Inclusion : Yesterday and Today

Abstract

According to the author, it is time to realize that the difficulties once designated as “emerging” are in fact less and less so. Over the past five years, in most higher-education networks, the number of students with “emerging” difficulties has actually exceeded that of students with “traditional” difficulties (such as motor dysfunction, sensory disturbances and organic disorders). In a large part of the world, legislation promotes the inclusion of disabled students in the classroom. The author notes that these legal considerations have brought about a significant social change: the full participation of the disabled in our society. The college network does have certain measures to help meet this challenge, but much remains to be done. Raymond discusses the increased workload for teachers, who must now deal with more students affected by a wide variety of disabilities. She also comments on the lamentably slow growth in the required professional resources and concludes by stating that students, too, have a responsibility: to make use of the means available to them.