Full-inclusion as a Lived Experience: The School Career of Martin Schaeffer

Abstract

This inquiry examines the school career of a student with severe and multiple disabilities, who was fully included with chronological peers in general education classes from first through twelve grades. The student is now a successful student at a university. This study occurs within the historical context of federal, state, and local school district policy in an affluent suburban community in the United States. The study therefore examines macro level policy (the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act), inclusion ideology, and the micro level politics of trust building, advocacy, leadership, and collaboration. The data indicate that full inclusion was successful because parents were completely committed to their child’s full integration into family and community life, parents and school personnel formed a solid working alliance, the student exhibited a strong work ethic and determination, advocacy and collaboration occurred on multiple levels, and continuous learning was embraced across time and contexts