Can children with severe learning difficulties be educated in ordinary schools?

Abstract

Abstract The education of all children in ordinary schools is now the central question of special education and of education itself. The integration debate has essentially developed along moral and ideological lines, with access to mainstream schools seen as a basic right of all children. Whatever the moral or political commitment to integration, the unique needs of the individual child should not be sacrificed on the altar of ideology, however powerful. For this reason alone, it is important to confront and seek to overcome the serious obstacles which stand in the way of educational integration. This paper discusses issues relating to the education of a group of children whose needs are thought to be the most difficult to meet within ordinary schools. Following a summary of the research literature and an account of individual integration schemes, an organisational model is presented which could meet the needs of all children with severe learning difficulties within an ordinary school context.