Chapter One, it is a long story. It's the last few days of the 2022 school year, and I'm waiting for my daughter to come home on the bus. A warm spring breeze is in the air. And the promise of summer is right around the corner for my daughter, and for nearly everyone in our neighborhood since the first day of kindergarten, there has never been a question where they will go to elementary school. It's the one closest to our house, practically across the street. But for most families who have children who receives special education services to support disabilities like autism or an intellectual disability, the question of where they will go to school is not so straightforward. Many times the location of the school and what kind of classroom a child is educated in, or even the bus the ride is based on the characteristics of their disability, which is why some families have gone to extreme lengths to have their child included in their home school with their peers that don't have any disabilities. But first, why should you or I care about inclusive education? What does inclusive education mean anyway? And how does a school or district become inclusive? I promise we're going to get to all of that in this series. But right now I want to talk about why inclusive education is important. And in my opinion, there are three main reasons. The first is that it's the law. There is an education law called the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. And it says a few really interesting things. And here's some of them. That a learner with a disability should be educated in the same classroom as they would if they didn't have a disability. That special education is a service not a place and that special services should go to the learner not the other way around. And if the learner needs modifications to their lessons, like changing it so it's more accessible to them. This should not be a reason to remove them from a general education classroom. The second Is the overwhelming amount of research that shows that inclusive education benefits everyone. I mean, I could fill up a whole podcast series just talking about the research. But here is the only finding that you really need to know right now. According to a report published by the National Council on Disability, the opportunity for students to participate in their neighborhood school alongside their peers without disabilities, is influenced more by the zip code in which they live their race and disability label than by meeting the federal law defining how student placements should be made. And finally, and this one is real simple. It's the right thing to do y'all. Just hold on to that thought for a second. After a short break. I introduce you to a family that was so desperate to have their child included. They did something drastic.