Home Page

abcbar.jpg (8260 bytes)

 

 

Inclusion for children with multiple disabilities

 

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.

To subscribe: majordomo@etc.bc.ca
Include in the body of the message: subscribe low incidence
To post a message to the list: lowincidence@etc.bc.ca


 

 

                   abcmail.JPG (10411 bytes)

Other Rays of Sunshine Websites