Classification of Students with Handicaps

Classification is more than the assignment of objects or people to certain classes (in this paper class, category, and taxon are used synonymously) because of shared characteristics. Insofar as people are concerned, classification is social act which, at the extremes, can cast in the positions of deviates who must be removed from community life or can legitimize extraordinary supportive interventions in their behalf. The current classification system that is used to provide handicapped or disabled children with special services and education in the schools is anomalous: In the past the categories were used to keep children with special needs out of the mainstream of education and society, but now, under the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (Public Law 94-142), such children are to be included in the mainstream of education whenever feasible. Whether they need to be labeled is very much in controversy. This is not to say that no classification system is necessary, but rather that the current practices, because they represent hodge podge of approaches and purposes, should be carefully examined and revised as necessary. As starting point, I suggest Robbins' (1966) acute perception that the choice of categories in classification system implies that the category chosen is good for something (p. 5). It is essential, therefore, that we consider the purposes of classifying children. The importance of classification in the lives of children can hardly be overemphasized. In his report of the study of classification, which he led, Hobbs (1975) warned that nothing less than the futures of children is at stake (p. 1) in the formation of categories. Subsequently, he characterized the current system for classifying handicapped children as a major barrier to the efficient and effective delivery of services to and their families and thereby impedes efforts to help them (1980, p. 274). Categories and labels may be essential, nevertheless, because they open up opportunities for exceptional children, facilitate the passage of legislation in their interest,