Meeting the Needs of Special Education Students

925 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Policies and legislation for inclusive education

Special education falls under the broad category of exceptional learners. Exceptional learners range from students reading years behind grade level, to students reading years ahead. Within this broad spectrum, special education students are defined as individuals with special needs in a way that address the students' individual differences and needs. Through the use of inclusion classes, mainstreaming, and individualized education plans, the needs of each individual student are met. “Education of physically, mentally, and emotionally handicapped children in the United States, until the 1960’s was provided through a mixture of institutionalization, private tutoring, private schooling, or state-run schools for the handicapped” (Human and Civil Rights: Essential Primary Sources). Before President Gerald R. Ford signed the Education for all Handicapped Children Act on December 2, 1975, “students with such conditions that prevented or hampered walking, developmental disabilities, or genetic conditions, such as Down Syndrome were often ignored, institutionalized, or kept at home without schooling” (Human and Civil Rights: Essential Primary Sources). After this act was enacted, the view of “special needs” was reformed. Individuals understood the concept more thoroughly, and tended to be more accepting to the idea. “The understanding of dyslexia, attention deficit disorder, auditory processing disorder, speech and language disorders, and other behavioral and neurological disorders improved” (Human and Civil Rights: Essential Primary Sources). The Education for All Handicapped Children Act in 1975 required that all children, regardless of severity of disability must receive FAPE from their local public school district. The significance o... ... middle of paper ... ...ct." Human and Civil Rights: Essential Primary Sources. Ed. Adrienne Wilmoth Lerner, Brenda Wilmoth Lerner, and K. Lee Lerner. Detroit: Gale, 2006. 459-462. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 26 Nov. 2011. Fuchs, Lynn S., and Douglas Fuchs. "Inclusive Schools Movement And The Radicalization Of Special Education Reform - Research and Read Books, Journals, Articles at Questia Online Library." Inclusive Schools Movement and the Radicalization of Special Education Reform 60 (1994). Questia - The Online Library of Books and Journals. Web. 23 Nov. 2011. Schultz Stout, Katie. "Special Education Inclusion | Special Education | Resource Pages on Issues | Issues & Advocacy | WEAC | Special Education | Resource Pages on Issues | Issues & Advocacy | Wisconsin Education Association Council." Wisconsin Education Association Council. 15 Mar. 2007. Web. 23 Nov. 2011.

Show More
Related

  • Planning to End Ableism through Universal Design for Learning

    2133 Words  | 5 Pages

    Hehir, T. (2009). New directions in special education: Eliminating ableism in policy and practice. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press.

    Read More

  • The Code of Ethics and the Principles of Professional Conduct of the Education Profession in Florida

    1526 Words  | 4 Pages

    Works Cited The "Civil Rights" Cornell University Law School, Inc. 2010. Web. The Web. The Web. 1 Apr. 2011.

    Read More

  • Classroom Management: Areas Of Responsibility In Classroom Management

    731 Words  | 2 Pages

    According to Kauffman and Hallahan (2005), exceptional children are those who require special education and related services if they are to realize their full human potential. These students require special education because they differ markedly from most students in one or more of the following ways: they may have intellectual disabilities, speech disorders, physical disabilities, autism, traumatic brain injury, impaired hearing, impaired sight, learning or attention disabilities, emotional or behavioural disorders, impaired sight or gifted

    Read More

  • The Failure of American Public Education

    1374 Words  | 3 Pages

    On January 1st, 1975 public law number 94-142 was The Education for All Handicapped Children Act. This law secured the fundamental ideals, rights and responsibilities to ascertain equal access to public education for all children who are crippled. What education has done in the years it has been around is that it simply makes life one sizably extensive, perplexed system of steps and processes. Our schools don’t accommodate the goal of a true education, but it makes it appear that they are. It would seem that the goal for a true education is for someone to absorb attention, but it is not always right to fill adolescent minds with careless facts or the ways of the world that is decided by a committee. The way that attention is gained for students is to give their own perception on things and have their own notion. From Report of the Massachusetts Board of Education, Horace Mann states that, “education, then, beyond all other devices of human origin, is the great equalizer of the conditions of men, – the balance wheel of the social machinery.” It explicates that the consequentiality of kinds of education, including political, moral, religious, perceptive, and physical are paramount to people and to education.

    Read More

  • Inclusion in the Public School Classroom

    1541 Words  | 4 Pages

    Shapiro, Art. "Special Education Inclusion, Making it Work." 2005. Education World. 27 March 2011 .

    Read More

  • Minorities in Special Education

    2005 Words  | 5 Pages

    Special education is a large part of the education system, which includes the mentally retarded, people with learning disabilities, the emotionally disturbed, hearing impaired, visually impaired, etc. Many people fail to include this system as one that can possibly involve discrimination, but those enrolled in special education has increased among all racial classifications. Between 1980 and 1990, the entire population enlisted in special education has increased. European American increased by 6%, African Americans increased by 13%, Hispanic Americans increased by 53%, and Asian Americans/Pacific Americans increased by 107.8% (Ford, Obiakor, p. 8). In the end, it is these students who ultimately experience low rates of employment, low income, and growing rates of incarceration. Another survey indicates t...

    Read More

  • Special Education Students: Inclusion vs Reality

    1330 Words  | 3 Pages

    Inclusion is a controversial subject which has been debated for decades. Susan Crowell in her article, Inclusion in the Classroom: Has it Gone Too Far?, explains that “inclusion is the idea that all children, including those with disabilities, should and can learn in a regular classroom.” In theory, the idea of all students being included and educated together is a philosophy which sounds morally correct, especially when considering that the disabled were not always treated with compassion. Often the disabled were institutionalized and banished from society, even in recent history. Ma...

