An educational process or organization that integrates handicapped pupils in the school\u2019s general curriculum and other activities.<\/p>\n
An approach to education that involves integrating children with handicaps (see handicapped) as much as possible into a school or organization\u2019s main classes and activities, the aim being to help the child to develop to the fullest extent possible, as opposed to the previous pattern of segregating children with mental or physical disabilities from other children, and so markedly limiting their opportunities and possibilities. The Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975 has been extremely important in making mainstreaming a widespread approach, requiring that public schools provide a \u201cfree, appropriate education\u201d in the least restrictive setting to children ages 3 to 21. It has helped to make mainstreaming work by providing programs for identifying disabilities in early childhood\u2014in the preschool years or even in infancy\u2014and services to help children overcome these disabilities to the greatest extent possible before the school years.<\/p>\n
A policy of providing services to special classes of individuals within the organizational structure which serves the general population. For example, handicapped children, often educated in special classrooms, are “mainstreamed” when they are educated in the regular classroom. The term is now being applied in health care in some instances.<\/p>\n
The practice of educating disabled children in the general classroom instead of in specialized institutions, so as not to deprive them of normal social experiences.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
An educational process or organization that integrates handicapped pupils in the school\u2019s general curriculum and other activities. An approach to education that involves integrating children with handicaps (see handicapped) as much as possible into a school or organization\u2019s main classes and activities, the aim being to help the child to develop to the fullest extent […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-65689","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-m"],"yoast_head":"\n