Educating Special Needs Students: I.e. Autism and other Severe Disabilities
Timothy E. Jackson
SPE -226 Educating the Exceptional Learner
February 23, 2011
Professor Rebekah McCarthy
This essay is entitled Educating Special Needs Students, the author will discuss and several important issues, which will be the following; the defining of Mental Retardation a term the author despises, Autism, Severe Disabilities and Multiple Disabilities, also their causes, and the impact of these disabilities have on the education of students with Mental Retardation. In addition to the above mentioned, the essay will identify areas of curriculum, necessary for students with severe disabilities and will explain why. Addressed also will be the
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This makes educating students with this particular disability more challenging and often times harder to manage.
“The public education of these students must start early and continue at some level throughout life. Second, all students typically need speech and language intervention, while many others will need physical and occupational therapy. Students with sensory impairments may need interpreters and mobility trainers, while some with medical needs may require nursing services or supervision. Third, because the educational teams of students are often large, close collaboration between members is essential if their expertise is to result in improved student functioning. The benefits of integrating therapy into natural activities are now being widely accepted over the traditional practice of isolated, or pull-out, therapy.”
The essay will now turn its focus to the attention of identifying areas of curriculum, necessary for students with severe disabilities and will explain why. To begin, the Handicapped Children's Act of 1975, federal emphasis shifted from curriculum development to preparing and implementing individualized educational programs for students with disabilities (Meyen, 1996).
Why, because in the opinion of the author, every student in every state deserves to have the best available education the Department
There are many different reasons that students may need additional assistance to be successful academically. Students may have a difficulty reading, or English may not be their primary language. They may have suffered a traumatic brain injury or may have been born with Autism. Students might even have difficulty socially interacting with teachers and peers or due to some physiological impact in their young lives might have other emotional impairments. No matter what the cause for the disability, special education services and interventions are vital to success of these special students.
Evaluation: In early 1970, children with learning disabilities were treated much differently than the peers that were at appropriate grade level. In this student’s case, the school system segregated the special needs students placing them in special classroom and labeled them as “slow learners”. With the teachers and school administration lack of knowledge on helping students with disabilities, students were at a disadvantage in receiving a fair education. Children felt as
Over the course of our country’s history of the education of students with disabilities has evolved and changed. At the beginning at people with disabilities were treated as if they were inferior to everyone else in society and they were devalued. Also, early on in our history individuals with disabilities were discriminated against and had very few rights. In 1954, the case of Brown v. Board of education was making headlines throughout the nation. When Brown won the case it allowed African American students to now be educated with white students. This case would later help change the education of students with disabilities, because it would be used in the argument for integrating and unifying children with disabilities in education with nondisabled
There have been several reforms in the past 100 years that have had an influential effect on policy in special education. Some of these changes have left a positive legacy for future education legislators to build from while others have been detrimental to a student’s educational success. All having positive and negative outcomes, some of these changes impacting education include the National Institute of Child and Human Development, Education for All Handicapped Children Act, No Child Left Behind Act, and Individuals with Disabilities Act. The reforms listed above will be discussed
In England, it is a legal requirement under the EYFS for all early years settings to work with parents and other professionals to support children’s care, learning and development. Certain policies and procedures must be in place to protect children and for guidance.
“Disability is a natural part of the human experience and in no way diminishes the right of individuals to participate in or contribute to society. Improving education results for children with disabilities is an essential element of our national policy of ensuring equality of opportunity, full participation, independent living, and economic self-sufficiency for individuals with disabilities.” (Department of Education, nd.).
Over the past few decades, education has dramatically changed. Educational laws were made to protect individuals with disabilities and to provide free and appropriate public education (FAPE) for ALL students. No longer are there institutions or special schools where disabled students are sent. Today we must educate all students and for most teachers, these exceptional students are in their regular education classrooms right alongside their same aged peers. How do you include and teach these students? Throughout this course, you will learn how to meet the needs of exceptional students, which will not only enhance your own teaching but enhance the lives of exceptional students.
Cagney (2009) stated that the United States government funding for teaching students with disabilities is reliant on the consistency of states and school regions to maintain and convey through the substantive and procedural provisions of the legislation. These arrangements can be separated into the eight subcategories that take after: (a) zero reject, (b) ID and assessment, (c) free and suitable open instruction, (d) minimum prohibitive condition, (e) procedural shields, (f) innovation related help, (g) workforce improvement, and (h) parental interest (Cagney, 2009).
3. Effective strategies to support the learning needs of students with autism in the classroom
The right of entry to education resources is more than uncomplicated admission to a college. The right to use means to provide students with the devices they will need to be victorious in higher learning. Students with a recognized disability ought to be no omission. In reality, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, “ensure that all qualified persons have equal access to education regardless of the presence of any disability.” Objective replacement, class waivers, and revision of classroom management, testing and course necessities are all illustrations of behavior to supply access for the learner with a disability. A break down to the creation of such practical adjustments can place schools in breach of federal and state statutes, ensuing expensive fines.
Autism or Autism Spectrum Disorder is one of many developmental disabilities that affect students learning. In fact, in the United States, Autism is the fastest-growing severe developmental disorder (“What is Autism,” n.d.). Also, the prevalence of Autism Spectrum Disorder is 1 in 68 children and the prevalence in boys is 1 in 42 children (“What is Autism,” n.d.). Furthermore, Autism Spectrum Disorders also affects the way a child learns and over the years, several teaching strategies have been developed to help teachers to effectively educate students with Autism. Research has also been conducted to develop and test new teaching strategies for Autism and continues in playing an important role in the education of students with Autism.
In 1993 the report of the Special Education Review Committee (SERC) was published. This report dealt comprehensively with the educational implications of special needs. It provided a definition of special needs which included those with severe and profound difficulties through to those who were exceptionally able and included both physical and mental disabilities. It recognized that the desire of the majority of parents of children with
The idea of children with disabilities, whether they be mild or severe has been a very controversial and misunderstood topic. In the past inclusion has brought about huge changes for not only the students, but also the parents and families of these children, and staff at schools. Teachers and education professionals were the first to really feel the wrath and intimidation of this dramatic shift in education. There were several different factors that were coming about that made it very difficult for schools and teachers, the unorganized mandates were strict and didn’t allow much time for change. “President Gerald Ford signed the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (EAHCA) into law in 1975. Since the original passage of the EAHCA, the law has been amended four times and renamed the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)” (Conroy, Yell, Katsiyannis, & Collins, 2010, para.1).
Schooling for the disabled requires a special environment—one that only a few teachers have the gift to care for. Instead of looking out for the child’s
Many studies focused on how the services for special needs children contribute to their education. However, very few studies recognize the role of the society in their attitude towards success. This paper answers the following questions: 1) how education affect the disabled, 2) how to improve education outcomes for students with disabilities, 3) how can the society deal with the disabled students, and 3) how to identify special learning disabilities.