Pros and Cons of Mainstream Classrooms

for Kids with Autism

Updated Jun 13, 2020
By
Eileen Bailey

Mainstreaming, or inclusion, is educating children with special needs, including those with
autism, in regular education classes for part or all of the school day. According to federal
guidelines, children with special needs should be placed in the "least restrictive environment,"
meaning that, if possible, they should be given the benefits from being with other children
without disabilities and not be placed in a classroom with only other children with disabilities.
Mainstreaming offers children with disabilities a lot of benefits, but there are some drawbacks as
well.

Students with mild disabilities have been included in regular classrooms for many years,
however those with more severe disabilities usually went to a separate classroom. They might
have been included in classes such as art or music but for the majority of the day, they were
taught in the special education class. In the 1970s, there was a more concentrated effort to
mainstream these children. Inclusion is meant to show that every student is a valuable member
of the school community.

Benefits

Inclusion essentially combines special education classes with regular classrooms. Special
education classes, in the past, included students with many types of disabilities, including
cognitive impairment, physical disabilities and autism. Each student who is currently eligible for
special education is assessed to determine what amount of the day, anywhere from one subject
to the entire day, can be spent in regular education classes, even if that requires support services.

One of the benefits of mainstreaming is helps in preparing students for life outside of school,
including college and work. In these areas, children and adults must interact with many different
people, both with and without disabilities. Having children with autism spend time in regular
classrooms provides the opportunity to interact with different children, not just those with
disabilities. Some studies have shown that early inclusion can help children with autism improve
both IQ scores and social skills.

Many proponents of inclusion also point out that for children with autism, interacting with
neurotypical peers is essential to their growth. It allows for friendships with children without
disabilities and provides a model for appropriate social interaction, an area where children with
autism have difficulty.

Besides helping those with autism and other disabilities, mainstreaming helps children in regular
classroom. It fosters an environment of tolerance and friendships. It helps students learn to
accept, relate and become friends with those that might be "different." It helps teachers grow
personally and professionally by giving them an appreciation of differences in children and
learning new teaching techniques.

Many children with autism have been successful in mainstream classrooms. Some require
additional supports, such as an aide that stays with the student, helps him transition from one
task to the next and is available to help when the child becomes frustrated. If the student is
disrupting the class, the aide can take the child to the resource room. A thorough assessment will
help parents and school officials determine where the child will be best served and what
supportive services are needed to help him succeed in a regular classroom.

Disadvantages

While inclusion offers many benefits, there are also some problems. In special education
classrooms, teachers have training on working with a number of different disabilities. They can
tailor their teaching to the specific needs of each child. But in a regular classroom, the number of
students is much higher and teachers not only don't have specialized training in autism or other
disabilities, they don't always have the time to provide the attention each child needs.

Because autism is a spectrum disorder, children can range from high functioning to severely
disabled. Some children don't speak and have a difficult time communicating even simple
requests. To effectively teach some students with autism, teachers need to understand autism
spectrum disorders and possibly change their teaching methods to include different learning
styles, sensory sensitivities and communication difficulties. Many special education teachers
have received specialized training to effectively work with students with disabilities. Regular
education teachers do not have the benefit of this training.

Children with autism may also need intensive and focused instruction, which isn't available in
regular education classes. They may not learn based on traditional teaching methods. They often
received social skills training and teachers might have worked on these skills throughout the
school day. In a regular classroom environment, this isn't available as the teacher has a set
curriculum and must teach the entire class. While many teachers will provide individual
instruction on a nominal basis, there isn't time for the intensive teaching that some students with
autism may need.

Some people believe that mainstreaming will cause children with disabilities to be rejected by
their classmates. Because of their difficulty with social skills, there is concern that some will be
made fun of or bullied. They feel that this could cause unneeded emotional pain.

It is important that inclusion be considered based on the child, not the diagnosis. While many
children with autism are very successful in mainstream classrooms, others need more
specialized and individualized lessons. For these children, a smaller classroom, with both
teachers and aides, who can provide intensive teaching and individual attention might be best.
Whether included in a regular classroom or a smaller, specialized classroom, parents and
teachers need to work closely together to make sure that each child's educational needs are met.
1. What does inclusion mean?
2. What does regular classroom mean?
3. What are the benefits of putting autistic children in regular classroom? Mention at least
2.
4. What are the disadvantages of putting autistic children in regular classroom? Mention at
least 2.

5. Which one do you think is better: putting autistic children in regular or separate
classroom? Why?