Least Restrictive Environment

Least restrictive environment is one of those concepts under IDEA that can be incredibly confusing for a family.  The concept of least restrictive environment, or LRE, is one that basically says a child should be educated, as much as possible, with their peers who are not disabled.  Sounds simple, right?  Wrong. 

There are many factors that come into play in deciding LRE.  In a perfect world, and in a perfect situation, you would hope that every child could be educated in their home school, with their non-disabled peers, with supports flowing into the classroom that allows the child to access the curriculum to his or her maximum potential.  Unfortunately, the perfect world simply does not exist.  Now, there are situations in which a child with a disability can be educated in the home school, in the regular education classroom, with whatever necessary supports flowing into the class.  More often, there are other factors that impact the placement decision. 

In some situations, the child may simply not be able to function in the swirling world that can often be a regular education classroom.  Or, a child may be better served by being in a different school that has a center based program where the child can receive more intensive services.  There are, for instance, discussions that the center based, self-contained classroom can be a valid, LRE option for a student who is deaf or hard of hearing and uses sign language.  If that classroom presents full access to native language in a way that is not matched by the general regular education class, then this may actually be the LRE for that child.    Many districts use a hybrid approach, where a child is mainstreamed into a regular education classroom, but is then pulled out for specific, intensive, therapy or educational needs where needed services are provided.  Of course, the reverse situation may also be used – a child in a self-contained class leaves that class during specific times of the day to go to specific subject matter classes or therapies as needed. 

In other words, there are many options that can fit the description of least restrictive environments, based on the needs of the child and the resources available to a district.  One thing that needs to be clear is that LRE does not necessarily mean mainstreaming.  In all cases, however, LRE is determined by the IEP team at the IEP meeting.  Determination of LRE should be made on a child by child, and situation by situation environment.

One area that I will voice an opinion on is that we are hearing about more and more requests for one-on-one aids for a child.  Honestly, I am not in favor of them, and actually find this situation to be highly restrictive.  I have yet to see a one-on-one aid situation end positively for the child.  Too often the aid becomes the go-between for the child and his/her peers, or assumes the role of a school-based grandparent or parent, crossing that line of being a support for the child and becoming overly supportive of the child.  As the child becomes older, the aid often winds up being a human firewall, acting to limit normal social interactions because the child or the peers are not willing to have normal social discussions with an adult involved.

The bottom line is that I am not recommending any particular approach for a child’s least restrictive environment.  That is the decision of the IEP team.  I am simply trying to make it clear that each situation is different, and no one-size-fits-all approach can be taken. Everyone involved needs to be flexible and open to all considerations in making the determination of what is right for the child.