I. Imagine walking into school, through the white and blue halls of Upton Middle School to your locker. Going through the motions, you move to dial in in your combination. This time however, the numbers switch around… or maybe your fingers are finding it difficult to mess with the lock. As you gather your things for class, a friend calls to your from across the hall, but they sound as if you were under water. This is what life can be like for someone with special needs, a daily, never ending struggle for “normality.” Although disabilities can be coped with, but there is no cure. Not even fifty years ago proper education for handicapped was hard to come by. Since the 1600s, the lives of those with special needs have been greatly improved through an increase in the public awareness of disorders and teacher education, which have come together to create the special needs education programs we have today.
II. Special Education is available for students with a wide range of disabilities.
A. Special Education includes students with medical, emotional, or learning disabilities that may need special help in school.
1. Students can have the following and be eligible for special education: Unusually high intelligence, speech and language impairments, mental retardation, emotional disorders, hearing and visual problems, orthopedic impairments, autism, deafness or blindness, and traumatic brain injury.
B. The most commonly though of disability would be someone with autism or mental retardation.
1. Autism is a medical disability that occurs during pregnancy. It affects a person’s speech and social interaction along with some developmental problems.
2. Mental Retardation can occur through a genetic abnormality or during problems...
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...task or action, and, can cause them to have a hard time relating to others.
F. In the future, we look for special education to become more specialized to its students.
1. Children should receive the same curriculum as their peers, but in a different way that is best suited to their learning style.
2. Special Needs should be encouraged to do their best and to accomplish what they need to in order to learn grow in school.
VII. Although the quality of special education has greatly increased over the years, it still has a long way to go. We are always going to be learning how to best educate and treat these children. With research and technology ever changing, so will the needs of the students. The special education programs that are currently in place will proceed to evolve as public awareness, knowledge of disorders, and teacher education continue improving.
Hehir, T. (2009). New directions in special education: Eliminating ableism in policy and practice. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press.
During the twentieth century, drastic changes were made to vastly improve the special education system to ensure that all students, regardless of their ability, were given equal rights according to the Constitution of the United States.
The education system is arguably the most beneficial system in the world; however, it also contains many controversial practices. Proper funding, discrimination, and curriculum are just some of the problems in today’s education system. Everyone has a different opinion about what is best for our children and it is impossible to please everyone. As long as the educational system is in tact, then there will be confusion and debate within the system and its’ administrators. The only thing that can be done is attempting to make it so that everyone will benefit equally, but this is much more difficult than one would assume. I will focus on the aspect of discrimination on minorities within special education and more specifically the following questions: Does the special education system discriminate against minorities? If so, how? What can be done, if anything, to correct or improve this system?
My personal philosophy of special education drives not from teaching in the field, but from, observations, and personal experience, and the workshops I attended. I have had the opportunity to work with individuals with special needs in many different settings, all this help cultivate my knowledge in handling the needs of the special needed student. Special needs students have the ability to learn, to function, to grow, and most importantly to succeed. The difference comes into how they learn or how they need to be taught. There are as many beliefs about the "hows" as there are teachers and each of us forms our own philosophy through our experiences and research. As a student in a special education teachers’ program, learners with special needs includes all students in special education programs in the public school system or other appropriate settings. However, the students I would like to focus on in my career are students with learning disabilities and therefore when thinking about learners with special needs, my mind focuses on this population.
One obstacle that I believe many special needs students and families will face is understanding and dealing with the disability itself. Speaking from experience, this process can take time to understand and accept. This is where a special education teacher plays a significant role, assisting the student and family with information and support for understanding the student’s disability, facilitating education programs, and most importantly hope and progress for a bright future. Another obstacles that students with disabilities may face, is social interaction and acceptance. It is vital that all special education teachers and programs, try to incorporate strong social connections with their regular education peers and other community members and
Two years ago, I embarked on a journey that would teach me more than I had ever imagined. As a recent college graduate, I was thrilled to finally begin my teaching career in a field I have always held close to my heart. My first two years as a special education teacher presented countless challenges, however, it also brought me great fulfillment and deepened my passion for teaching students with special needs. The experiences I have had both before and after this pivotal point in my life have undoubtedly influenced my desire to further my career in the field of special education.
