Special Education Assistant Application Essay

For this assignment, I interview a service provider for special education services. The service provider I interviewed, takes part in the educational team, and provide services. The service provider is developmental therapist. I was able to develop a better sense of the importance of inclusion. After interviewing the service provider, and learning her philosophy of inclusion I have was able to better understand the accommodations and modifications for special needs students.

Today, under the provisions of IDEA many teachers must be prepared to help students at a variety of different levels including students with disabilities (14). More specifically the “Least Restrictive Environment,” provisions helps students with disabilities to receive time in general education classrooms with their peers (14). To learn more about this provision, special education in general, and to gain the perspective of a general education teacher working with children receiving special education, I spoke with a general education working at an inclusive school (22).

Students with special needs need deserve the same education general education students are presented with. The philosophy of “ Disability Inclusion” concentrates on creating a safe, loving, and effective learning environment for students who suffer from physical, learning, and behavioral disabilities. When a student with disabilities is placed in the same environment as a non-disabled student, the results show wonderful improvement. When we are able to discover the strength of the student we are able to see just how much the student can improve in an inclusion classroom. Disability Inclusion not only sets a new beginning for an equal education of special education students, but it allows for more interaction with the child, and a more hands-on assessment.

Even though there are, in many cases, other educators within the classrooms to help these children who need that additional help, the teachers generally don’t have that kind of training. Hoon and Wilcox explained that when it comes to special education students, the most important thing is to provide these students with an education that proves to be an effective education for them. They stressed that what special education students come out of the classroom understanding is more significant than the type of classroom setting in which they are being taught. This is because if they are learning more in a special education setting in comparison to an inclusion setting, then the special education setting becomes the better choice for the students. Hoon and Wilcox used the first grade class described in their article to address the idea that inclusion means adjusting the classroom to accommodate every student’s needs. They talked about how that same first grade teacher was told that she was going to have a student in her class who had cerebral palsy. The teacher was not aware of what this would entail for her classroom and how it would change the way that she taught within her classroom. The child was in a wheelchair and the classroom had to be made accommodating for the student. Hoon and Wilcox explained that pediatricians can be very helpful in

As early as the 1950’s there was no desire to accept responsibility for children with learning disabilities. Educators today share similar feelings. Research psychologist, Bernard Rimland, defines full inclusion as “[a]bolishing the special education provisions that are vitally important to children” (Rimland, 290). Without the services of a special education classroom some children with intellectual disabilities would never learn to read or write. The challenges of when full inclusion is applied in a regular classroom are students feeling ignored by the teacher and noticing the majority of attention directed to students with special needs. Therefore, an increase of bullying towards youths with disabilities. Furthermore, regular educators have

For many years school systems have been attempting to perfect special education. They have been developing new techniques and skills to better suit different disabilities that a student might have. The question at hand now is if the segregation of students with disabilities from those without disabilities should be the standard for all schools. Mary and Kenneth Smith, authors of I Believe in Inclusion but…, conducted a study to describe teacher’s perceptions of factors that contributed or hindered success in inclusion based classrooms. The study suggests that students with special needs need more attention than other students. “Research has indicated that classroom teachers may be very skeptical of inclusion and that they strongly expect that the practice will present inherent problems.” (Smith, Mary K., and Kenneth E. Smith 80-161). Another reason that Smith and Smith make is that with

I am seeking admission to UMSL’s Master of Education, Elementary Education. Currently I am a special education teacher with the St. Louis County Special School District. I would like to pursue a master’s degree in Elementary and Special Education to further my knowledge of the required content, as well as develop specialized skills in working with students with special needs.

Inclusion in classrooms can further benefit the communication skills and sense of community among students with and without disabilities. “Children that learn together, learn to live together” (Bronson, 1999). For students with special needs, inclusive classrooms provide them with a sense of self-belonging. The classrooms provide diverse environments with which the students will evolve feelings of being a member of a diverse community (Bronson, 1999). For students without disabilities, they learn to develop appreciation of the diversity. The classrooms provide many opportunities for the students to experience diversity and realize that everyone has different abilities that are unique and acceptable. From this realization, the students will learn to be respectful for others with different characteristics (Bronson, 1999). Inclusion in classrooms is beneficial to all students’ individual and community growth.

