Deri,
My son will most likely not be able to attend our "local" school, even if he
is eventually mainstreamed for part of the day because my district's
elementary school provides only rudimentary services and not the full
services available at some of the other elementary schools outside my
district.

As for the special school in my county to which I was referring in a previous
e-mail, I have had parents of other kids tell me that they personally visited
the school before deciding what route to take, and found that it was lacking
in the basic school curriculum, i.e., math, reading, etc.  In other words, it
was geared more towards the more mentally involved children, who would not be
functioning on a higher intellectual level later in life.  So in my area,
there is no school where kids can go who may need some special ed, but also
want to get a higher education.  There used to be a CP Center in town, which
had a school also, but it has closed.  The only way to get a regular
curriculum is to be mainstreamed, and those who need additional services get
pulled out at the appropriate times for those services or classes.

I do agree with Linda that one of the benefits of mainstreaming in general is
the introduction of the child to other children of various talents, abilities
and/or disabilities.  They can all learn from one another.

Kimberlee