Horn, W.F. & Tynan, D. (2001) Revamping special education. Public Interest 144, 36. Retrieved November 6, 2002 from ERIC/EBSCO database.
The treatment of individuals with disabilities has changed dramatically since the 1800’s. Reynolds 1988, describes, Progressive inclusion, the evolution of services provided to those with various disabilities. In the early 1800’s residential institutions, or asylums were seem as common place accommodations for individuals with hearing, visual, mental or emotional impairments. Institutions remained the primary educational support until a century later in the early 1900’s. The parents of students with disabilities brought upon a legislation change. During the 1950’s and 1960’s, these parents pressured courts and legislatures to introduce a change in educational services. Reynolds (1988), discussed the birth of The Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975. This act mandated that all children, regardless of disability, had the right to a free, appropriate education in the least restrictive environment. As a result, resource and self-contained classrooms expanded in public schools. In 1991 the Individuals with Disabilities Act was inducted. As a result professionals in the field of special education are giving more consideration to placing students in the least restrictive environment.
During my research for this paper there was so much I knew about special education already. In our Intro to Education class we talked about a lot with this program. As a teacher you have to have your stuff together so you don’t get the students files mixed up. You also have to know exactly what you are doing. This whole thing can be so stressful. You have to make sure the students goals are not too much. Special Education teachers are hard to find. But when you get one you keep them for a long time.
I have been a Special Education Para-Educator for eleven years now. My decision to do this was based on the needs of my family and kids. When my last child was born, the doctors did not think that he would make it. He had a heart malfunction and was born with RSV and Von Villibrantds disease (which I did not find out until he was three); those factors lead me to want to work with special education kids, knowing that I could make a difference.
What is special education? The common belief is that it a program only dedicated to helping students with disabilities, whether physical or mentally. This is not entirely accurate in regards of what special education is. While special education does provide assistance to students with disabilities ns meet their needs in quality education (Küpper 2009)—the program extends to all students facing difficulties keeping up with the pace of learning (Huerta 2009). This brings the next question onto the table: the importance of special education. Before 1970s, majority of students with disabilities were shun into isolation with little to no education in general classes (Bradley 2016). However, with the passage of Education for All Handicapped Children
In society today, there are many children and parents who face the diagnosis of having a developmental disability that would qualify them for special education and needs. This time can come with many questions for the parents when they realize the specialized care and education their child will need. Most often, questions arise about their schooling and how they will be included with other children, as well as what services are available to their child. How their disability impacts their life is a very valid concern because their education will be impacted. When a disability is discovered, it effects trickle down from the child to the parents, to the teachers and finally the medical and educational specialists.
To begin with, full inclusion in the education system for people with disabilities should be the first of many steps that are needed to correct the social injustices that people with disabilities currently face. Students with disabilities are far too frequently isolated and separated in the education system (Johnson). They are often provided a diluted, inferior education and denied meaningful opportunities to learn. There are many education rights for children with disabilities to p...
Special education is an incredibly important, but often underappreciated aspect of education. There is a stigma around individuals with disabilities, that leads people to assume those in special education are less capable or smart as their peers in in a strictly traditional classroom setting. That could not be farther from the truth though, and the individuals in special education are just as capable of learning and maturing in to successful adults. As a future teacher, I was not really aware of how little I knew about special education until I enrolled in this course. This course has helped change and shape my views of special education, and helped me gain a better understanding of what exceptional children are and how I can better serve them
Special Education is the education of students with special needs in a way that addresses the students’ individual differences and needs. And it is a specially designed instruction that meets the needs of students with disabilities as they attend to school, it also includes related services and supplementary aids and services. It helps every student with disabilities to have a chance to learn and showcase their own talent and intelligence. Without these students, Special Education wouldn’t be an organization or community who are willing to help these students with disabilities to learn and to attain their needs.