I am reflecting on how controversial inclusion has become and trying to make sense of it. I have to acknowledge that I am a fan. But then as an occupational therapist and a mom, I have spent several decades doing my best to support inclusion. In school based practice, the imperative is to support student success in the least restrictive environment (LRE) which means as much as possible in general education with their peers.

 Merriam-Webster Dictionary has these two definitions of inclusion:

: the act or practice of including students with disabilities with the general student population

: the act or practice of including and accommodating people who have  historically been excluded (because of race, gender, sexuality, or ability)

And definitions of exclude:

: to prevent or restrict the entrance of

: to bar from participation, consideration, or inclusion

: to expel or bar especially from a place or position previously occupied

Why do people include or exclude?

• Who benefits & who loses?

1. There seems to be a belief that people who are included are taking space from others who are somehow then excluded? Let’s give this some thought with the first group referenced in the definition, students with disabilities.

2. First, what resources do they consume? Time and attention from teachers and peers perhaps? To include someone who needs accommodations may also require some equipment or software.

3. Second, what are potential benefits of inclusion? If peers are helping a classmate, they may

   1. develop a better understanding of an idea because they had to explore the topic well enough to teach it.

   2. have access to equipment or software obtained for the person with a disability but that they could also benefit from and might not otherwise be exposed to.

   3. perhaps most importantly, get the opportunity to develop critical social and emotional skills as they think about how to accommodate another human’s needs. That capacity to think about others is important to so many roles as they grow up.

   4. at a larger scale, if we all had grown up including people with disabilities, we might do a better job of including them as adults which would enable them to better support themselves and require fewer public resources.

   5. be better at seeing strengths and capitalizing on those, which could make for better managers across all kinds of work settings.

• Is it about rank instead of resources? Is the real target the exclusion of people who we have historically succeeded in restricting from some privilege that we see as scarce and which we feel entitled to? I have heard someone say that we shouldn’t make privileged children feel bad because their dad or grandpa and great grandfathers have mistreated people. I did feel embarrassed when I found out that my father’s club excluded people of color. The guilt I felt did not hurt or disadvantage me.

• As someone who grew up as an army officer’s daughter with lots of privilege, I find it helps to see my privilege as a responsibility. Becoming aware of my privilege made me feel responsible for examining the bias beyond ranks and positionality that were passed on to me, those assumptions of who deserved to get ahead and who deserved to fail. They are ugly and I would rather pretend they don’t exist, but they do, and taking responsibility helps me grow past them.

• Is it about feeling left out and believing that pushing people down makes it possible to obtain more of something?

• I got to experience being on the outside as Aaron’s mom. The assumption that we were inherently less worthy than other people and therefore deserved adversity hurt. But, then I had army officer’s daughter DNA so I held that assumption that I have the right to stand my ground – that is the essence of my privilege, and it ultimately enabled my survival.

• Putting someone else down just feeds the ego for a minute and then the fear of being left out comes right back because hurting them doesn’t really change any oppressive circumstances for the better. I think this is driving a lot of anger right now, but it doesn’t resolve anything. Anger just feels like power for a minute, but it is not. If someone is holding you down, it is usually not the people underneath you anyway.

• Equity is just about making sure that people who are much less presumptuous than I have a seat on the bus. And I hope, come to recognize it is as much their bus as anyone else’s.

• Diversity is America. It should be something we celebrate – it sure makes us interesting! I grew up in the army with lots of different people here and overseas. Getting to experience different cultures made me better, not worse.

• Sex and gender. I just don’t see it as my place to tell other people who they are. That is their journey. America is about freedom to be who you are rather than who someone else thinks you ought to be.

• I see the American ideal as centered on inclusion.

  Some of us were born pushy. I am the oldest daughter of a career army officer who served two tours flying helicopters in Vietnam and loved his country enough to move his family next to the East German border (the frontlines of the cold war) for much of my childhood. He lived Kennedy’s Ask not what your country can do for you, but rather what you can do for your country. I did not grow up knowing what privilege was, but I knew I had it. I also felt a deep responsibility to use it well. I was always standing up for somebody, the kid who was bullied on the school yard, the little girl with Downs who the boys got to raise her dress … the list goes on. I had army officer’s daughter DNA so I was enculturated to stand up to those bullies and fight back. My privilege enabled that. I try to use it for good.