Opening the Door Further: Integrating Students with Complex Health Care Needs

Abstract

Mrs. Philpot, fourth-grade teacher, anywhere in the countryThe number of children who are considered to be technology dependent has been increasing (Office of Technology Assessment, 1987). We have known that changes in educational trends would result in inclusion of students with greater diversity, including those considered to be medically fragile or having special health care needs (Lehr & Noonan, 1989;Sirvis, 1988). These include children who present medical needs that are more intense than those which have been traditionally dealt with in schools. Our primary focus is on children dependent on medical technology such as tube feeding, ventilation, suctioning, and catheterization.