Introduction Various advocates have made changes towards Special Education over the past hundred years. These changes have made substantial improvements in Special Education, but could also be seen as challenges. As a preschool teacher in an inclusive classroom, I have personally seen the improvements and setbacks these changes have made for my students with disabilities and their families. In this essay, I will be discussing specifically the changes made in Early Childhood Special Education. There are three changes that I will discuss; changes made to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), Least Restrictive Environments (LRE) in an early childhood setting, and Early Intervention Programs (EIP). Individuals with Disabilities …show more content…
This particular program creates a more stimulating environment for children with disabilities than a class of just special education students who have limited skills. A Least Restrictive Environment provides children with disabilities opportunities to interact, observe, imitate, and learn from students who have gained more advanced skills in motor, language, cognitive and social. Unfortunately, it is not uncommon for children with disabilities in a Least Restrictive Environment to not have their needs met adequately. Some parents think that teachers do not have the proper skills to help their child with disabilities flourish in the classroom. Two concerns/challenges are that typical developing students will imitate inappropriate behaviors made by students with disabilities and students with disabilities could potentially get teased about their disabilities and inappropriate behaviors. As said by Virginia Buysse and Donal B. Baily, Jr. (1993) “… the opportunities for young children with disabilities to interact with peers in integrated settings must be carefully …show more content…
Students will develop at their own pace, some much slower than others; a teacher may see this as a developmental delay. This mislabeling of an infant or toddler can cause a significant amount of stress on a parent who in their eyes sees their child developing typically. Another problem with Early Intervention Programs is a lack of parent involvement and acceptance. Parents not wanting to accept that their infant or toddler has a developmental delay or disability and then deny services or not follow through with the Individualized Family Service Plan provided to them. This happens because of a lack of knowledge on the parents end. “In a large measure the success of early intervention and family involvement is dependent upon our ability to assist families in maintaining their handicapped young children within the home—with the provision that both the children and family members can lead reasonably happy, productive lives.” (Bricker & Casuso
The idea behind least restrictive environment is that all students should have the opportunity to learn, if possible, in a mainstream classroom. If learning in a mainstream classroom is not possible, students who have special education needs must be put in an environment that is the least restrictive. However, there exists a lack of clarity when it comes to the specific language presented in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, which has led to school districts having various different interpretations regarding least restrictive environment (Alquraini, 2013). This week I sat down with Shirley Cummings, Special Education Coordinator for the Aqua Fria Union School District, and we
While walking through the front gates of County elementary school, you see children of all ages playing while they wait for the school bell to ring. Walking to the classroom that I will be observing you see students with their parent’s line up waiting to get signed in. The students are to be signed in by a parent or guardian for safety precautions, and shows that the child was signed into school. As a visitor, I am to sign myself in, this shows I was in the classroom, at what time was I there, and reason for visiting the classroom.
First of all, it is important to understand the different types of disabilities. As seen from the definition of a child with a disability above, there are several kinds of disabilities. The disabilities are based on the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and each disability involves cases in which a child’s educational performance is negatively affected (National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities, 2010). Some of the disabilities are more common than others, but it is important that teachers are familiar with each type of disability. Once...
The journal article provided a clear picture on how early childhood intervention provide service and who are classified as eligible for the service. The intent of the program is to shape and influence the child’s pro social interactions with people and matters. The author stated that more than 50 years of research has been done to test the effectiveness of early childhood intervention program. This is the reason why the program is still popular to a group of people living under the poverty level. This journal offer its readers information about early childhood intervention and how can a family avail or take advantage of this program especially for low income families. Infants and young children usually learn and develop in the context of the people who care and support them. This is the reason why an early intervention service is also available to caregivers. Educating parents and other careg...
