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.
