New Brunswick's Extreme All In One Classroom Inclusion Policy Is "By Its Very Nature Discriminatory"

When he was in Grade 2 my now 22 year old son Conor would bite his hand every day while in the "Inclusive Classroom"  a badly flawed, non evidence based, education  model pushed relentlessly by Gordon Porter and his true believers in the NBACL and in government.  When he was removed from the Porter NBACL inclusive classroom and placed with his autism trained Teacher Aide in an adjacent classroom not in use  the biting stopped. It was literally like night and day. The picture above was actually taken later on when he was learning in a quieter location but a telephone rang without stop for a long period when the occupant was absent for the day.

Conor continued, until he aged out of the school system at 21, to receive his instruction in a separate learning environment while also interacting with other students in activities in the gym, swimming pool, outdoor activities like running and "adventures" like apple picking.  He also had great fun with students who interacted with him like this picture of a young lady and Conor having chalk fun and all smiles outside Leo Hayes High School. 

This accommodation of Conor's needs did not result from an inclusive education model. It resulted from filing of Education Act Appeal and a Human Rights Complaint.  With accommodation for his autism  learning challenges outside the "inclusive classroom" Conor loved school. He has missed it greatly since aging out. 

Unfortunately for some students with severe autism and other learning challenges they are not always accommodated even if an alternative learning placement would help them receive the education they are entitled to as determined by the Supreme Court of Canada in the Moore case.   The problem with Porter and his true believers is they refuse to see evidence that contradicts their philosophical belief that all students benefit from being placed in a regular classroom.  All students do not benefit, my autistic son with intellectual challenges son did not benefit, from being placed in a regular classroom where he was overwhelmed.  Unlike Gordon Porter and his NBACL and government followers I could not ignore the evidence when my son came home each day with self inflicted bite marks on his hands.

In the picture above Gordon Porter was in Newfoundland promoting his extreme, inhumane and discriminatory all in one classroom inclusion beliefs:

CORNER BROOK — Gordon Porter believes inclusion is the most natural thing in the world. The educator and director of Inclusive Education Initiatives presented a session on inclusive education at the Greenwood Inn and Suites on Thursday. Porter, who is also the editor of the Inclusive Education Canada website inclusiveeducation.ca, spoke to parents, educators and agency professionals who deal with children with special needs at the pre-conference for the Newfoundland and Labrador Association for Community Living Conference taking place in the city today and Saturday. The session was sponsored by the Community Inclusion Initiative. 

 Porter’s session revolved around the theme of parents and teachers working together to make inclusion work.“It means kids go to their neighbourhood schools with kids their own age in regular classes,” said Porter.“If you’re seven years, old you go to the school just down the street. You go in a class with other seven-year-olds, and you’re supported if you have extra needs. “It’s so simple, it’s that simple,” said Porter."   
                                                                                 

- Inclusion in the classroom ‘simple,’ says educator, Western Star, Diane Crocker, April 12,  2012

Yude Henteleff QC provided a full and well informed critique of the "full inclusion model" in 2004:

Yude Henteleff QC is a distinguished lawyer and human rights expert whose detailed resume would represent a life time of accomplishment for several individuals. He is a founding member of a prominent law firm, has been legal counsel for Autism and Learning Disability Associations, been active as a mediator in human rights disputes, served on the Canadian Human Rights Commission and named to the Order of Canada. In November, 2004 he presented a paper at the Canadian Association for Community Living National Summit on Inclusive Education, Ottawa in which he asked “why full inclusion is being advanced in certain areas as the only way to effectively meet the diverse needs of all children with special needs.” 

Mr. Henteleff provided a number of reasons for the emphasis on full classroom inclusion – including government cost consciousness. Full classroom inclusion is cheaper than providing a continuum of choices to accommodate all the needs of individual students with various disabilities. 

Mr. Henteleff also reviewed Supreme Court of Canada decisions in Law, Granovsky, Mercier  and Eaton and concluded that “Imposing a standard, namely that the inclusive classroom meets all needs, is a perception not based on reality and is stereotypical. In other words, the standard takes the position that one environment meets the needs of all special needs children. By its very nature, such a standard is discriminatory,”

– Henteleff, Y. (2004). The fully inclusive classroom is only one of the right ways to meet the best interests of the special needs child. Paper presented at the CACL National Summit on

Inclusive Education, Ottawa, Ontario.