ADAPTATION OF YOUNG PEOPLE THROUGH INCLUSIVE EDUCATION IN THE USA

ABSTRACT

The article deals with the topic of inclusive education for young people. The experience of the USA is analyzed. The history of the formation of inclusive education in this country is considered. The state programs and normative legal acts regulating the issue of inclusive youth education are considered.

Keywords: inclusive education; USA; young people; US government projects; youth with disabilities.

Inclusive education is a long-term strategy that represents the construction of an educational environment that allows each child, including children with severe disabilities in psychophysical, emotional, social and other aspects of development, to learn together in a general education institution, but at their level of ability [1, p. 151].

Inclusive education all over the world, and particularly in the United States of America, began to represent a full-fledged component of the educational system at the World Conference on Education for All. This event marked the beginning of the active development of inclusive education and took place in 1988 in Jompyen. The first projects and innovations in the field were launched immediately thereafter.

Inclusive education is a multidimensional and complex system. Certain aspects need to be respected for its successful functioning:

1. Educational institutions at all levels, which educate young people, need to be equipped with the methodological and technical readiness, all the kinds of resources needed to implement inclusive education.

2. The actors of inclusive education (young people with disabilities, other students, parents of the former and the latter, the teaching staff, the administrative and managerial staff, etc.).

It should be noted that the USA is a country that cares about young people with disabilities and has a rather strong development of inclusive education. The topic of inclusion of young people with disabilities was highlighted in the US Congress in 1973, after which the issue received regulatory approval. The adopted law aims to realise the integration of education of children with disabilities in mainstream schools, with additional support as needed.

Since the 1980s, the Inclusion Programme has been developed in the United States and is still in operation today. The programme aims to ensure that young people with disabilities have all the conditions they need to be able to live fully and make use of all the services in the country on an equal basis with everyone else. The programme stipulates that any institution or organisation must be accessible to all young people, regardless of their social, emotional, psychological or any other characteristics. Hence, there are opportunities to take into account the characteristics and preferences of young people with disabilities in the planning of their educational process. In the U.S., the educational process for such youth should be based on a number of criteria: realistic, achievable, evaluable, and active.

However, while USA practice demonstrates a high level of inclusion for young people with disabilities, it should be noted that there are also a large number of specialised educational institutions in the country.

A personalised approach to each young person with disabilities is applied in the USA not only in education but also in hiring. The workplace and job responsibilities are selected and adjusted to meet the needs and limitations.

Universities in the USA have offices that deal with young people with developmental disabilities. These offices have a coordinating function. For example, Wayne State University (Detroit, Michigan) has several full-time staff who liaise with all faculties of the university and, if a disabled student needs help, invite the necessary specialist from other organisations. At New York University such an office liaises with various organisations dealing with problems of the disabled, as well as with psychological centres that provide them with specialists for psychological consultations and trainers for various trainings and the use of a guide dog [4, p. 153].

Already since the 80s of the 20th century the process of building new institutions and reconstructing existing institutions began, where the different needs of young people with disabilities must be taken into account. In case of non-compliance with the established norms and criteria during construction, severe sanctions are applied [3, p. 140].

The USA also participated in the development of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, adopted by the UN General Assembly in December 2006 [2, p. 92]. This Convention occupies an important place among multilateral international treaties in the field of human rights and is aimed at ensuring full and equal enjoyment by disabled people of all human rights and fundamental freedoms, as well as at promoting respect for the dignity of persons with disabilities, preventing any discrimination on the grounds of disability.

When analysing the USА experience in implementing inclusive education for young people, it can be concluded that the country has a comprehensive approach to this issue, which leads to a high level of development of this process. In all educational institutions there is a system of individual approach to each student. In addition, most public places in the country, in particular every educational institution, are equipped with everything necessary for comfortable life of young people with disabilities, due to which there is an overall high level of integration of the social group in question in the USA.

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