Inclusion, as it is known today, is the grouping of children with disabilities in regular classroom settings with typically developing peers. While many believe it has only been written about since the early 70's, in fact it began with a man named Wolvesenberg.

Wolvesenberg was a Jew held in a nazi concentration camp during WWII...he certainly suffered his own wounds at the hands of the sadistic nazis, but for him, it was far worse to overhear the systematic torturing of the mentally retarded in the next block over. He made it his life's work to look after the less fortunate due to this experience...and vowed that he would never be without the company of a mentally retarded person.

Thanks to Wolvesenberg, we now have inclusion, previously known as mainstreaming, and it has become a mainstay in the field of early childhood special education.

Thanks to Wolvesenberg, many policy makers and administrators in school systems now identify inclusion as the first service alternative for young children with disabilities, rather than a service provided because of parental advocacy.