Obstacles to Inclusion: One Early Childhood Inclusive Teacher’s Perspective

In spite of the attention given to the topic of including children and youth diagnosed with emotional and behavioral disorders in general education classrooms; there has been an absence of empirically sound research to guide policy and practice. With the passage of The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) there has been an increase of students with cognitive, social and emotional disorders included in general education classrooms. Significant debate continues to surround the issue of students with emotional and behavior disorders and other disabilities for placement in general education settings. This chapter will explore the experience of one such environment in which several students with emotional disturbances are included in a first grade classroom. The frustrated teacher expressed a perceived lack of knowledge in handling behaviors and persistent feelings of helplessness. She struggled with how to handle the behaviors of the students with emotional disturbances and questioned if their inclusion in the general education classroom was best for all. Although the outbursts and negative behaviors did not cease; it was observed with consistent approaches to addressing behavior, the teacher was successful at cultivating empathy among students and examples of positive behaviors and care were shown in student interactions