Welcome to this site which contains
information and suggestions related to including children with severe multiple
disabilities in regular class rooms. I am developing this site from the perspective of
being the parent of a child with multiple disabilities.
My daughter who is now 11, has attended school for 6 years. She has a
condition called Hydranencephaly, which means she has very little brain tissue. In addition to being severely and mentally "challenged" she is also
medically fragile with many health concerns However she is very alert and aware and loves
being with other children. In our area, inclusion is the only option. (I know there's a
big controversy over this issue-I won't get into it here, I will just talk about our
experience). She has been at 2 different schools and we have seen both the good and bad
sides of inclusion. Please see our inclusion story.
Most of the suggestions and strategies, on the pages in this site though, are from an Integration Support Program which
operates in the Province that I live in (BC, Canada). This program has played a major part
in assisting myself and my daughter's school based team in including her in a meaningful
way. When this web site was first developed PISP did not have their own site so this was
the only place that their information appeared. However they now have a beautiful
site. Because of this I will only be posting some of the specific strategies that
have been developed for my daughter. I feel that the points mentioned in each of the
strategies can be an extra help in "where to go" when trying to plan a school
program for a child with high needs. For more of the theory behind the strategies
and suggestions please visit the PISP site.
The information and suggestions on these pages have been worked out for my daughter but
should only be taken as suggestions not as a definite program. Each child, teacher, class
room, etc has different needs and structures. Something that works with my daughter may be
totally inappropriate for your child.
The Provincial Integration Support Program operates a mailing list for all interested in the education of children with severe multiple challenges.
Although most of the subscribers are teachers and professionals in British Columbia all
people are welcome to join.
