Inclusion means that everyone is involved, there is diversity among people, and that there can be no division into “normal” and “abnormal” people. Everyone is different and equal. The UN Salamanca Declaration of 1994 set inclusion as a goal in all education. Inclusion does not only apply to education, but is a much broader concept that encompasses the equal inclusion of all people in society. Inclusion is one of the cornerstones of liberal democracy.

About 30 km from Turku, Finland is the island of Seili, which has a dark history, first as a leper colony, then from the 1840s as a mental hospital, where sick people were isolated with the idea of “out of sight, out of mind”. When moving to Seili, patients had to take a coffin with them, because they would not return from there alive. The treatments were horrible and violated human rights, often completely ineffective. For example, patients were given insulin shocks and could be kept in chains in a dungeon. This is the complete opposite of inclusion. Especially from the 17th century onwards, the idea of man and society as a machine, which emerged in the modern era, led to terrible measures against “those who are different”. This continued all the way to Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union and World War II. There is a separate post on Koneamailä.

The opposite of inclusion is segregation and discrimination, which were seen at their worst in the Holocaust. The Holocaust was organized scientifically and efficiently, with its logistics and trains carrying the mentally ill, Jews, Roma, gays, leftists, Christians, etc. directly to concentration camps. These are the darkest pages in human history. The Nazis, like Eichmann, who organized the Holocaust, often claimed to be moral people until the end, which makes this all the more terrible. The Nazis’ goal was to “purify the Aryan race”. Anything different was seen as a weakness, a defect or a disease that had to be gotten rid of.

When we talk about “otherness” or “othering”, we often mean the prevailing thinking in society of “us and others”, “normal and abnormal”. According to medicine and biology, there are no abnormal children, young people or people, but rather people who are all different and form the diversity of people. Throughout history, people who are different in some way, such as disabled people, people with mental health disorders, autistic or neurotypical people, immigrants, people belonging to different “races”, etc. have been discriminated against, mistreated and isolated from the rest of society. In Finland, as recently as the 1960s, Roma, “loose people” and women were put in labor camps, and homosexuality was a crime until 1971. Until 1981, homosexuality was classified as a mental illness. Homosexuality is not a medical or biological illness, but a normal sexual orientation.

There is still a lot of discrimination in our society here in Finland. People, for example the disabled and mentally ill, are still locked up in institutions and treated inhumanely. Immigrants, nepsys etc. are often in their own classes etc. The NIMBY phenomenon is common: the presence of the disabled, the sick, immigrants, for example refugee centers or clubs for mental health rehabilitation in one’s own neighborhood, is often strongly opposed. The situation in the world is even worse. Almost 3/4 of the countries in the world are not free and liberal democracies. According to the UN Declaration of Human Rights 1945: ”All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.” So this is inclusion defined 80 years ago. Everyone has equal human dignity and the right to participate in society. If students have special needs, they can be taken into account in the normal course of events in a regular class.

Inclusion in education is key. Education is the most important thing that creates equality of opportunity. If children and young people are divided into separate classes and groups already in primary school, this contributes to their exclusion. Every child and young person has the right to education in their own local school, in a “normal” class. For example, putting immigrants in their own class weakens their language skills and promotes exclusion; similarly, putting people with mental disorders, autism or other special needs in their own class strongly weakens their social skills. Children and young people can feel really miserable and their self-esteem is undermined when they are isolated in the “abnormal class” and they even start to consider themselves “abnormal”. Special classes create separation and exclusion. I myself was in the so-called elite class in secondary school, a science class, where admission was based on the average grade of the school certificate. Such “elite classes”, such as science classes, music classes, etc., do support the fact that gifted people can develop their learning, but they are problematic from an equality perspective. Therefore, in principle, there should only be ordinary classes, where students would be given the broadest possible rights to choose their studies freely.

In social decision-making, everyone should have equal opportunities to influence the affairs of their municipality, city and country. Inclusion involves all groups of people and individuals in deciding, for example, on the use of a new area. A disability, lack of language skills or a mental or physical illness does not make a person a stupider or worse citizen or incapable of participating in society. Illnesses are even very common, e.g. 20-25% of people receive a psychiatric diagnosis during their lifetime. This does not make them helpless, incompetent or stupid. Mental health is actually interpreted in medicine and psychology today in such a way that there are no “mentally healthy” and “ill” people, but rather different people, who all have mental health and well-being, which (whose state) varies from hour to hour or day to day. Everyone has mental health-related challenges from time to time, e.g. self-esteem, sociability, empathy, creativity, learning and the ability to enjoy life are important parts and components of mental health, the state of which varies. The personality of someone suffering from a mental disorder or disability cannot be defined by their illness or disability. A person is much more than someone suffering from an illness, and they are not primarily “disabled” or “sick”. Using classifications, etc., stigmatizing in speech, etc. can be serious racism or ableism.

The accessibility of all services in society must be improved so that they are accessible to the entire diversity of humanity, to every person. We must promote inclusion and ensure that the entire diversity of humanity can participate in social affairs and the development of society.