Promoting Access to the General Curriculum for Students with Mental Retardation: A Multi-Level Model

Abstract

The 1997 amendments to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act included requirements that students with disabilities have access to and progress in the general curriculum. Most discussions of efforts to promote such access and progress do not take into account the unique needs of learners with mental retardation. Wehmeyer, Lattin, and Agran (2001) introduced a decision-making model to enable IEP teams to make decisions about the educational program of students with mental retardation taking into account both the general curriculum and unique student learning needs. This article places that decision-making process into the context of other steps needed to ensure access for students with mental retardation, providing a multi-step and multi-level model to ensure access for students with mental retardation.