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18 J.L. & Educ. 215 (1989)
Into the Turbulent Mainstream - A Legal Perspective on the Weight to Be given to the Least Restrictive Environment in Placement Decisions for Deaf Children

handle is hein.journals/jle18 and id is 225 raw text is: Into the Turbulent Mainstream- A Legal Perspective on the Weight to be Given to the Least Restrictive Environment in Placement Decisions For Deaf Children SY DUBOW* Championship prowess will sooner be attained if she concentrates on intensive training and learning to swim before she plunges unprepared into the turbulent mainstream. When her strokes are stronger she will be able to make better head- way in the water.' One of the goals of the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (EAHCA or Act) is to educate handicapped children with nonhandi- capped children to the maximum extent appropriate.2 This concept of educating children in the least restrictive environment (LRE) has provoked more controversy and confusion than any other issue in special education. Nowhere has this controversy been more acute than in the field of deaf education. Deafness creates obstacles to acquisition of language and com- munication. To help overcome these obstacles to learning, deaf children require an intensive language development environment staffed by highly trained professionals in deafness and often require special programs. There are concerns, however, that placements guided by the mainstream- ing principle may not be appropriate for many of these children. As the Commission on Education of the Deaf found in its Report to the President and the Congress of the United States: Parents, deaf consumers, and professional personnel of all persuasions have, with almost total unanimity, cited LRE as the issue that most thwarts their at- tempts to provide an appropriate education for children who are deaf.3 * Legal Director of the National Center for Law and the Deaf, Gallaudet University, since 1975. Member of Virginia and District of Columbia Bar; B.A., Northwestern University, 1965; J.D., George Washington National Law Center, 1968. Mr. DuBow is co-author of the book, LEGAL RIGHTs OF HEARING-IMPAIRED PEOPLE. The author thanks Sarah Geer for her editorial assistance. 1. Grkman v. Scanlon, 528 F. Supp. 1032, 1037 (W.D. Pa. 1981). 2. 20 U.S.C. § 1412(5) (1982). 3. COM2MSSION ON EDuc. OF THE DEAF, TowARD EQUALITY (1988) (hereinafter TowARD EQUALI- TY).

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