FLDOE Inclusion guidelines & Florida Inclusion Network (FIN) does what for our schools?

Good stuff on "How to Build an Inclusive Campus" at your Child's school.  

~ Parenting and Educating a child with Down syndrome...do you believe in INCLUSION? Having our students with Down syndrome included in regular gen ed classes, is so important for them to gain many skills; academic as well as social, behavioral, speech and language skills and basic life skills. I know my daughter, learns by watching others way more than she learns by reading or listening.

Inclusion is Natural and is the Right Thing to Do for many students!

In this blog post I have added a nice Power Point Presentation I found online. Inclusion will happen only if the school you enroll your child in also WANTS to have an INCLUSIVE Campus. If our Public School Districts in Florida and the schools "site based management" aka the Principals want Inclusion too then half the battle is won. But if the Principal believes in SEGREGATION and keeping all the Special Needs students in classrooms together and doesn't want to change the way they have always done it, then this wonderful FIN Power Point Presentation is totally useless and was created as a SHOW! I hope not....share this PPP with your school and see what response they give you when you request to have a FIN rep come in and do a training on Inclusion.

Hats off to all of us as we start the new 2013-2014 school year wanting and hoping for better INCLUSION of ESE Students into Gen Ed Academic Education and especially with our children with Down syndrome!! 

Look around and see....ASK: Where ARE THE STUDENTS with Down syndrome? Are they ALL attending the same school somewhere else far away from their neighborhood schools? Are there several students with Down syndrome all grouped together upstairs or are they all in a Separated ESE Classroom on the school campus away from the 'regular students?' Our students with Down syndrome generally are not being included into regular gen ed classrooms as an unspoken rule. *Discrimination!! Find out for yourself...ask around and ask your friends that have a child with Down syndrome what kind of classroom are they being educated in everyday. Some parents want this, and that's ok for them and their child. Placement is not suppose to be cookie-cutter by whole groups of students with certain traits. Some of us parents don't want that! 

We should be allowed to have our child INCLUDED in regular gen ed classes if that is what we believe to be best for our children's academic education. 

Florida Inclusion Network aka FIN ~ Exactly what does this organization actually do for school districts in the way of helping build more inclusive schools? Just asking... 

HOW MUCH $MONEY DOES FIN GET each year?For doing what?? Is there information available showing the progress pertaining to our schools being more Inclusive because of what FIN provides? 

I have asked for years, even added FIN support to my PARENT INPUT to my daughter's IEP, especially pertaining to PEER SUPPORT. Still NOTHING is provided to the school my Child ever attended. 

I don't see how any of our Public Schools can be what we need them to be for our students that need INCLUSION if the school districts and schools are not working with the very organization that is suppose to be providing the training to school staff and teachers on Inclusion. How can things change when things stay the same and nothing different is tried?

Please take the time to open the link provided below. SHARE IT with your favorite school and the Principals. Ask to have FIN come out to your school and do a staff training on Inclusion. Just see what they 'say & do'......n o t h i n g!!!

http://www.broward.k12.fl.us/studentsupport/ese/videos/FIN%20Building%20Inclusive%20Schools%20E-learning%20Module%202011/player.html

Here's another amazing PDF I came across online in the Florida Department of Education website! This can't be anymore PERFECT!
WHAT THE HECK HAS EVERYONE BEEN WAITING FOR?? 

This PDF is a MUST READ FOR EVERYONE IN THE EDUCATION BUSINESS!!!! 
*I am not sorry for shouting!!
http://www.fldoe.org/ese/pdf/Newrole.pdf

Here is the link that Broward Public Schools website has for what FIN does in Broward Schools ~ 
http://www.broward.k12.fl.us/studentsupport/ese/html/fin.htm

Florida Inclusion Network www.FloridaInclusionNetwork.com 

Inclusion and the Other Kids pdf document worth reading, (2005 doc.)
http://www.broward.k12.fl.us/studentsupport/ese/PDF/InclusionandtheOtherKids.pdf