PEAC Conference on Inclusion

On November 8, 2011 we attended the first annual Inclusion Conference in Eastern Pennsylvania, which was presented by Pennsylvania’s Education for All Coalition, Inc. Keith Jones was the keynote speaker for the conference on this date. Keith is the President and CEO of SoulTouchin’ Experiences, as well as an African American community activist and entrepreneur with cerebral palsy. He participates actively in various issues that face people with disabilities and holds a strong desire to get the disability community more involved in the issues that concern their own lives. We all enjoyed getting the opportunity to hear Keith’s speech. At the conference we were also able to attend various sessions that dealt with various aspects of inclusion. At the end of the conference we asked twenty-four conference participants the same poll question that is presented on this blog. The conference participants included teachers, college professors, paraprofessionals, therapists, parents, college students, and children and adults with special needs. Below are the results of the poll question:

Do you feel inclusion benefits ALL students (even the students who do not have special needs)?

-yes, always (13 votes)

- yes, in certain cases (10 votes)

- no, never (0 votes)

- no, in certain cases (1 vote)