The Regular Education Initiative: Patent Medicine for Behavioral Disorders

Abstract

Implications of the regular education initiative (REI) for students with behavioral disorders (BD) are examined in the context of integration and right to treatment. Arguments that BD students are being overidentified for special education are refuted. Labels for BD students are seen as important indicants of the seriousness with which professionals take their problems, not as the source of students' spoiled identities. Eligibility for services that encompass appropriate education, right to privacy, and implementation of appropriate interventions are viewed as particularly problematic issues related to realization of laudable goals of the REI.