The Ethics Of Special Education

The amount of people who live with disabilities is a controversial number. Depending on what law and diagnostic tools used, a person may have a visible disability, or one that may lie beneath the surface of his or her appearance. Some people believe that the term “disability” is merely a label use to hold back, or prescribe helplessness. Meanwhile, individuals who have been properly diagnosed with disabilities struggle to maintain respect and acceptance every day. In plain language, there is a lot of misunderstanding between people with disabilities and those without. It is firstly important to get everyone on the same page regarding the definition of disability.

The CEC Ethical Principles for Special Education Professionals are just making sure that the student’s best interest is put first in a safe and regulated way. The principles are to make sure special education teachers are held to a high standard when teaching students with disabilities. The three principles that stood out to me the most were principle #1, principle #3, and principle #8. I think all the principles were important and should be upheld by special education teachers.

This week’s readings discussed consequences for special education students. It was very interesting to see the different court case rulings for each case. Teachers, administrators and parents need to make sure they have everything accurate when taking a case like many of these to court. In this paper I will discuss the five key points in the articles and readings stood out to me the most, how and if my beliefs changed or were altered, and how I might apply the content to the classroom and instruction.

In another article, “The Functionalist View of Special Education and Disability: Deconstructing the Conventional Knowledge Tradition,” it discusses how Special Education is problematic, due to professional models, practices, and tools that are created from functionalists assumptions and theories, which have been proven to be ineffective, and sometimes harmful (Skrtic, 2005). This article is a great framework for how society has created the stigma of individuals with health, and physical needs, to the term, disabilities. For example, Skrtic explains how, Special Education was founded in part, by students who were removed, and contained due to inefficient organizations and defective students (Skrtic, 2005). Those students who didn’t fit into societies norms, were considered to be deviant, and then labeled as having a disability, or worse, labeled

Osborne, A. G., & Russo, C. J. (2007). Special Education and The Law: A Guide for Practitioners (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press

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

The work of Wright and Wright relates that individuals who have children with special needs are well aware of the requirement that they comprehend the laws relating to those special needs in education and the rights of their children. The parents of special needs children know that testing is the primary factor in determining the educational needs and benefits as well as the advancement or alternatively the lack of advancement of their child in the educational endeavor. Wright and Wright note that decisions concerning the child's education is such that must be formulated on the basis of ""¦objective information and facts" rather than reactions and beliefs that are subjective and emotionally based.

“Cameras in Special Education Classrooms a Complex Issue” has stemmed a controversial debate across the nation. Terrence Rideau received unexplained injuries while attending a middle school in Texas. Terrence is now 21 years old and is diagnosed with severe cognitive and physical disabilities. Terrence’s mom felt the need to lobby for cameras in special

From the first day a child is born, parents are there to nurture their child, to support them as they grow and develop. There is a lot to learn about raising a child under normal circumstances, but when a child has special needs parents must learn this whole new language of medical and special education terms (Overton, 2005). Parents enter this new world where navigating for the best interest of their child is riddled with challenges and obstacles that they need to somehow overcome. This is especially true when parents are dealing with the special education program in their child’s school.

All the ethical principles stated on “Council for Exceptional Children,” play a vital role in the special education field. I chose the three ethical principles that are most important to me, i.e. the essential ethical principle that any educator must have in order to serve a special needs student and their families. Principle number five states that, “developing relationships with families based on mutual respect and actively involving families and individuals with exceptionalities in educational decision making;” I truly believe that, effective communication between educators and families of special needs students is the key for success; not only for the educator, but also, for the student. My daughter has an IEP and, it took me and my family a few years to fully understand the system and also, understand what kind of learning disability she has. There was no support and effective communication between the school and our family, hence, the process was extremely hard for me and especially, for my daughter. When I left my job about 3 years ago and decided to return to school, my biggest motto was to receive my degree and eventually, be an asset to families and their special needs child.

Special Education is a topic of controversy with many advocates fighting for the justice children and adults with special needs so rightfully deserve. With laws being passed and modified so frequently, it is important that the educators being brought into the world have an extensive knowledge of the developmental needs of many different types of children. With this knowledge and their constant measures to keep up to date with the fast-moving world of education, they will be able to deliver an appropriate atmosphere that is in accordance with the law that ensures ethical practices and guidelines are always being followed.

Special education has faced many changes during the last century. During this time there have been many opinions on the way students with differences should be taught and treated. This paper will discuss the history of special education during the twentieth century. We will also discuss the laws associated with Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Finally we will discuss the current and future challenges that the laws have on special education.

The importance of education for all children, especially for those with disability and with limited social and economic opportunities, is indisputable. Indeed, the special education system allowed children with disability increased access to public education. Apart from that, the special education system has provided for them an effective framework for their education, and for the institutions involved to identify children with disability sooner. In turn, this promotes greater inclusion of children with disability alongside their nondisabled peers. In spite of these advances however, many obstacles remain, including delays in providing services for children with disability, as well as regulatory and

​Generally individuals with special needs continue to be the most disadvantaged and neglected in third-world countries (Charema, 2007). This paper is concerned with the moral necessity and biblical mandate of providing special education programs in Christian schools in third-world countries when society in those countries does not recognize or value people with special needs.

For thousands of years individuals with exceptionalities have been present in all parts of society across the world, especially those with physical or sensory characteristics. However, the way that these individuals have been viewed has changed dramatically. Originally these individuals were seen as ‘imbeciles,’ ‘worthless,’ and ‘a burden on society’ and were often shut away from ‘normal’ society or simply left to die or abandoned to institutions. Society has, however, created a positive change and started to exhibit a more humanitarian view and protective nature and developed a concern for the welfare of individuals with exceptionalities. The steadily changing view of society has paved the way to where today these individuals are now considered a part of an all-inclusive society where every citizen has value, merit and is capable of making a contribution to society.