determines should
what are the individual behavioural issues with the student it is important. As a teacher
there are several aspects of the classroom environment that should be changed in order to
create an inclusive environment. One of the core stimulants that may affect ASD students
within the classroom is differencing sensory (Boutot2007), therefore there needs to be
awareness of lighting, sound and person spacing .Through making alterations towards these
environmental triggers may help support the feel less threatened classroom experience and
remove exiting. This allow ASD students participate within the classroom without drawing to
attention there condition and therefore stigmatising them (Bouttot 2007). The second
approach involves taking a Direct instruction method .this can be Created through making
lesson maps to guide students about where they are going helps remove the sense of
anxiety some ASD students may get by removing unforseen events(Cadette,J Wilson,C,
Brady,M ,Dukes,C ,Bennett,K(2016). Another aspect that often gets missed in creating inclusive
classroom environment is the social aspect of educational experiences. This would involve
creating structured group activities that better meet the needs of the ASD student. While at
the same in conjunction with if the students technological assisted task could such as could
be imbedded within the group task. This would empower the ASD to become leader
towards the group and make the experience more cohesive. In order to achieve these
teachers must give students in the group activities defined task and roles for them to
undertake.
In conclusion the legal system obliges school to create inclusive learning environments .This
has shifted attitudes within the education department towards a inclusive education model.
in order to meet these standards teachers need to reframe the classroom environments
teachers need include parents within the negotiation process in order to best accommodate
there childrens needs. While same time teachers need to develop and understanding of
both differential models for learning and UDL in order modify their classroom experiences
to better engage all students. Furthermore the lessons involving students with ASD should
be modified through changing the learning environment, creating social structures for
student interaction, while same modifying work to better structured in order to
accommodate their individual learning needs with students in the class room.
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