Stephen Marc Beaudoin

They’re often left behind.

Left out of the discussion. Forgotten. Not on the stage or missing from the page. Frequently not even in the room.

I’m talking about students experiencing disability, or special education students.

In the swirling national dialogue on arts education and cognitive development, it is surprising to see how infrequently students experiencing disability are included as part of the research and discussion.

As K-12 schools everywhere are realizing that, if well implemented, inclusive classrooms can lead to better student outcomes, it is critical that the voices and talents of students experiencing disability are included.

Here are five reasons why special education students, and all students experiencing disability, must be part of the research, discussion, policy-making, and programs around arts education and cognitive development:

1. The rate of diagnosis for Autism Spectrum Disorder continues to skyrocket. More students experiencing Autism will be populating more classrooms, and it will be critical for arts educators and administrators to understand how to most effectively teach these students, and to understand how their unique cognitive development can be more strongly enhanced.
2. Research has shown the strong benefits of early intervention to support growth and development in kids experiencing developmental disabilities. What if the arts were better integrated into this existing research?
3. As Federal and State regulations continue to evolve on inclusion of students experiencing disability in K-12 and also higher education, it will be even more important for the research happening in the field to be inclusive of young people experiencing developmental and other disabilities.
4. As the lifespan of adults with developmental disabilities continues to lengthen, lifelong arts learning programs like PHAME in Portland, OR and Creative Growth in Oakland, CA will be ever more valuable. And the adult learners served by these programs will enjoy even stronger health and personal outcomes if the K-12 schools that have served them are including them.
5. It’s the right thing to do. 30 years ago, kids with developmental disabilities were often institutionalized, living lives shut away from the rest of society, and educated separately from the general population. Today, federal laws like No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and Individual with Disabilities in Education Act (IDEA) provide a backbone for individualized instruction and accountability, although many individual schools and districts struggle greatly with inclusion.

Look around at any K-12 classroom in America, and you’ll see mixed results on inclusion and integration for students experiencing disability into the educational mainstream. Let’s make sure researchers are leading the way by examining cognitive development impacts of arts education in all our students. At PHAME, we see positive stories of cognitive impacts in our lifelong arts learning for young and older adults with developmental disabilities every day. I imagine there are many more stories to be told.