INCLUSION; How it Happens

Since starting work at Community Living Parry Sound in October of 2013, I have learned a lot and grown as a person. This article, adapted from “Including Kids: How it happens” from the Edward Smith School in N.Y. offers a great ‘cheat sheet’ for thinking about how to make inclusion happen.  Tricia Bain

INCLUSION means part of and belonging in the real world.

INCLUSION means a climate of acceptance is created (no one is rejected or locked out).

INCLUSION focuses on everyone’s abilities and possibilities (not on disabilities and limitations).

INCLUSION acknowledges that everyone has skills, talents, and gifts to offer.

INCLUSION is a team approach.

INCLUSION is characterized by gentleness, individualization, openness, and humor (not rigid, regimented, or authoritarian).

INCLUSION means talking openly about differences in a productive, positive way (not ignoring differences or talking about them in stereotypical ways).

INCLUSION is something that changes all the time – it is a series of small adjustments, not a replicated model.

INCLUSION is characterized by an attitude of problem solving to discover what is possible – (not placing blame, getting stuck or giving up).

INCLUSION is solution oriented.

INCLUSION creates opportunities for people to learn together.