OSERS Special Education

Special education has been a very important topic through the years since the beginning of the education program in the United States because of its philosophy on inclusion and educating individuals no matter their condition, context or cultural status. The purpose of Schooling students with special need is basic and fundamental for the growth of our Nation, is to identify children with unusual needs and help them fulfill those needs

Throughout the ages, people with disabilities have been hidden away at homes or institutions and were often not educated. This was common practice and as such, when the education system was designed, children with disabilities were not even considered. Then, starting soon after the civil rights movement in the 50’s, a series of lawsuits was brought against school boards and the federal government took notice. Then the Education for all Handicapped Children Act of 1975 was passed and these children were finally allowed the education they deserved. As time went

IDEA (Public Law 94-142) guarantees a Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) to every child with a disability. It provides how children are identified and educated, how they are evaluated, and provides due process protections for children and families. Before students can be placed in special education services, they must be evaluated and qualify for one or more of the thirteen special education services outlined in IDEA. When the student’s evaluation is complete and eligibility is determined, an Individual Education Plan (IEP) must be written to meet the needs of that child. As long as the student is making educational progress, then FAPE is viewed as being met.

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is a federal education law that ensures students with needs receive a free and appropriate public education (FAPE) in the least restrictive environment. The students of needs are identified by the specific school’s team of educational professionals, who develop an IEP (Individual Educational Plan) that is specially designed to meet the needs of the student, as well as being a tool to assess student progress. With the extent of disabilities, the IDEA does not demand equal results, but requires that students with disabilities merely benefit from their education (Essex, 2016). IDEA focuses on the identified specific needs of the students; and its services are utilized to address these needs.

“Listening to families is key in working with them as partners in supporting the learning and development of their child with special needs”. IDEA (2004) has mandated that individuals with disabilities be provided educational opportunities with non-disabled peers in the least restrictive environment. IDEA (2004) further notes that parental involvement is required as part of the decision making process. This has proven to be one of the most important elements to the educational program of students with disabilities. Prior to laws governing

Education is the key to a fulfilling life. But for children with special educational needs and disabilities,

The educational system in the United States has not always provided comparable education to students with disabilities. Not until 1975, when congress passed the Education for All Handicapped Children Act in 1975, were public school systems were required to provide “free and appropriate” education to children with disabilities. This law is currently referred to as Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 2004 (IDEA). These laws provide a legal precedence to ensure students with disabilities receive special education services (Hallahan, Kauffman & Pullen, 2012, p. 16).

With the heavy cost of the special education, about 22% or $30 billion of the budget, many politicians and administrators would like to come up with a more cost effective solution. “Most hope to save money by pushing disabled children out of the small, specialized classes that many of them need to succeed and into crowded, ill equipped classrooms where they will compete with non disabled peers”, says Brent Staples

If everyone stood up to be a voice for those who are silenced, like sunlight burning through darkness, could those who are lame begin to take a stand? Could the blind begin see the change within this world? Could the deaf suddenly hear victory ringing around them? Prior to the 1970’s, few to no disabled students were educated in public schools because their needs that required extensive care were unable to be addressed by school faculty. In 1975, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act was passed. This act requires public schools to allow students the right to education, regardless of their disability. Special Education provides access to education to children with intellectual and physical disabilities. Services are divided into categories based on the disabilities of the child.. These include: Traumatic Brain Injury,multiple disabilities, orthopedic impairment, speech impairment, hearing impairment, visual impairment, intellectual impairment, and developmental. delays. After children are eligible for services, an Individualized Education Plan, mandated by the IDEA, is established. Within this plan , there are objectives and goals of which the parents and Special Education teachers decide where the child is weak and what they need help accomplishing. Physical therapists, Occupational therapists,and Adapted Physical Education teachers provide total assistance to

In 2014 the United States census recorded around seventy four million children under the age of eighteen living in America. Out of the seventy four million, around thirteen percent of those children will be diagnosed with some sort of disability before the age of five. Now that may not seem like a large amount of children, but it is large enough to have the education for those with a disability altered to help them learn in the most effective way. The education is even altered specifically for each student since no disability is the same. Unfortunately a personalized education, or even an education at all for children with disabilities was not always available. But we can see today how the federal and state governments have had a role on improving the education for those with special needs.

Our country’s Legislative system has set many laws in place to protect the educational rights of all students, which allows for students to have a greater opportunity for educational success with funding levels varying between the states. Hooper and Umansky’s book, Young Children with Special Needs, states that the majority of early childhood intervention programs began under the "umbrella of Maternal and Child Health (MCH),” which was put into place in 1935 in accordance with the Social Security Act. The Americans with Disabilities Act and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) are two programs stemming from this historical piece of legislation. The Americans with Disabilities Act was an anti-discrimination law that allowed for more students to have access to certain facilities and resources giving them a better chance to succeed in their education. IDEA made it mandatory for the state to provide special education service programs for children between the ages of three and five. The parents with children who are included in IDEA typically receive grants to help them fund their child's education. Another piece of legislation that is widely utilized in classrooms today is the Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP). This plan develops a plan of action for the family with children that receive special education services and allows the information to further assist the child beyond school grounds. In use today is the Affordable Care Act (2012) that allowed for programs to be funded that look to prevent and care for children

Special education is a fairly new part of the public school system. Promotion for it started in the early 1900’s; parents came together to form groups to show the public that children with disabilities have educational needs too. Eventually these groups became noticed. “In 1961, John F. Kennedy

In 1975, Congress passed the “Handicapped Children Act” (Gibb & Dyches, 2016, p. 1). The Handicapped Children Act ensured that no matter what disability a child had, the child is entitled to appropriate and free public education. Later in 2004, the “Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA)”, restructured the Handicapped Children Act (Gibb & Dyches, 2016, p. 1). According to IDEA, special education is unique instructions that are specifically designed for individuals with special needs from 3 to 21 years old (Gibb & Dyches, 2016, p. 1).

Prior to the enactment of the IDEA, many school systems ignored the plight of those children who have disabilities. Consequently the IDEA follows a two pronged requirement. All states are required to take as active rather than passive approach. By an active approach, it is required that state governments very actively seek out and identify those students with specifically listed special needs disabilities. The second prong of this first principle is that the state’s offer of educational service must be absolutely all inclusive and thoroughly comprehensive. All special needs students must have the same chance for a public education that their peers of the same age have. Furthermore, all special needs students age 6 to 17 must have the chance to receive special education. To assure that state agencies are subjected to very detailed obligations to locate and analyze the cases of all children up to the age of 21 who may possibly fit into one of the special needs categories. The state is obligated to actually go out and find every possibly covered student and carefully evaluate the facts of his or her case.

A person’s initial reaction when they see a child with special needs is typically compassion; however that is not and has not always been the case. For this very reason the federal and state governments have put into action certain laws to protect these children and their families. There is always room for improvement but it is a good start and has helped with providing education to fit the individual needs of these children.