Until recently, students with mental disabilities like autism were not encouraged to be included in classrooms.  In 1975, the Public Law 94-142, which guaranteed a free public education to students with disabilities, was passed.  The main purpose of the law is to ensure that each child has the availability to a public education in the "least restrictive environment" possible, assures that the "rights of children with disabilities and their parents" are protected and "assures the effectiveness" of the quality of education being provided (Thirty-Five Years).  With this law came the debate about mainstreaming students with different levels of disability.  Mainstreaming, in the context of education, is the integration of mentally disabled students with non-disabled students into a conventional or general-education classroom.  This includes classrooms at all age-levels ranging from preschool to college courses and all types of institutions.  Many private schools that are inclusive open as inclusive, whereas public schooling is more or less forced to make the changes into the integrated environment.  A great deal of the general education teachers do not want to mainstream because they do not have the adequate training to know how to properly teach the students with disabilities and often do not have a sufficient amount of time to plan with the para-educators, the teachers specifically trained to work with the students with disabilities.  Other concerns with integration is behavioral concerns that the students with disabilities will affect the learning environment of the other students, the teachers will give an unfair amount of attention and time to the students with disabilities where the general students need it and that the students with disabilities will receive too general of an education.  On the other hand, many people advocate that being in an inclusive environment supports both students' social skills and also has a greater benefit on the cognitive skills of the students with disabilities.  It seems that despite the concerns, the overall benefits for all persons involved in the mainstreaming system outweigh the disadvantages.  Students with intellectual disabilities should be mainstreamed into general classrooms because the integration has a positive impact on the cognitive and social skills of the students with disabilities and all others involved.

The autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is the fastest growing disability in the world.  In 1992, approximately 1 in 150 children were diagnosed and in 2012, only twenty years later, 1 in every 68 children have been identified with autism spectrum disorder.  Furthermore, the California Department of Developmental Services indicated that the rates of autistic births in California grew 273% in the 1990's alone.  On average, 37 percent of special education students in the United States spend 80 percent of their school day in a general education classroom.  However, these percentages vary immensely by region ranging from 8 percent in Washington and 62 percent in Iowa (Inclusion Rates).  Approximately 44% of children identified with ASD have average to above average intellectual ability (Autism Spectrum). Throughout history, those who were considered to have this disability were sent to live in institutions, considered to be too difficult to deal with at home.  The views towards autism have changed immensely over the past few decades and as of the 2011-2012 school year, almost 500 thousand students in America's school system were diagnosed with autism as opposed to less than 100 thousand in the 200-2001 school year (Fast Facts). Some things leading to this increase in autism is increased awareness along with better diagnostic procedures (Dybvik).  About forty-four percent of children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder have average to above average intellectual abilities (Autism). This statistic emphasizes the idea that students with autism should be placed in general education classrooms because they are at the same intellectual levels as some of the general students anyways.  So, with the right amount of support and hard work, students will be able to be challenged with their learning and reach their fullest potentials.  

The tenth amendment of the constitution states that education is the responsibility of the state government and not the federal government.  Up until the late 1960s, states had passed laws stating that students with mental disabilities could be excluded from classrooms if the teacher saw fit; the qualifications of an unfit student included behavioral issues, speech impediments, facial contortions and drooling (Yell 221).  These laws were evidently discriminatory and it was not right to deny a person their right to an education based solely on the fact that they have one or any of these intellectual complications.  Many states also passed legislature that "made it a crime for parents to persist in forcing the attendance of a child with disabilities after exclusion from public school" (Yell 220).  So, if a teacher saw a student as unfit for their classroom, parents just had to deal with it and were not allowed to attempt to advocate for their child.  They were left to just hope that they could find another school that would accept their child and allow them to receive an education.  

It was not until 1975, in accordance with Public Law 94-142, that The Education for All Handicapped Children Act (EAHCA) was passed, which provided the framework and guidance for appropriate and equal education for students with disabilities (Cengage Learning).  Even with the general guidelines for the curriculum, many general educators still tend to express concerns about implementing a mainstreamed curriculum and the idea of the integration of students with disabilities into the classrooms.  These concerns are often raised because of a lack of time to prepare the classroom activities, a lack of prior experience and issues of self-efficacy with the students with disabilities (Buell 144).  The three reasons all go hand-in-hand because the issues of self-efficacy are generally due to the lack of experience and preparation time.  With the help of para-educators who have experience, the general teachers can better understand how to effectively educate the students.  Regardless of initial concerns and feelings, a majority of the teachers eventually retracted their concerns because they realize that with the support and assistance of the special teachers, the classroom and curriculum is easily managed when the students have the support system they need (Alborz 1).   

Inclusion education systems generally produce the best outcomes for the students with disabilities when they have strong support from their teachers and peers. Since each student has a different level of disability, which often leads to different learning styles, the students need teachers that are willing to tailor the curriculum to ensure students are able to achieve their fullest potential.   One of the most common parts of an inclusive curriculum is the "pullout method" where the students are in the main classroom for a majority of the day, but also go to a smaller, secluded classroom so the teacher is able to focus on the individual needs of each student.  Seven of the eight studies conducted to analyze the impact of student's support suggest that students with disabilities that get pulled out in a small group to work with the teaching assistants "help primary aged children with literacy and language problems to make significant gains in learning" (Alborz 2).  The teaching assistant is able to individualize the general education to fit the needs of the students, which helps them to better understand the information being taught and improve their skills.  