Education for all has been the hue and cry for actions to take place to accommodate some 6.6 million students with disabilities in the United States public schools. Special services are needed which means an increase in the educational programs and because these disabilities are different in needs that individual programs had to be developed and these are referred to as Early Intervention Programs or EIP.Early Intervention programs are available to the community that aids families and their children that have a disability or are lacking academically. They provide numerous services such as counseling, group support and family education. These programs are essential to the community as it relates to accommodating children with disabilities. Places
In a perfect world, full inclusion would be the best approach to the education of children, placing students with disabilities in a regular classroom setting for the entire school day. So the students can participate in all regular school activities. Allowing the student to be involved with the regular curriculum and socializing with regular students will prepare them to deal with what they’ll face in the future. Unfortunately, there is a lot of controversy for special needs children entering a regular classroom setting. People believe that there are many pros and cons to mixing regular students and special needs students in a classroom.
Curriculum is the organized framework that explains the content that children are to learn, the processes through which children achieve the identified curricular goals, what teachers do to help children achieve these goals and the context in which teaching and learning occur. The best curriculum for early childhood teacher is developmentally appropriate curriculum that allows teachers to set-up an effective learning environment for children.
I have worked with many teachers in this line of work and have watched how they interact with the kids. I have worked with all kinds of kids with special needs, ranging from reading disabilities to severe mental retardation. Some of the teachers that I have worked with, I have not approved of their tactics on how they handled the kids, but you learn and you adapt. Eventually you will know what is right and what is wrong.
Acquiring a least restrictive environment allows disabled children to exceed their abilities in general classrooms with assistance if needed. For example, a cohesive approach such as in groups allows disabled students to benefit with not just the assistance from an aide but as well as the teacher and nondisabled peers.
placement for every child. Opponents of full inclusion contend that teaching students with disabilities poses a diverse range of educational challenges. The nature of the handicap may vary greatly, including communication disorders; mental retardation; emotional or behavioral disorders; severe multiple disabilities; other health impairments; deaf or hard of hearing; physical disabilities, low vision or blindness; and autism traumatic brain injury, and other specific learning disabilities. Such differences in disabilities are often difficult to...
Mazurek, K. & Winzer, M.A. (Eds.). (1994). Comparative Studies in Special Education. Washington, DC: Gallaudet University Press.
Currently, the ever-rising number of children living with and without disabilities learn and play with one another in various places, for instance, homes, schools, and in early childhood programs. Promoting both belonging and development for all children is a widely-adopted value among early childhood educators and professionals in our societies. Therefore, early childhood inclusions are a term that is commonly used to refer to these values and the views of the society. Dramatic changes have occurred that promote and guarantee certain rights for all the children to disabilities. These changes came as a result of the advocacies conducted by several families on behalf of their children (Winton, 2012). Many legislative battles led by Dr. Ann Turnbul and her husband Rud contributed to these significant fundamental changes in early childhood inclusion.
Early Intervention often characterised as intervening to assist children who have developmental delays to achieve positive outcomes, (Odom, Teferra, & Kaul, 2004; Talay-Ongan, 2001). It provides opportunities to assist with a range of development areas may lead to an increase in school readiness (Ramey & Ramey, 2004). Such interventions were built from the identification of children with developmental problems and disabilities that may be detrimental to their learning as well as promoting the necessary settings for a child’s healthy progress in all learning areas. It will guide the essential recommendations or plans suitably designed for the child. It incorporates a number of services such as health care, education and social service
I also encountered teachers acting as if they were afraid to approach him let alone show any signs of wanting to teach him in their classroom. The reason for their reactions in my opinion was a lack of receiving proper education to educate a student like my friend with that type of disability. So that is why I feel it is very important for teachers to be properly educated and trained in order to assist children with or without disabilities inside an inclusive setting of a classroom. This will also prepare teachers to be able to create activities and proper curriculum that is age appropriate for each student. Every student should and can feel welcome inside and outside of the classroom wi...
Children with disabilities need to be in a school and in a classroom where they are welcome to open arms and can feel comfortable in their own environment. All teachers and staff need to be able to fun, outgoing, and be able to be understanding when it comes to all students. It is hard for a student with disabilities to be accepted into a classroom if others are treating them differently, or if teachers are shutting them out because they are having a harder time with that child than the other students are. So welcoming the child into the community of the classroom will make things for the child with disabilities go a lot better. As a teacher it is their job to be able to show acceptance of the child once they come into the classroom, and should continue to show the acceptance throughout the child school years.