Forgetting Education

One of the most frustrating life experiences I have encountered thus far involves a well-educated family member. This family member did both her undergraduate and graduate work in early childhood special education and inclusive classrooms, where she focused primarily on autism and other learning disabilities.
Today she is the mother of 2 young children, both diagnosed with various levels of aspergers. The older son of the two is much more pronounced, however, both children are highly intelligent and enjoy attention.
Unfortunately, this educated mother seems to have completely forgotten all that she learned in her special education classes. She does not believe that the children should socialize with other "normal" children of similar ages. Instead, she often plunks them in front of the television to watch cartoons. Both children have gotten severe bottle rot due to over drinking juice and sugary drinks from bottles for much too long. And, she refuses to bring the children over to her husband's family because she claims that genetically, his gene pool made her children autistic.
So this leads me to my question: Is classroom education the best education? Clearly, all of the years spent studying special needs children of various disabilities completely went out the door when her own life changed with two special needs children. Is the best education about inclusion, to be inclusive as a student?
I would have to say yes. I firmly believe that to talk the talk, you have to walk the walk. A scholar may spend dozens of years in classrooms and libraries and never fully comprehend the field they will build their career upon. Would you trust a neurosurgeon who had 20 years of education but no surgery experience? The surgeon could tell you about any diagnosis, any vocabulary, any peculiar case he read about. But maybe as soon as he encounters his first surgery, he discovers that neurosurgery is not for him.
It is a shame that often members of our society say they are compassionate and say they believe in a better more improved system. When in reality the truth changes their entire perspective and they become another member huddled in the masses of discrimination and separation.