The students with disabilities also need support from their peers.  The support from peers benefits both the students with and without disabilities.  The initial transition is difficult for the students with disabilities, especially the older ones, because it is a foreign setting to them and they really need help to adjust.  One junior-high school utilizes a mainstreaming system where the students with more severe disabilities are paired with a student-aid in each of their classes.  After only a couple of months after the initial integration, there were major improvements reported by both the teachers and students.  There was major development with the students' independence, social networks, academic skills and behavioral growth.  For example, one student reported "when [she] used to quiz Joy she would just out of the blue say something                                                  about the clouds that we learned like a long time before-but now if we're studying she remembers them" (Staub 14).  The students with severe disabilities are able to feel more comfortable with kids their own age and the improvements are obviously immense.

A major challenge teachers report when integrating is the students' social skills.  Many students with more severe disabilities have a hard time communicating and a great deal of teachers agree "lack of or inadequate social skills among students with disabilities as the biggest hurdle to their integration" (Poonam 7).  When the students have difficulty communicating, it can be a major hindrance on their education because the students either will cause disruptions in the classroom or will not understand what is being discussed in the classroom.  In either situation, there are negative effects on the education of either students with disabilities or those without. Since students with autism learn very well from watching the actions of others, these negative actions often decrease or even diminish.  There are often improvements seen with highly severe autism when placed in a conventional classroom for just a small part of the day.  The students' behavior is not difficult to control if there is a para-educator whom the student knows and is able to effectively communicate with the student (Poonam 5-6).  Also, if the student is having issues understanding the material, the teaching aid can assist the students during their small-group time in the exclusive classroom.  The time spent in the isolated classroom can vary depending on the severity of the autism, as well.  

In mainstreamed environments, the students with the disabilities are not the only ones receiving the benefits.  The students without disabilities generally benefit from the diverse environment with "increased social networks, increased understanding and appreciation of self-worth, increased appreciation for people with disabilities and increased feelings of responsibility" (Staub 15).  The students are more or less forced to be in an environment, if not working directly, with students with disabilities.  They begin to understand dissimilarity in different types of people and they should not discriminate against others before actually getting to know them.  At a private mainstreamed school in Manhattan, the parents of a general student picked the integrated school because he felt it had the best community for his son to learn in.  He claims that he has seen his son grow into a person with a "much better sense of what the world really looks like ... he also learns how to be a good person, what social justice means, good citizenship while learning math and science" (Tehrani).  The students are able to gain skills on how to work with a variety of types of people that they will need in order to excel once they go to college or enter into the workforce without even realizing it.  When a student is in grade school they generally work with students who are at a similar educational level as themselves and do not experience much diversity, whereas at mainstreamed school systems they learn early how to work with different types of people.

In order to develop a system with the best mainstreaming techniques possible, a school must individualize the school's curriculum as much as possible in order to create the best possible learning environment.  Since there are children with many different levels of disorders, the level at which they learn and understand material is going to differ as well.  The main purpose of a mainstreamed school's curriculum needs to be designed in a way that ensures a maximum amount of interaction between students with disabilities and their non-disabled peers without hindering the learning of either group.  Students at inclusive schools are more likely to have "higher academic achievements than those at special schools, even when developmental level [is] similar" (Wang 2).  So, in order to maximize the autistic students' learning, the students should be in an inclusive environment as much as possible.  

Another aspect mainstreamed schools need to focus on is the quality of the instructors themselves.  The teachers need to be able to take extra time out of their day to plan with the teaching aid in order to ensure they know what the content.  This way, the teaching aid will be able to prepare a review of the material for the students with disabilities.  During the sessions where the students are in small group to enhance their learning, the teaching aid needs to know how to be confident that they can manage and support each student's needs.   In order to enhance the student's learning, the teachers must also take the time to be able to analyze the student's progress to figure out the best courses and amounts of time in inclusion versus exclusion that works best for the students.  

An exemplary model of a mainstreamed schooling system is the IDEAL school system in Manhattan, New York.  This school system is unique because their class sizes are small to ensure they are keeping the learning environments as individualized as possible.  This K-12 system produces immense benefits and improvements in all areas for the students.  The parents of the students were interviewed and explained how their children improved socially and cognitively more than they ever imagined to be possible (Aydt).  Unfortunately, it is difficult to find many school systems as exceptional as this one because it is a private school and families pay a large amount of money for their children to receive this kind of individualized education.  Regardless, schools attempting to mainstream their classrooms should aim for a quality curriculum like IDEAL's.  

Due to the evident benefits for students with and without autism in social and cognitive areas, students with intellectual disabilities should be mainstreamed into general classrooms in the fullest extent possible.  The challenges many teachers are concerned about with inclusion are important to consider; however, it is also vital to realize the major benefits that come from the integration of students.  Students with autism are able to learn at the same pace as general students while getting the individualized learning in the separate classrooms.  They also learn social skills through interaction with their peers and being able to observe others' behaviors.  The students without disabilities are able to learn how to act in a more diverse environment that will help them in their futures.  So, creating the best possible inclusion techniques would ensure the maximum amounts of time for the autistic kids in a conventional classroom with an individualized approach.  There are so many benefits to mainstreaming students with autism that it is hard to believe that it is such a recent approach to education.  

