Sasha Long, a special-education teacher and behavior analyst, explains reverse inclusion: inviting general-education students into a special-education classroom for structured activities like crafts and games. Students with disabilities gain peer models and friendships; neurotypical peers learn about neurodiversity. Weekly 20-30 minute sessions are recreational, not instructional, so they don't violate placement laws or privacy rules.
I did a video on Instagram and TikTok about reverse inclusion, and it exploded with questions and comments. So let's go more in depth into what reverse inclusion is, why it can be beneficial, and what are some logistical obstacles to making this work for you. I am Sasha Long. I'm a former special education teacher and a board-certified behavior analyst. I'm the founder and president of The Autism Helper, and we are here to share resources, strategies, and ideas for helping those on the spectrum. So let's start off. Reverse inclusion. What is it? So reverse inclusion is bringing students from the gen ed classroom into the special ed classroom. So we're reversing the inclusion model. Now I'm going to preface this whole video with saying the goal for all of our learners is a more inclusive setting and moving towards that full inclusion model as much as possible. We're always looking for the LRE, the least restrictive environment possible, that our students can be successful. For some of our students, the LRE is a self-contained special education classroom. That is where right now we can meet their needs safely and appropriately. Now for some students, full inclusion or pushing into the gen ed classroom may be difficult. Students with medical concerns, this can be especially tricky. Students with significant behaviors and students that may just feel more comfortable and confident within their special ed classroom. They have the tools they know there. They feel comfortable. They've been there. It's their staff. It's their space, right? So for those situations, reverse inclusion may be a nice bridge to still give those inclusive opportunities and the benefits of inclusion, but in an environment that's more comfortable and may feel more safe for that learner. Alright, so we know what reverse inclusion is, and we know that it's not the end goal, that we know that this may be a stepping stone to more inclusive opportunities, and we'll get our students there on the way. Now, reverse inclusion may be similar to peer buddies. Peer buddies are where we pair up students with disabilities with a gen ed peer. There is a ton of research to support peer buddies, and there's also research to support reverse inclusion. Inclusion as a whole has an insane amount of research, 20 years worth of research, on really the benefits of having students with disabilities learn alongside their neurotypical peers. And there's a lot of reasons why inclusion is beneficial, and you're going to grab a lot of those great benefits within this reverse inclusion model. So reversion inclusion can be really beneficial because you're giving those opportunities for your students with disabilities to have age-appropriate peer models. They're able to see and imitate social skills, see emotional coping strategies, and we're most importantly giving the opportunity for real friendships to develop. And if we don't have any opportunity for inclusion, there's not going to be the chance for friendships to develop. So we're giving this opportunity for friendships, we're having those positive peer models, and this is all taking place in a setting that's really comfortable. There's also a ton of benefits for those neurotypical peers that are pushing in. They are going to learn about differences. They're going to learn about neurodiversity. They're going to learn about empathy, patience, understanding. There's so many great benefits for both groups during really any inclusion setting. All right, let's talk logistics. Now, I did this when I was in the classroom with junior high students. I had some students that because of their range of needs, it was really just most appropriate for them to have some inclusion opportunities within our classroom. It was not the only time that they had inclusion, but we added this on for students that needed more support and really honestly felt more comfortable in our classrooms. So we did this on a weekly basis and we did it for a short time period, 20 to 30 minutes, and it was always a fun kind of exciting activity. And not to say that I put like a ton, a ton of planning in it because you can do this really simple, but it was something that everyone would have fun doing. We typically did crafts, games. Sometimes I got more creative and did cooking or something outside, but we spent a lot of time doing crafts and games and I tried to keep things that would be age-appropriate fun for both groups. I would be on Pinterest. We did paper mache, we made our own Play-Doh, We made slime, um, we played charades, we played Pictionary, we played board games— things that would really be fun for everyone. So it can be something that's super simple and, you know, not a big time commitment. 20 to 30 minutes a week was sufficient to really have that great opportunity for both groups. Let's get to some of the questions that I got on my TikTok and Instagram Reel that I did about this. So first, is this legal? This isn't legal. How can you bring gen ed kids into the special ed setting? You're changing their educational setting. No, you're not. We're not providing educational minutes. This is a fun recreation leisure activity. It's a— I'm not providing those gen ed students instruction. We're just having a fun activity. So it is not illegal to bring students with gen ed, you know, from the gen ed classroom into the special ed classroom. I had a bunch of those comments. People were asking if this is breaking confidentiality. We are not telling students with— that are from the gen ed classroom what the child's disability is. We're not giving any confidential information. Do they know that that child is placed in that classroom? Yes, but they already knew that. So we're not breaking confidentiality confidentiality because we're not giving any specific information about any students. Another question that I got a lot was, did you ask for consent from the gen ed students? Definitely work with your school on that. If asking for consent is appropriate, definitely do that. I typically worked with the gen ed teachers to pick students that would be a good fit for this. Sometimes it was honestly a prize that students got to do this because they had a great week, because kids liked coming into my classroom and doing this. So it's great if we have that kind of reinforcing nature where both groups are excited to be part of this. And then it's something that everyone wants to do. All right, so that is a roundup of reverse inclusion. Remember, this is a stepping stone that's going to move us towards more and more inclusive opportunities by giving students those opportunities to form friendships, to have a peer buddy, to really observe and model age-appropriate skills, and something that we can definitely try in our classrooms with students that need this type of support. I'm Sasha Long from The Autism Helper. Please follow our page for more resources and strategies for your special ed classroom.
