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Saylor Knisely

Professor Bowman

English 15 Sec 128

02 February 2024

The Importance of Inclusion

For many generations, people with disabilities were excluded from mainstream society

and public education. This included individuals with cognitive disabilities, who as recently as the

1970s and 1980s, might have been denied access to public schools or even placed in an

institution (Civil). In spite of newer laws like Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), people with Intellectual disabilities (ID), are

still too often excluded from their peer groups, especially when it comes to education,

socialization, and employment (U.S.). Many people believe that individuals with ID are unable

to work, learn, and contribute to their communities. In the 1970s, doctors considered these

people “uneducable,” unable or unwilling to see their potential. Peers should include people with

ID in higher education and in the workforce because doing so improves everyone’s outcomes.

Our generation – Generation Z – must model inclusion and make sure our peers with ID have the

same opportunities as the rest of us. We can make this happen by better funding special

education services and ensuring that people with ID are fully included.

For this piece, I interviewed my sister, Jessica Knisely, who has followed me into work

with Best Buddies. We both saw exclusion firsthand through our experiences with Best Buddies,

an organization that pairs individuals with ID with their non-disabled peers. Growing close to
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these students made me see the importance of inclusion and that my peers with ID are the same

as I am. Jessica observed, “I would start going in there and just saying hi to them and growing

my relationships with them. [...] Now I have very close relationships with everybody in the

program and it's just changed my life so much for the better. [Kids] need to be included.”

Until the 1970s in Pennsylvania, public schools could deny education to children who

had ID’s (Ross). It was not until the PARC Consent Decree in 1972, when the court ruled the

state could not deny the right to equal access to education based on disability (Ross). Although

inclusion laws have been passed on the Federal and state levels, people with ID are still not fully

included in society and education (U.S.). Fortunately, inclusion was the norm in my high school.

However, it is more aspirational in many schools in the US. This is due in part to inadequate

Federal funding for education and an ingoing ignorance about the benefits of inclusion for people

with ID.

Unlike my Gen Z peers, people aged 40 to 70 did not have the same experiences with

peers with disabilities (U.S.). My parents and grandparents, for example, did not have exposure

to peers with ID that my sister and I had. This has led to gaps in inclusion between my

generation and ones before. Since the Boomers and GenX did not experience inclusion, they may

not fully understand why it matters so much. For many of us, we learn from our parents and we

follow their examples. Older generations did not have the understanding of ID and inclusion to

share with my generation. When we fail to prepare individuals with ID for social and community

experiences, we fail them. We send them into the world without the skills they need for success.

This perpetuates the misconceptions we are trying to change.

As a PSU student who has friends both with and without ID, I can see how exclusion

from school, work and social life can negatively impact the mental and physical health of people
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with ID. My sister and I have both seen kids with disabilities being teased. I think this happened

because students don’t understand people with ID and sometimes people with ID were not taught

social cues, making it harder for them to fit in with peers. Teasing and bullying harm kids’

mental health, and kids with ID are hit even harder. Depression, anxiety, and loneliness result

from exclusion. Exclusion can even harm one's physical health (Social). Nobody, whether with

or without ID should experience the pain caused from exclusion.

Although I have seen certain peers be exclusive towards those with ID, I have seen much

more inclusion during my time with Best Buddies and peer mentoring. Inclusion is when people

with ID are fully included in their communities, ensuring that everyone is valued and respected.

My friends and I always made this our top priority. Individuals with ID learn many important

social skills from interacting with the rest of their peers, and we also learn from them. “Kids with

[ID] teach us about perseverance because [...] they conquer the day, every single time” (Knisely).

For instance, the Best Buddies homecoming dance. This dance is an event where everyone from

our school and area is invited. All those with ID have a night just like any other kid. They’re able

to dress up, dance, eat and hangout with all of their friends. This is extremely special because it

makes them feel a part of something “and knowing that you're helping even 15 lives, it's really

an impactful thing to be able to do” (Knisely). By including those with ID we can learn so much

and teach others the positives of involvement.

Including individuals with ID in education and employment alongside their nondisabled

peers benefits everyone. The laws that include individuals with disabilities have made things

better, but we have so much more to do. There are still many people with ID who are not

included in school or employment and this must change. We need more funding to support

programs and more awareness to facilitate inclusion. I had the privilege to make great friends
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through inclusion programs, and I will forever cherish those friendships and the lessons I

learned. Our generation must push for greater inclusion to make life better for everyone.

Works Cited

Best Buddies International. “Home - Best Buddies International.” Best Buddies International,

2014, www.bestbuddies.org/.

“Civil Rights for People with Disabilities | the Arc.” The Arc, 2019,

thearc.org/policy-advocacy/civil-rights/.

Knisely, Jessica (interviewee). Personal interview. 19 January 2024

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Norlian, Allison. “The First Degree: Woman Is First Person with down Syndrome to Graduate

from Rowan University.” Forbes, www.forbes.com/sites/allisonnorlian/2020/05/21/the-

first-degree-woman-is-first-person-with-down-syndrome-to-graduate-from-rowan-

university/?sh=68d71b9b2e6d. Accessed 27 Jan. 2024.

Ross, Nathaniel . “Pennsylvania Association for Retarded Citizens (PARC) v. Commonwealth of

Pennsylvania (1972) | the Embryo Project Encyclopedia.” Embryo.asu.edu, 26 May 2022,

embryo.asu.edu/pages/pennsylvania-association-retarded-citizens-parc-v-commonwealth-

pennsylvania-1972.

“Social Exclusion Impact on Mental Health | BetterHelp.” Www.betterhelp.com, 30 Nov. 2023,

www.betterhelp.com/advice/inclusive-mental-health/social-exclusion-impact-on-mental-

health/#:~:text=In%20general%2C%20no%20one%20enjoys.

Spruit, Stephanie, and Erik W Carter. “Friendships Through Inclusive Postsecondary Education
Programs: Perspectives of Current and Former Students With Intellectual and
Developmental Disabilities.” Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, vol. 59, no. 6,
Dec. 2021, pp. 487–501. Social Science Premium Collection,
https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1352/1934-9556-59.6.487.

Thomas, Rhian, and John Rose. “School Inclusion and Attitudes toward People with an

Intellectual Disability.” Journal of Policy and Practice in Intellectual Disabilities, vol.

17, no. 2, 23 July 2019, https://doi.org/10.1111/jppi.12322.

U.S. Department of Education. “Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.” IDEA, 2023,

sites.ed.gov/idea/about-idea/ .
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