Rebecca Reinhard

Rebecca’s reintegration process

Rebecca visited a forest playgroup.
Her parents were informed that Rebecca’s development is not appropriate for her age.
A hearing impairment was diagnosed. This explained why Rebecca started speaking late and sometimes struggled with pronunciation.
Rebecca then received early years special education measures. This meant a special education teacher supported Rebecca before she started school at home.

Rebecca was assessed by the school psychology service (SPD) before starting school. A mild to moderate cognitive impairment was identified.
Rebecca then attended a special education kindergarten.

«With an IQ of 50, starting in an integrative way was not really discussed. While the SPD already said we could also try integrative education, they did not recommend it. It soon became clear that Rebecca would start at special school, in other words, in separative education.»

In the special education kindergarten, Rebecca repeatedly surprised the teachers and her parents with her skills. She made great strides. It was clear from the outset that reintegration might be possible in the future.

«From the outset, the possibility of reintegration at a later date was there. That was clear right from the start, so it was obvious when Rebecca started school that we had to keep a close eye on this process.»

After one-and-a-half years in special education kindergarten, Rebecca was again assessed by the school psychology service (SPD): Rebecca’s IQ score had risen by more than 10 points.
A further assessment followed in order to examine the developmental delay.
This assessment showed that Rebecca’s level of development and ability was age-appropriate. In other words, she probably had no cognitive impairment after all.

The kindergarten teacher at the special school also backed this assessment. Nevertheless, the teachers and parents were unsure: Is integrative special education (IS) the right path for Rebecca?

«Nobody said that it’s obvious that Rebecca should now go to mainstream school or it’s obvious that Rebecca should stay at the special school. We were all pretty confused.»

The principal of the special school therefore suggested a partial integration.
As a result, Rebecca started 1st grade in partially integrative education: she attended mainstream school from Monday to Wednesday and special school on Thursdays and Fridays.

«At first I was half and half. Half at normal school and half at special school.»

Rebecca had a new teacher and a new class in special school and mainstream school: So two changes at once.

The partially integrative education was planned for six months.
At the outset, it was not clear whether partial integration should eventually lead to reintegration. This was seen positively.

«I really think that partial integration was a great solution. You didn’t have to decide beforehand whether to make this change. Rebecca was still at both places, which meant that the end result was open.»

However, the special education teacher at the mainstream school noticed that the partial integration was very challenging for Rebecca. She then submitted an application for full reintegration before the autumn holidays. This meant that Rebecca was supposed to switch completely to mainstream school.

«And that (the full integration) was definitely the right thing to do, also from Rebecca’s point of view. She was then fully there and no longer torn. […] And if we had seen that it wasn’t right, we would have acted again pretty soon. We would have discussed it further with each other or looked for another solution.»

A meeting was held with everyone involved in October: parents, teachers and principals.
It was decided that Rebecca should be fully reintegrated into 1st grade of mainstream school from 1 December.

«The school year started on 1 August, then Rebecca came on 15 or 16 August. On 22 October, we had a status review, where we said that Rebecca had settled in well, was highly motivated and was able to work on the material in the classroom well with support.»

Partial integration was thus switched to full reintegration after just a few months.
Rebecca received 10 lessons per week for integrative special education (IS) in 1st grade at mainstream school, and 14 lessons per week in 2nd grade.
She also received a further four lessons for integrative teaching (IF).

Rebecca was then assessed again by the SPD in 2nd grade.
Due to her great progress, special school status in German was discontinued from 3rd grade onwards.
In 3rd grade, Rebecca then received nine lessons for integrative special education (IS).
In 4th grade, her special school status was to be discontinued completely. This meant that Rebecca would no longer receive lessons for extra support. She would then only receive support as part of the basic offering. In other words, only in the integrative teaching (IF) lessons, which are intended for the whole class.

Rebecca’s parents, the special education teacher and the principal of the mainstream school did not agree with the assessment of the school psychology service (SPD).
They all agreed that additional support is required to ensure that Rebecca’s reintegration can continue to be successful.

«You could also compare the situation to supporting a blind child. After two years, you can’t simply say that they now […] know the way and don’t need any more help. That they are now a completely normal child.»

However, the request to keep the lessons for integrative special education (IS) was rejected by the canton in June 2023.