Children with Special Needs and How They Interact

When I was in high school I volunteered for a program called “Very Special Arts.” I worked with children having the full range of special education needs to expose them to art. Many of the children had difficulty holding things, speaking, or understanding everything, but they were treated with equal respect and attention, regardless of their disability. The result was crystal clear. All the participants expressed their own appreciation of art through their enthusiasm and excitement. My volunteer experience taught me the importance of tolerance in working with people from many different backgrounds and having an array of special needs. I also experienced the joy of working with disabled children that have diverse

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.

In ninth grade, my mother suggested that I volunteer with peers at my high school who are special needs. She thought it would be good for me to meet other people my age who have their unique struggles in school, much like myself. I protested originally, but little did I know I would love volunteering with my peers, regardless of their disability. During this time, I signed up to volunteer with a local organization called Buddy Ball. At Buddy Ball, I had the opportunity to teach children with disabilities ages five through twenty-one baseball. When I volunteered with my peers, I mainly saw high schoolers with severe autism, intellectual disabilities, and emotional disturbances, whereas with Buddy Ball most of the participants had severe autism, intellectual disability, muscular dystrophy, cerebral palsy, spina bifida, epilepsy, or a multiple of disabilities. Both of these experiences allowed me to gain knowledge of a variety of special

I interviewed a woman who has a child with special needs. The child is now in kindergarten. The mother reported having a normal pregnancy with no complications. This was the second child for the mother, who has another child who was five years old at the time. The mother disclosed that during the pregnancy, she was in the process of separating from the child’s father and that this caused a moderate level of stress. At the time of the pregnancy, the mother was also working full time as a waitress in a local restaurant. The mother reported that her job required her to be on her feet for long periods of time. She was able to work until around a week before her child was born. The mother reports that the child was born around two weeks

These students make the students with disabilities feel they do not belong or there is something wrong with them when there is not. Additionally, I find the students who get along with students with disabilities are the ones who have taken the time to get the person rather than the label. Students who are introduced to other students with disabilities at young do not discriminate against these students. Their peers at younger do not see the differences as much an example is the comments made by the Patty’s sister how she did not realize until they were older there was some “wrong” with Patty. Another example from the film talks about the mother’s concern about how the students’ opinion might change about Samuel as he grow older. I think if the friends Samuel has, or people who really respect the individual with a disability growing up and learning stereotypes would not matter because they can see the individual for who they are and would not treat them any

Over the course of this semester, I have had a valuable experience observing the children in the special services classroom at Coulter Grove Intermediate School in Maryville, Tennessee. During this observation, I did not only spend time observing the developmentally and physically disabled children that went to the school, but also their neurotypical peers that were put in the classroom as “peer buddies”. Peer buddies acted as friends to the disabled children in the classroom in order to expose the children to those with different abilities and challenges to them. The special services department covers the whole school, but I concentrated my attention on the children in the lower grades. These children were mainly white, but there was one young African-American girl. While the racial divide was uneven, the divide between the genders was around equal. Since the special services classrooms concentrated on children who needed more attention than children who were developing normally, there were more teachers than there is in a typical classroom. The number of teachers in the room varied throughout the day, but there were usually three or four in the classroom at any given time. I spent most of my time observing in the classroom, but also spent time in the cafeteria and playground, which opened me up to even more opportunities observing neurotypical children. In this final application paper, I will summarize my observations and analyze how exactly they match up to what we have

Data taken from the 1997-2008 National Health Interview Surveys of US showed that 1 out of every 6 children had developmental disabilities (Boyle et al, 2011). These disabilities were tabulated as including autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and other forms of developmental delay. According to the survey, these disabilities increased and now require more health and education interventions. Children aged 3-17 years old participated in the survey. Parent-respondents reported their children's diagnoses as including attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, intellectual disability, cerebral palsy, autism, seizures, stuttering or stammering, hearing loss, blindness, learning disorders and other forms of developmental delay. These disabilities were much more prevalent in boys than in girls. They were lowest among Hispanic children as compared with non-Hispanic white and black children. Low income and public health insurance were associated with the prevalence. The rate of these disabilities increased from 12.84% to 15.94% in the last 13 years. Autism, ADHD and other developmental delays increased in all socio-demographic sub-groups, except for autism among non-Hispanic black children. The survey called for additional research on the influence of changing risk factors and changes in the acceptance and the benefits of early services (Boyle et al).

