The Importance 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.

Throughout my life, I feel as though I have had many encounters with special education. Growing up, my grandmothers close friend had a daughter that had down syndrome. She was extremely sweet and loved company. Her parents had six other children who were grown and lived on their own. However, she lived at home with her parents her whole life. In elementary school, I do not remember many encounters with special education students. I do remember some kids being taken out of my class for part of the day, but that was my only experience during that time.

My philosophy of education, specifically special education comes from what I am learning and my general beliefs and values about people. I believe learning occurs throughout life, in everything we do as we are born without knowledge. I believe every child can learn and has the ability inside them to grow and advance although some may learn more than others and in different ways, but all can learn and should be treated with the respect.

When Public Law 94-142 was passed in 1975 it had a positive impact on the education for children with disabilities. Millions of children in the United States were supported by the law. These children had previously been excluded entirely from the education system.

In what type of school do you teach? (Type an “X” next to the appropriate description; if “other” applies, provide a brief description.)

Some people may think that special education has been established since the beginning of public education. Others may consider a time when special education did not exist and students with disabilities were not able to attend school. The truth is, there was a time when this happened; these students were not allowed to be educated in the general education classroom alongside their peers. People with disabilities were treated differently, and some were forced into institutions because teachers and staff found them to be disturbances to their peers. Luckily, special education has come a long way since public education began. People, especially parents, advocated for their children, and today many laws are in place to ensure that all children

The Special Education system is widely known throughout the United States as a helpful resource for people with learning disabilities. It is made so that all children have equal access to educational services that help them to be successful in the classroom. We have come a long way from 1975, when Special Education became mandatory due to United States Congress passing the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (EAHCA) which was a result of the discriminatory treatment by public schools against students with disabilities. Although, the passing of the EAHCA did not end all of the discriminatory treatment, it was the beginning of a long battle for equality in the classroom. Today, students in Special Education face many different obstacles that prevent them from reaching their full potential in the classroom. Are educators doing enough to help these students overcome obstacles and is there enough resources available for students in special education to succeed? What have we accomplished in 40 years, since special education first came about?

In life we do not decide where we begin. Some of us our gifted at birth, with intellect,wealth, and health. While others such as I are not so fortunate. I was born with a disorder called Autism. This disorder made it so that I was different from other children. While most children could speak when they were two or three years old. It took me until I was five years old to speak. I also could not focus that well in school. As a child I did not enjoy doing school work. I prefered to do others things, such as Imagine things that I saw on television. Due to my autism and lack of focus,I placed into an autistic support class. Often as child I wondered, why was I different? Though I performed decently academically. I was still in an autistic support

The first step to special education is the initial referral process. The referral is a written

Special education is student centered where the needs of the student come before the disability of the student. Special education teachers create their classroom and instruction based on who their students are and what services they need in order to be successful in their learning. Merriam-Webster (2015) defines special education as classrooms and instruction designed for students with special needs. Special education is a service provided by public schools to students who require additional support through specialized instruction, class materials, and/or changes in their learning environment in order for them to meet their learning objectives.

When I was younger you could have asked me what I wanted to be and you would think that it might have been the same answers every little girl gives. But not me. I was different, I didn’t want to be a princess, a celebrity, an astronaut or even a famous singer. No, I wanted to be a special needs teacher. People have asked me, “Why teach special needs kids?” And I simply tell them, “There is something special about them that makes me want to be around them. I want to help them learn new things”. Kids with special needs hold a big portion of my heart. “Why?” you might ask. Well, special needs kids have always been extremely important to me. The number one reason I love kids with special needs is because of my twin sister. My twin sister has a rare syndrome called Smith-Magenis Syndrome. It is especially rare for only one of the twins to have the syndrome and the other one to not have it.

In the last 15 years, arts education programs have been under constant threat. Some blame this on the No Child Left Behind law, passed in 2001, that placed focus on core subjects such as math or language. Others point to the steady education budget cuts by each state. Whatever the cause, cutting arts education classes affects every student but special education students are the ones most impacted. While it is well known that cutting these programs can have negative effects; some of which are lower test scores, lower attendance rates, and higher disciplinary rates. What is less known is the many ways the arts play an important role in special education. Weather its intergrated as part of classroom curriculum or taught separately it builds confidence, helps integrate them with typically developing peers, enhances communication, and builds problem-solving skills. All of this in an environment that "is the only place (in school) where uniqueness and individuality are celebrated"(Andrus 10).

This paper provides information of the Special Education Program in the Public Schools. It analyzes the life of a child with disability and their educators. It also analyzes the advantages and disadvantages of the Special Education Program. Individuals who are not aware of the special education, or have a child in special education, will find this paper quite informative. It allows individuals to determine who are interested in the program, who qualifies, who does not qualify, how to get into the program, and what the special education is about. It provides information of the child’s feelings, self-esteem, and struggles he/she faced. You will find out what a teacher needs in order to qualify to handle a child in

In the last several centuries there have been many scholars and researchers who took it upon themselves to discover child development and childhood education. These intellectuals formulated ideas and theories based on their discoveries, and they each contributed to different elements in the realm of early childhood special education; such as early childhood education, special education, or compensatory education programs.

In terms of special education, children should be grouped on basis of past classroom performance. Before placement, a child must be given a complete, valid, and appropriate evaluation – for all and a child must have a say in placement to help them be actively involved in their education. (Woofenden, 2017). I believe it is helpful to incorporate special education students into the ‘regular’ classroom through within-class ability grouping. Within this method, a single class is divided into 2-3 groups based on ability and should have the chance to regroup in other subjects. A benefit of these groups is that they are flexible and can be not only on basis of ability but also on basis of other factors that contributed to group cohesiveness. In this case, lower achieving students are able to learn from their peers, and higher achieving students can have the opportunity to reteach and presume a leadership position. This cooperative learning technique include the features of positive interdependence and individual accountability, thus the group all together has an equal chance of actively learning.