A Capabilities Approach to Reenvisioning the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act's Least Restrictive Environment Mandate

• In Event: 15.060 - MTCC Roundtable Session One
  In Roundtable Session: 15.060-12 - It’s More Than Just a Placement: Thinking Beyond Least Restrictive Environment and Inclusion

Abstract

This paper proposes a capabilities approach-based interpretation of the least restrictive environment (LRE) mandate in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA, 2004) to secure equity-based inclusive education for children with disabilities. The capabilities approach’s focus on human dignity and human diversity makes it an ideal tool for re-envisioning the LRE requirements that ensure children with disabilities are entitled to the effective freedoms and compensatory resources. The re-envisioned LRE mandate results from adopting (a) a social-relational model of disability that emphasizes the relational mechanism of a disability between internal and external arrangements, (b) a holistic view that balances intrinsic and extrinsic goods of education, and (c) a justice claim for additional educational provisions in inclusive education for children with disabilities.

Author

• Sumin Lim-Mullins, The University of Kansas