a regular classroom is likely to consume too much of an already overworked teacher's attention. Furthermore, many parents worry that the standards of curriculum will be lowered by the inclusion of students with learning disabilities and that students with certain disorders such as attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, might be not only a classroom disruption but perhaps even a threat.
With respect to the foregoing, Hornby et. al. (1997) point out that the biggest controversy involving inclusive education is that it will hurt special needs children themselves. The fear here is focused on whether these children will receive proper support if placed in a general education setting. Will they get all of the services they required and will the staff be adequately trained to meet their needs? Those on this side of the argument note that as inclusion becomes more and more wide-spread and the ideology of including everyone grows more prevalent, these concerns become more pressing. They argue for limits upon who should be included in the regular classroom.
What side of the inclusive education controversy is more supported by the existing research? The central thesis of this paper is that there must be some limits placed on inclusive education. There are some children whose handicaps and needs are so severe that to include them in the classroom is to do them and other children a disservice and it is indeed a major disservice. The next section of this paper examines the literature on the advantages and disadvantages of inclusive education for both disabled and non-disabled students.
Research: Findings in the Literature
The first point that needs to be made is that inclusive education most definitely has its advantages, advantages for both non-disabled and disab
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