Readers are sounding off in the comments all over this Parenting Special Needs blog, but it can be hard to find and respond to those opinions when they're on posts past this main page. One post that's been garnering a number of comments is "Inclusion and the Myth of the Magical Mainstream," which I wrote for Blogging Against Disabilism Day. Below are some of your fellow readers' responses; to join the conversation, click on the link above to get to the post, then click on "comments" to add your own two cents.

"I have gone through several transformations about this subject. And although I do not mean to suggest that children should not be mainstreamed if that worked for them, and should definitely have the opportunity to do so, I agree with what you are saying. To force someone to be 'the only' their whole childhood is a hard burden to bear." -- Lisa

"While my guy absolutely flourished in a fully inclusive environment, there are some kids that won’t. It simply has to be individualized so that every child gets his/her needs met." -- Attila the Mom

"We experienced the best of a self-contained school where our son was tested constantly and pushed to the limits of his abilities and got to experience being the 'King of the Hill' on occasion. He spent the last four years of high school in a large high school where he was the only legitimately retarded kid. He learned a few good things, but accomplished virtually nothing educationally, and was exposed to some ugliness that is 'normal,' but not nice." -- Janie

"There has been a big drive for inclusion in education here in the UK in recent years and as you may envisage, it has been absolutely fantastic for very many disabled children and a complete disaster for others. The whole point about valuing everyone as equal is to make sure everyone gets the best chances. And that necessarily means acknowledging and accepting difference, not pretending it isn’t there." -- The Goldfish

"So far my daughter and I are having a great experience mainstreaming but she’s only in 1st grade so it remains to be seen how it goes as she gets older. It has been trying to balance out the parts of her identity that is related to Down syndrome and the plain old kid parts. I like her to be wherever she is most comfortable and supported- that’s what is most important." -- akakarma