She has never been segregated. She is part of her community, and people know and accept her. She has the social skills and real-life knowledge to get and keep a decently paying job. It hasn't in the past, and, in fact, adults with disabilities who have been through special classes are isolated, lonely and poor as they are unable to get decently paying jobs to support themselves, but struggle in sheltered workshops and day programs. Nothing in segregated classes cannot, in some form, be taught in regular classes, if the supports are there.
Expectations are lower. . . .
Parents have included their children in their own families and make every effort to include them in their communities. If he only spends part of his day with the regular class, he does not belong, and the other students don't consider him part of their classroom or community. . . . When our daughter started school, the educators wanted to place her in a segregated class. It took a tremendous amount of advocacy on our part to ensure she wasn't segregated. It still does as we have moved to four different provinces in the course of 12 years and each place needed convincing because they placed children according to IQ, or labels or category. . . .