I felt that they should be educated separately for their own protection, I feared that other children would tease them. I also was worried that certain types of disabilities may cause distractions in the classroom. After viewing the IDEA video, the People First Language webinar, and the Overview of Inclusive Practices webinar power point, I have changed my opinion on inclusion.

I know that in today’s society more and more special learners are placed into the classroom. Getting to know your student will help you greatly. Parents can often be a huge help! Most are more than willing to help you understand their child more. I also believe having a welcoming environment for all students is greatly needed. If the student does not feel welcome in my classroom I will talk with other staff and parents to help see how I can accommodate. If the student does not feel comfortable in an elective class I could speak with the teacher and figure out ways to resolve this. Some special learners feel left out and have a difficultly interacting socially with other students. One way I can help with this is by assigning or having volunteers for lunch buddies. I believe this could help students to understand each other

During my morning at Gray-New Gloucester Middle School, I sat in on a wonderful special education classroom. I started my observation at 7:15am which was great because I was able to observe the students coming into school and see how they settle in and see their morning routines. The students came in and put their bags away and got out their folders and pencils and sat down at their assigned table. Each student ate their breakfast along with working on their morning work. Their morning work was a worksheet having to do with subtracting money and working with decimals. While working on their morning work each student was very calm. I was able to talk with the teacher a little bit before class and she explains to me that the students in her class either have autism or an intellectual disability. While we waited for the bell to ring their was one little girl who took an interest in talking with me. She was showing me her stuffed animal and telling me his name and what they like to do together. It’s really great having the students interact with you even if its just as simple as that.

Throughout the past five years, I have had a lot of experience with individuals with special needs. For two summers, I volunteer at Camp Barnabas, which is a summer camp for individuals with special needs. I got to spend many weeks becoming

Children with disabilities show negative behavioral problems that disrupt class and students learning. This happens when parents are registering their child and choose not to inform the social worker of the child disability. Therefore, the staff cannot be informed of how to interact with the child until these behaviors are shown.

Children with special needs are slightly different from non-disabled kids, but they’re should not be a barrier between non-disabled children and children with disabilities. Special needs covers a wide range. Some children with physical disabilities use wheelchair, or cane while other children with learning disabilities such as, autism, or emotional disorder. Children with special needs are like all children they want to make friends. Non-disability children want respect, love, good education and job of their dream. Children with special needs can do the same things non-disabled kid do, but it can take them longer. It requires additional explanation or attention. Parents of children with special needs usually feel isolated and uncertain about their child 's future. Schools can help them find support that children are not alone and help is available. Teachers should meet with parents in order to get to know the children better, the specific of their children. Special teachers may come into the class to work one-on-one with the student, for individualized attention. Change begins with an honest examination of understandings, knowledge and belief. Children with special needs should spend more time with non-disabled kids. Children with special needs should study more at public school to learn from

For years children with special needs were ushered off to separate classes and schools. Children with special needs have the right to attend classes with their same aged peers in the same classroom with support. Students with special needs deserve the same opportunities they would have if circumstances were different. Inclusion gives those students with special needs the chance to be part of the community; able to form relationships outside of the family unit. All students benefit from inclusion; students with disabilities develop social skills and develop friendships while non-disabled students learn tolerance and acceptance.

Mother: We tried for several months to get pregnant before we were successful. We both were reluctant to try for a child again because of a traumatic miscarriage I experienced several years prior. We both really wanted to be parents and made a tough decision.