By Dr. Suchismita Das, Founder, Cognitive Cove Foundation
I have met parents who were deeply relieved when their child finally got a place in a school. After months of searching, an admission letter felt like a victory. I understand that feeling.
But a few months later, some of those parents began asking a different question: “My child goes to school every day, but what are they actually doing there?”
A child can be present in a classroom without being part of it. They may sit with a support teacher at the back while the lesson goes on around them. During group work, they may be given a separate activity. At annual day, they may be brought on stage for a photograph but left out of the preparation and practice.
None of this necessarily comes from a lack of care. Many teachers want to help but have not been shown how to adapt a lesson or include a child who communicates and learns differently. Still, we need to be honest about the child’s experience.
When I visit a classroom, I look beyond where a child is seated. I want to know whether the teacher speaks directly to them. Whether they have a chance to answer, even if they answer through a gesture, a picture or a communication device. Whether another child invites them to join a game. Whether the work given to them has a purpose and a goal that someone is following up.
A child does not have to do exactly what every other child is doing. That would be an unfair measure of inclusion. But they should have a way to take part and to learn. If the class is reading a story, one child may read a paragraph while another chooses pictures, answers a question or helps arrange the sequence of events. Both can belong to the same lesson.
Support staff can make a great difference, but their presence alone does not make a classroom inclusive. If a child interacts only with the adult assigned to them, we need to think about how to bring the teacher and classmates into that child’s day. The aim is to give the child support while helping them build their own connections and independence.
Schools often tell us how many children with disabilities they have admitted. I would also like to hear what happens after admission. Are those children learning? Are they joining activities? Do they have friends? If a plan is not working, does the school change it?
These are harder questions to answer. They require teachers and families to sit together, observe the child and review progress honestly. They also require school leaders to give teachers the guidance and time needed to do the work well.
An admission opens the school gate. What happens inside, every ordinary day, is what tells us whether a child has truly been included.