Expanding choice for children with learning disabilities

In a Wall Street Journal article entitled “Eli's Choice” written by Pulitzer Prize winner Amy Marcus, a young man with Down syndrome named Eli chooses to drop out of his carefully crafted inclusion placement and opt for a self-contained classroom.

"The kids liked him, they knew him, they spoke to him," said his mother. "They just didn't think of him as a peer." Eli, she says, was tired of "being the only kid who was different."

According to Dr. Gary Siperstein, the central problem for students like Eli is that "in inclusive classrooms they are there physically but not socially." The lack of social integration in high school suggests not only that Eli’s decision is correct but, indeed, inevitable. Siperstein is a professor at the University of Massachusetts in Boston, and cited as the authority in the Wall Street Journal article.

Studies have shown that people with Down syndrome who learn in regular classrooms do much better academically. They also have significantly higher rates of employment after they graduate and earn more money than peers who studied mainly in self-contained classes.

But student attitudes continue to remain the most formidable barrier to inclusion, according to studies by Siperstein’s Center for Social Development and Education. One polled 5,600 seventh- and eighth-grade students from 70 schools across the country on their willingness to interact with students with intellectual disabilities at school and outside the school environment. The study found that "67 percent of young people surveyed would not spend time with a student with an intellectual disability if given a choice, and almost 50 percent would not sit next to one on a school bus."

Siperstein’s groundbreaking research has caused many to step back and ask the question about why social integration of students with disabilities in high school has remained "stagnant." Siperstein believes that most schools don't place enough emphasis on teaching social skills, and don't currently have the necessary structures even if they wanted to.

In the end, though conventional wisdom supports fostering an inclusive environment, not all children will be socially accepted in all classrooms. Parents need to weight the benefits of the classroom setting versus their own definition of happiness and success for their child, according to Siperstein.

The incidence of Down syndrome is estimated at 1 per 733 live births in the United States, 5429 new cases per year. The inaugural World Down Syndrome Day was launched on 2006 in Singapore. There was worldwide shock on February 1, 2008 when Iraqi terrorists maliciously strapped bombs to 2 women with Down syndrome and sent them into 2 different pet markets to explode bombs that killed more than 90 people.

For thirty years, Siperstein has been a leader in the study of attitudes toward persons with learning and behavioral problems, and has helped change the way people think. Members of the center have conducted studies on the attitudes of youth and adults across the U.S. and internationally. Siperstein has been actively involved in the development of disability policy at both the state and national levels. The national Down syndrome congress convention will be help on July 11-13 in Boston.

Earlier this year, in February 2008, Siperstein was named the recipient of the 2007 President’s Public Service Award. UMass Board of Trustees chairman Robert Manning said of the winners, “These individuals and their campus colleagues are the key to what makes the University of Massachusetts such an exciting and rewarding place to study or work. Prospective students know that they will have opportunities to participate in cutting-edge research early on in their academic careers with professors who are among the best in their chosen fields.”

Dr. Siperstein received the prestigious MERIT Award from the National Institute of Health for his research on the social aspects of mental retardation. The highly selective award recognizes researchers who have demonstrated superior competence and outstanding productivity in research endeavors. Less than 5 percent of institute-funded investigators are selected to receive MERIT Awards.

Why motivates Siperstein to focus on social inclusion? He finished a distinguished guest lecture at Columbia University with the answer, showing a picture that one of his students had drawn of several children holding hands with the caption "It is fun to have friends.”

Siperstein's research is part of UMass Boston's Developmental Sciences research cluster. Developmental sciences entail the investigation of progressive changes that occur over the life span of individuals.