An inclusive school is one which accepts all children regardless to their abilities (Thomas, 1997). In an inclusive educational system all the children have the equal right to share a common educational environment and are valued equally regardless to their ability, gender or ethnicity (Armstrong, 1999). After education act 1981, children with Down syndrome, like every other children with disability, had a chance to attend mainstream schools (Lorenz, 1998 & Buckley, 2000) . Kenworthy and Whittaker (2000) recommended that inclusion education for children with Down syndrome should meet all the educational needs of these children in mainstream schools. This paper highlights the struggles of a family to have their son with Down syndrome included in mainstream educational system in Northern Ireland. The child was included in a mainstream nursery school when he was four years old. Then, he was denied access to a local primary school because of his learning disability. His family faced many problems in including him into the mainstream primary school. Finally, he was accommodated in a country primary school. After three years of being educated in that school, he began to demonstrate stress, isolation and inability in coping with the mainstream curriculum. At that time, his parents preferred exclusion rather than inclusion and registered him in a special school. Now the boy is fifteen years old, and he is still in the special school. He can manage the curriculum in special school and seems more happy than he was in mainstream system. The parents believe that the curriculum in mainstream system should be modified to make it possible for children with Down syndrome to be included and stay included. They also think that the educators' and policy makers' attitudes and thinking towards children with disabilities and special need should change to facilitate mainstreaming. Teacher's lack of experience in working with children with learning disability seems to be another reason for unsuccessful inclusion. References ARMSTRONG, F. (1999). Inclusion, curriculum and the struggle for space in school. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 3(1), 75-87. BUCKLEY, S. J. (2000). The education of individuals with Down syndrome: A review of educational provision and outcomes in the United Kingdom. Retrieved from http://www.down-syndrome.info/library/paper/. 14/1/04. KENWORTHY, J. & WHITTAKER, J. (2000). Anything to Declare? The Struggle for Inclusive Education and children's Rights. Disability & Society, 15(2), 219-231.v LORENZ, S. (1998). Experiences of inclusion for children with Down's syndrome. Retrieved from http://www.altonweb.com/cs/downsyndrome/inclusion.html. 7/23/04. THOMAS, G. (1997). Inclusive schools for an inclusive society. British Journal of Special Education, 24(3), 103-107.