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.

A Study of Health Care Assistance in a Title 1 School District

“…First, acceptance of the concept and practice of inclusion is growing in momentum (Bartlett, 1994;Lubker & Simeonsson, 1986;Stainback & Stainback, 1990). When combined with progress in medical interventions, this means that more children experiencing health-related challenges have been able to return and join more quickly in learning in public school settings (Lehr & McDaid, 1993).…”

“…Current findings suggest that teachers are unsure of how to adapt their classroom environments to accommodate students experiencing health problems (Bartlett, 1994). In addition, results suggest that practitioners are uncertain of how to teach students with disorders that limit their participation in school (Bryck, Lee, & Smithy, 1990;DHHS, 1996;Igoe & Giordano, 1992;Lehr & McDaid, 1993;Lubker & Simeonsson, 1986;Office of Technological Assessment, 1988;Starfield, 1992). Taken together, crises in the health status of school-aged youth and uncertainty in terms of how educators are to respond give cause to examine how education and health care coexist in public school settings.…”