The proliferation of early intervention programs in the last decade has raised the expectations of parents about the potential of their children to learn and develop. Participation in integrated day care, nurseries and kindergartens has created parental expectations that their children would continue to be educated in the regular stream.
Early intervention provides [excellent] support and information for families with children who show a delay. Matthew [who was born with Down Syndrome] was enrolled when he was a day old. We all worked to see that Matthew achieved all his milestones as soon as he could. We pushed him to be the very best he could be … Matthew did everything my other children did; maybe not as fast, but he succeeded. When Matthew was three he went to preschool … two mornings a week. Matthew, at four years, was enrolled in a kindergarten four mornings a week … In his fifth year, Matthew attended French immersion kindergarten and [he] is now in [a] Grade 1 regular class … Matthew is in school to learn to be the best he can be. He is not [there to be] dumped or babysat.
1989
Furthermore, parents who see their children with disabilities participating fully in other aspects of community life cannot accept that they should have to travel out of their neighbourhoods, often at great distance, to attend school. Maureen Elwood acknowledged that this separation from peers was one of the major concerns that led to the family’s militancy:
