Polly Haselden,
Exceptional Children Inclusion/Biology and Physical Science, Mount Pleasant High School

The SafetyNets of Inclusion

In this conference, Polly Haselden will discuss the practice of Inclusion. Polly has taught Inclusion classes in Biology and Physical science at Mount Pleasant High School with great success, in terms of student performance, as well as parent and teacher satisfaction.

Teachers and administrators will benefit from the philosophy and practical strategies that have made the practice of inclusion successful at Mount Pleasant. Misconceptions about the practice of inclusion will be addressed, as well as common - sense ways to avoid pitfalls that are sometimes associated with the practice.

Students that have been in resource and full inclusion classes will share their experiences in each setting.

• Transcript from Session 1

• Transcript from Session 2

Bio:
Polly is currently in her seventh year of teaching. She has been at Mt. Pleasant High School for 2 years and taught in South Carolina before that. She received her Special Education/Learning Disabilities degree from Converse College and is currently seeking a graduate degree in Special Education at UNC-Charlotte.

Polly started the first Severe/Profound class in Dillon Area 3 schools. She started mainstreaming her students in all "specials," and some academic classes. During this time, she started a therapeutic horseback riding program for her students and used full inclusion to develop work place readiness skills at local businesses rather than relying on sheltered workshops. Because of this workplace inclusion with the Severe/Profound population, she started a summer program that same year to continue the full inclusive work setting that had been established. After three years, she started two successful inclusion programs, one full inclusion and one with full inclusion in two academic areas, before moving to North Carolina. Currently, she is with Mount Pleasant High School working in a full inclusion program.