Back to School Means Back to Belonging: Making Inclusion Part of the School Year

The backpacks are packed, classrooms are full again, and a new school year is underway. For students, the beginning of school brings new teachers, new routines, new friendships, and new opportunities.

It is also an important time to talk about inclusion.

For students with intellectual and developmental disabilities, inclusion is about much more than simply being present in a school building or classroom. It means having opportunities to participate, contribute, build friendships, learn alongside peers, explore future careers, and truly feel like a valued member of the school community.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention describes disability inclusion as ensuring that people with disabilities are included in everyday activities and have opportunities to participate in roles similar to those of people without disabilities. True inclusion also means identifying and removing physical, communication, and attitudinal barriers that can prevent full participation. (cdc.gov)

Inclusion Starts with Belonging

A student can be in the same classroom as everyone else and still feel excluded.

Belonging happens when students are invited to sit together at lunch, included in group projects, welcomed onto teams and clubs, encouraged to participate in school events, and recognized for what they bring to the classroom.

Sometimes the most meaningful acts of inclusion are also the simplest: saying hello, saving someone a seat, asking someone to join a game, being patient when someone communicates differently, or taking the time to get to know a classmate instead of focusing on their disability.

Those small moments can shape how a student experiences an entire school year.

Inclusion Is an Important Part of Education

Inclusive education is also reflected in federal special education law. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, or IDEA, establishes a strong preference for educating students with disabilities alongside their peers without disabilities to the maximum extent appropriate, with the supports and services they need to succeed. (sites.ed.gov)

Schools have made significant progress. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, 67% of students served under IDEA spent at least 80% of their school day in general education classes in fall 2022, up from 61% a decade earlier. (nces.ed.gov)

But the experience is not the same for every student. In those same federal statistics, only 21% of students with intellectual disabilities spent at least 80% of their day in general education classes. (nces.ed.gov)

Those numbers are an important reminder that there is still work to do.

Inclusion Should Extend Beyond the Classroom

For students with disabilities, inclusion also means having opportunities to imagine and prepare for life after high school.

That is where programs such as Pre-Employment Transition Services, or Pre-ETS, can make an important difference.

Pre-ETS helps students with disabilities begin exploring the world of work while they are still in school. Under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, these services can include job exploration counseling, work-based learning experiences, counseling about postsecondary education and training opportunities, workplace readiness training, and instruction in self-advocacy. (rsa.ed.gov)

At Sycamore Services, our Pre-ETS program works with students and schools to help young people discover their strengths, learn about careers, develop workplace skills, and gain experiences that can help prepare them for employment and greater independence.

These experiences are about more than finding a future job. They help students build confidence, practice communication, understand workplace expectations, learn how to advocate for themselves, and begin seeing themselves as an important part of the workforce and their community.

Inclusion should not end when a student leaves the classroom. It should follow them into college, training programs, workplaces, and adult life.

Everyone at School Can Help

Creating an inclusive school community isn't solely the responsibility of special education teachers. Everyone has a role.

Teachers can look for ways to make classroom activities accessible while maintaining high expectations for every student.

Students can make an enormous difference by including classmates in conversations, activities, lunch tables, clubs, sports, and friendships.

Parents can talk with their children about differences, kindness, disability, and the importance of making sure everyone belongs.

School leaders can create cultures in which accessibility, career exploration, and inclusion are considered from the beginning rather than added as an afterthought.

And community organizations and employers can open doors by providing students with opportunities to explore careers, practice workplace skills, and gain meaningful real-world experiences.

The U.S. Department of Education has emphasized that students with disabilities should have access to safe, supportive learning environments that address their academic, social, emotional, and behavioral needs. (sites.ed.gov)

Look Beyond the Disability

Perhaps one of the best things we can teach young people this school year is simple: see the person first.

The student receiving special education services is also an artist, athlete, gamer, musician, friend, comedian, future employee, classmate, neighbor, or someone still discovering what they love.

Ask questions. Find common interests. Invite participation. Give people opportunities to succeed. And don't assume that needing support means someone has less to contribute.

At Sycamore Services, we believe people with disabilities deserve opportunities to live, learn, work, and thrive as valued members of their communities. Through programs like Pre-ETS, we have the opportunity to begin building that future while students are still in school.

As another school year begins, let's make this one about more than getting back to class.

Let's make it a year where every student has a place, every student has a voice, and every student has an opportunity to discover what's possible.