Marin (2014) discusses the issue of inclusion and how important it has become in today’s education system. Her study focuses on whether teachers are generally prepared to deal with students with SEN in mainstream schools, the advantages and disadvantages of inclusion in schools, and whether teachers need any additional training in the field of special education to respond to the needs of SEN children. Her report found (using a quantitative approach for her investigation) that 66.2% of teacher’s from the research had encountered students with SEN. This is a significantly high number and suggests that teachers have to be prepared to deal with, and respond to those kid’s needs, and diversity in the classroom.

If students with disabilities are isolated in the special education classroom, they aren’t being exposed to appropriate type of student modeling (Hill, Amy E.).” Another advantage of inclusion for a special education student, is the opportunity to make new friends and share new experiences. The student is exposed to a whole new world of students that they don’t see in their everyday special education classrooms. They are able develop friendships with peers of the same age which can lead to greater acceptance in the community (Hill, Amy E). Inclusion can increase the student with a disabilities self respect and self esteem. When they start to make connections with the regular education students and teachers, they start to feel a sense of self esteem. They start to feel good about themselves and about their overall school

One of the most controversial issues facing educators today is the topic of educating students with disabilities, specifically through the concept of inclusion. Inclusion is defined as having every student be a part of the classroom all working together no matter if the child has a learning disability or not (Farmer) (Inclusion: Where We’ve Been.., 2005, para. 5). The mentally retarded population has both a low IQ and the inability to perform everyday functions. Activities such as eating, dressing, walking, and in some cases, talking can be hopeless for a child with mental retardation.

“In 2011 according to the National Center for Education Statistics 13 percent of the total number of enrollment in the public school were receiving federally supported special education programs”. (National Center for Education Statistics) The goal of special education is for all students with or without a disability to be educated in the least restrictive environment. It is the common belief that special needs students should be placed in the general education classroom with their non-disabled peers a term called inclusion. Inclusion hasn’t come easy! There has been several court cases fought that have provided special needs students access to a free appropriate education in the least restrictive environment.

Over the past two decades, the topic of school inclusion has become a very important academic approach within the United States. Since the passage of No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) in 2001, there has been debate and discussion about how the law will impact students with disabilities. The Department of Education agrees that the issue deserves attention on how it responds to the diverse needs of children, families, and general society. This literature review examined the benefits, limitations, advantages, and barriers of inclusion for teachers, children, and programs. Thus, inclusion ensures fairness and unbiased on the basis of disability and allows students to receive appropriated public education. Students and teachers learn kindness by promoting and supporting a sense of community where diversity and difference is appreciated. The benefits and Limitations of Inclusion: It might be surprising to many, but children more than ever are being placed and mainstreamed into inclusion classrooms. More children with disability are being mainstreamed into general education settings; there is a need for teachers to be more educated in the field of special education. In addition, by law, children are required to be in the least restrictive environment to reach their full academic potential. It is important to note, that inclusion means that special needs children are included in a general education classroom. Mainstreaming has been used to refer to selective placement of special

Now it is crucial that all of teachers ensure inclusive practice for all students in their classroom and the wider school. Under the inclusion model, students with special needs spend most or all of their time with non-disabled students. Implementation of inclusion practice varies and schools most frequently use the strategy for select students with mild to severe special needs.” (2000 Allen, K.E.)

Inclusion, in the world of education, is an approach or teaching strategy that focuses on including students with disabilities. The goal of inclusion is to educate students who may struggle with a variety of disabilities. The views on inclusion differ. Some educators are very receptive to the ideals of inclusion and all that it involved with it. Whereas, some educators believe that it takes away from student learning for the non-disabled student. It is true, not all students with disabilities can be included in a general education classroom successfully. However, should the students who can participate in that setting be provide with the best, well-trained teachers in a district who provides useful professional development and access to high quality training for their teachers and staff. The word staff is where there are issues that need to be also further addressed. The staff should not only include teachers, administrators, and aids, but should include all support staff such as the janitorial, cafeteria and common area personal. Inclusion in the classroom starts at the elementary level and continues through high school and sometimes beyond. The success of inclusion has many determining factors. The early stages of inclusion for students with disabilities and their teachers can set the stage for the rest of the student’s school year experiences.