Curriculum And Instruction For Atypical Learners

Because of the stigma surrounding the intelligence of students in special education, many children are embarrassed when others find out about their curriculum. Oftentimes students receiving altered instruction have lower self-esteem and lower expectations for themselves because of how they are perceived. Even when they are fully mentally capable, people will treat them differently because of the circumstances in which they are educated. To most people with disabilities such as blindness, deafness, extreme dyslexia, and autism, it is offensive to be talked to like they aren’t capable of understanding- something that wouldn’t happen as much if we changed our view of what special education is and who exactly receives it.

Students with special needs should be placed into specialized schools so they are able to receive individualized learning. If they are in a classroom specific to their needs, they are able to receive much needed attention. In order to receive the optimal level of attention that is needed, schools would have to consider reducing class sizes or hiring multiple teachers for one classroom so more help would be readily available for these disabled students. Corwin argues that today’s schools offer a general curriculum and that they should convert to a specialized system. He states that students of various backgrounds, ethnicities, IQ scores, and physical, emotional, and mental disabilities should not all be placed in the same classroom because students learn in diverse ways and at different paces. Further, it is necessary for teachers to become specialized in certain areas in order to effectively teach students with special needs (Corwin).

In the educational world, there are countless programs, curricula, strategies, manipulates, and resources for teachers to pull from in order to aide in the teaching of concepts and learning of students. Whatever method(s) a school or district has deemed best practice, or adopted as their curriculum, tend to be the instructional practices or resources utilized the most by those teachers. Additionally, teachers will also have preference to teaching styles, resources, and materials they use for their students. While autonomy in any classroom is important to students’ academic growth, one must also be careful to select and implement instructional with great intention and purpose. Consideration to students needs is equally important as the mandate of teaching standards and demonstrating proficiency amongst students. Even when teaching non-disabled students, it can be time consuming and overwhelming to plan lessons so just how much more is involved when planning for students with significant disabilities (SD)? Better yet, what are appropriate instructional strategies to use for students with SD? Regardless of the instructional setting, these are considerations that must be given when teaching students with SD in order to maximize their learning opportunities to learn

The research in this paper is to discuss strategies used to teach students with severe disabilities in mathematics. “According to the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, (AAIDD) Intellectual disability is characterized by significant limitations both in intellectual functioning and in adaptive behavior as expressed in conceptual, social, and practical adaptive skills. The diagnoses of the disability should come before the age of 18 (Westling, Fox, & Carter, 2015).” Mathematics is a core subject area that can pose a challenge for a large amount of students in America, and especially those with severe disabilities. “According to a study, only a quarter of students with disabilities that

Victoria Dickerson is a second year teacher at Carolina High School teaching in the Self-Contained special education classroom. Victoria’s expectations for her students are high and she often uses innovative techniques which include project-based learning strategies. Her students are always solving real world problems that will not only prepare them for work but provides them with the necessary life skills they need to be productive after high school. The students in the classroom range from being low-functioning intellectually disabled students to students how are on the middle school level in reading and are categorized as learning disabled. Even with the population she serves, she still challenges her students to be excellent. During

Teaching students with exceptional abilities requires funding, training and planning. Being in a regular classroom with children from various cultures, ethnic backgrounds and intellectual ability help students learn how to work together toward a common goal: reduce discrimination and stereotyping people with physical and mental limitations. Instructional strategies that break the work down so everyone learns better can improve education as well as reduce cost. This is achieved by including special education students in environments that will allow them to develop normal social interactions as well as receive specific attention to their learning needs. ("What is Special Education”)

It also meets their academic and social skills. This pedagogy will enable me to detect the strengths in all students. A teacher may fail to the strengths of a difficult student. Sometimes their behavioral weaknesses overshadow their strengths. Building on a student’s strengths can aid them in their development.

The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) identify expectations of what the students will be able to achieve by the end of the school year. The standards provide teachers and curriculum developers the opportunity to use their best findings and available tools to meet these ends (California Department of Education, 2013). The reader needs to understand that the teaching principles implemented by individuals who received extensive training in college-based teacher training programs in order to understand how the CCSS identifies and supports According to Artiles (2003) the Individual with Disability Act (IDEA) 1990 changed the classroom structure in the united states dramatically in the past thirty years. The refinement of the special education

In order for students with disabilities to be working towards the same standards as their classmates, they need to receive appropriate accommodations and modifications. To identify how a student will access

The accommodations Andrea made in her classroom for special needs students include seating them close to the teacher’s desk, more time for tests and homework, extra help with homework, work with a paraprofessional, give a handout of notes, use of notes on tests, and shortening assignments. All of these techniques seem like proper accommodations to make for students who have disabilities. In addition to these techniques, Andrea emphasized a few methods that she had experienced the most success with. The first of these methods was station-learning. She explained that

Over the past few decades, education has dramatically changed. Educational laws were made to protect individuals with disabilities and to provide free and appropriate public education (FAPE) for ALL students. No longer are there institutions or special schools where disabled students are sent. Today we must educate all students and for most teachers, these exceptional students are in their regular education classrooms right alongside their same aged peers. How do you include and teach these students? Throughout this course, you will learn how to meet the needs of exceptional students, which will not only enhance your own teaching but enhance the lives of exceptional students.

Differentiating for students with disabilities can be extremely challenging, particularly for new teachers. Furthermore, special education students are mainstreamed into general education classroom more than ever. The problem is that general education teachers are only required to take one survey course in special education throughout their undergraduate career. Teachers are overwhelmed trying to figure out how to differentiate their lessons. Furthermore, with increased accountability,

Snell, M. E. & Brown, F. (2006). Instruction of Students with Severe Disabilities (6th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall

The modern classroom has many challenges that face it. Shrinking budgets, less parental involvement, higher expectations, and growing class sizes, just to name a few. If this list was not daunting enough you also have the special needs students that have an array problems in your classroom that need specialized attention, lessons and seating. There are many forms of diverse learners from students who suffer from ADHD to physical disabilities to students with autism to ones that are bullied in school. There are so many things going on in our students lives we sometimes forget they have lives, pressures and disabilities that affect their performance and attitude in our class that have a profound impact on how they learn. For this paper I

According to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, students with disabilities should be placed in a “least restrictive environment.” One of the main ideas of this act was to improve the learning experiences of students with disabilities by giving them learning opportunities outside of a special education classroom. The number of students with disabilities being placed in their general education classrooms is increasing more and more each year. The U.S Department of Education’s 27th annual report to Congress on the implementation of The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (2005) indicates that the number of students with disabilities in general education classrooms has risen to almost 50 percent. This is about a 17 percent increase from the 1997 U.S