As parents, educators and advocates we often talk about the Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) without really thinking about the ways that LRE has been used against our students. In our recent live training we talked about six flaws of LRE and some steps that you can take to create more systemic change.
Dr. Cheryl Jorgensen was our special guest and she explained how the LRE principle is really a barrier to inclusive education. Specifically, she share six flaws of LRE:
FLAW #1: In practice the LRE principle asks teams not to consider how included a student will be, instead it asks IEP teams how segregated students they should be.
FLAW #2: Ableism is inherent in LRE and can prevent people thinking about what it would take to change the environment so that a student can be more successful and instead think how we need to fix the child.
FLAW #3: LRE can be used as a way to make assumptions about an individual based on prejudices of a group of individuals. Many districts will have certain classrooms for students with certain disabilities – "All our autistic students go to this school."
FLAW #4: LRE is often based on historical precedence in schools, how teachers have been prepared, and the strength of parent advocacy and privilege.
FLAW #5: LRE confuses the need for more intensive services with more restrictive placements.
FLAW #6: The LRE principle sanctions segregation in certain cases. This discourages schools from making improvements and instruction in general education, by focusing again on ableism.
CATCH THE REPLAY BELOW and hear all the rich discussion.