    Read More

  • The Rehabilitation Act of 1973

    1092 Words  | 3 Pages

    Prior to 1975, educational options for a child living with a mental or physical disability were limited. The family of the handicapped child was most likely forced down an path that lead to the institutionalization of the child and distancing the child from the benefits of receiving a free and public education. It was after federal legislation passed the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (42 U.S.C. § 1983) that monumental changes began to develop that allowed a better understanding of the needs and capabilities of people with various handicapping conditions. Soon after this legislation, Public Law 94-142, also known as the Education for all Handicapped Children’s Act of 1975 (EHA) would further increase the public awareness by providing a free appropriate public education (FAPE) for children suffering from disabilities. Following the EHA legislation reformations concerning the education of disabled individuals would soon become numerous and legislative acts were passed enabling accommodations for disabled individuals in the fields of vocations and technology. In 1990, President Gerald Ford signed legislation replacing P.L. 94-142 with the Individual with Disabilities Education Act of 1990 (IDEA, 20 USC 1400). By definition, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is a law ensuring services to children with disabilities throughout the nation (US Department of Education, 2011).

    Read More

  • From Inclusion to Friendship

    1876 Words  | 4 Pages

    “The 1% of US students with labels of severe disabilities including mental retardation have been historically excluded from ‘inclusive’ education” (Bentley, 2008, p. 543). Laws such as PL 94-142 and “No Child Left Behind” (as cited in Bentley), say that ‘public school students with all types of disabilities be educated in the least restrictive environment—‘to the maximum extent possible…with children who do not have disabilities’ the majority of these students with special education labels, such as, mental retardation and multiple disabilities are still isolated in special education classrooms (Bentley, 2008, p. 545). Wehmeyer (as cited in Bentley), points out that mere access does not promote authentic participation (Bentley, 2008, p. 546). Burkowski et al (as cited in Webster and Cater), “Friendship has been defined as a bond between two individuals that is stable across time and involves mutual affection, mutual preference and having fun together” (Webster and Carter, 2007, p. 201). It is up to parents, teachers and other paraprofessionals to seek ways to facilitate and encourage the types of positive interactions that will foster these types of friendships. If done successfully all students will benefit and there will be true inclusion.

    Read More

  • Special Education: Examining the Pros and Cons of Inclusion in Education

    1069 Words  | 3 Pages

    “to the maximum extent appropriate, handicapped children, including those children in public and private institutions or other care facilities, are educated with children who are not handicapped, and that special classes, separate schooling, or other removal of handicapped children from regular educational environment occurs only when the nature or severity of the handicap is such that education in regular classes with the use of supplementary aids and services cannot be achieved satisfactorily. (P.L 94-142, Section 1412) (Villa p. 5).

    Read More

  • The Civil Rights Act of 1964

    1836 Words  | 4 Pages

    Levy, Peter B., The Civil RIghts Movement, Greenwood Press, Westport, Connecticut, 1998. Web. 24 June 2015.

    Read More

  • Minority Students in Special Education Programs

    1572 Words  | 4 Pages

    The term special education is hard to define because recently, it has taken on many new meanings. During the 1960’s people were trying to get the Federal government to fund efforts to provide a free and appropriate education for children with disabilities. Also during this time and into the 1970’s, parents of children with disabilities began to address state laws that would require local education agencies to give special education services to students with disabilities (ERIC Clearinghouse on Disabilities and Gifted Education [ERIC], 1998). Even after the passage of these laws in many states, children still ...

    Read More

  • Education: Special Education

    659 Words  | 2 Pages

    Special education is a program set up for kids with special needs that need help. You can be in this program from the day you are born till you are 21 years of age. These kids range from a lot of disabilities like as little as a problem as paying attention to as big as having a handicapped disability. Each student has their own file. And being a part of special education you have to be organized and you have to know what you are doing. You have a bunch of paperwork you have to redo each year. Special Education helps with numerous areas of disability. Each kid has to have a goal they should “reach,” if the goal they had does not get reached that next year when they reevaluate the IEP and set a different goal.

    Read More

  • Special Education Placement in Public Schools

    1918 Words  | 4 Pages

    During the late 1980’s and 1990’s the number of children with learning disabilities receiving special education services grew rapidly, but during 1998 and 2007 the number of children classified as having a LD has declined by 7% (Cortiella, 2009). “In 2007, 59% of students with LD spent 80% or more of their in-school time in general education classrooms. In 2000, that figure was just 40%” (Cortiella, 2009). In addition, students with disabilities are spending more time with students in traditional classroom settings. According to the Department of Education, “approximately 6 million children (roughly 10 percent of all school-aged children) receive special education services” (Pardini, 2011).

    Read More

  • The Positive Effects of Inclusion of Special Education Students

    2372 Words  | 5 Pages

    Special education has undergone immense changes through the years. Research and studies on the debate of whether or not inclusion is appropriate for special education students is just beginning to cultivate. The question has always been, what is best for these students? Schools and teachers are becoming leaders in the exploration of new paths, in search of new teaching styles and techniques. Mainstreaming or inclusion at the middle school and high school level, which is educating students with special needs in regular classes with their non-disabled peers, has proven to be beneficial for the special education students cognitive and social developmental needs. It can not only benefit the handicapped student but all students in the classroom.

    Read More

More about Meeting the Needs of Special Education Students

Open Document