Why Education Is Important For Children With Special Needs

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

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.

Being a child, you only know your environment and the routine. Children often times have little or no exposure to people with different abilities, like being physically handicapped or have limited mental and emotional abilities. I think this book helps children understand that these things do exist in our world, and that they can be in your family, your friend’s family or children in your own classroom. By teaching children about this subject, they have a clearer understanding about the matter, and will not create their own ideas and conclusions that can often times create bias.

They also believe that by having children with special rights in the classroom it allows for more learning to happen for all of the children. I completely agree with this statement, since I truly believe that exposing children to diversity and disabilities at a young age allows for them to be more expecting of others as they get older as well as learn to work with others who may not have the same strengths as them. During this workshop it was also stated that you have to educate the possible. This really stuck with me since in special education it is so important to focus on a child’s abilities rather than their disability. I believe this approach is very effective for children with exceptionalities/special rights since it is so focused on the positive and inclusion rather than the child’s

Over the course of my semesters here at Valdosta, I have learned many wonderful things that have given me the skills to become a more effective teacher. I feel as if I have been given many different types of experiences to help guide me on how to grow into a great teacher that will inspire positive student learning. At the beginning of my journey, I knew that special education is diverse in itself, because special education is the practice of educating students with special needs. My philosophy of education has remained simple, I continually put my student’s first by respecting their differing strengths and needs, continually have collaboration among teachers, therapist, and the student’s families to ensure success, and lastly I am flexible

Have some food for thought- if only around 35% of children receiving “special” education have a specific learning disability, why is it inferred that it’s only for dumb kids? There are many negative associations with the term “special education”; often children who receive altered instruction feel embarrassed and ashamed when they hear the term. So should we change the term to remove the negative connotations? A child could have no learning disabilities whatsoever and receive altered instruction, so why should they be viewed as dumber than everyone else? Children would most likely feel less ashamed if it were called something different. Changing the phrase would be more than just easy, and it would make a lot of sense to do so.

When a child has a learning disability it can be overwhelming for the child, because they could be unaware that they have one or even when they find out that they do, some life style changes need to be made. Throughout the learning experience of having an learning disabilities the special education department can teach children of all ages how to become self-advocates for themselves and be able to communicate not only with their parents, but with other peers and teachers too.

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.

Teaching students with special needs is highly rewarding. “Every child deserves a champion- an adult who will never give up on them, who understands the power of connection, and insists that they become the best they can possibly be.” (Pierson). Special education teachers work with and serve as a mentor to students who have a wide range of learning, mental, emotional and physical disabilities.

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

Schools are important for the education of children with respect to their social, emotional and mental development. The class provides an avenue where students can learn several items ranging from managing their emotions, being focused, easily following the given directions and establishing relations with their fellow peers and even the adults. With the increasing number of students and all other factors constant, schools have failed in effectively deal with students who require special education. The special education teachers often have low expectations in their children as the supporting initiatives often are less.

Special education students have severe behavior or emotional issues that can disturb the classroom learning environment for themselves and the non-disabled peers. Disabled students often act out from not feeling accepted, frustration from the difficult material, and their cognitive obstacles. According to the article Time to leave inclusion out, seventy percent of teachers blamed the inclusion of children with special needs for increasingly bad behavior in the classroom.

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.

Renae Stirba, the teacher that I interviewed, is a twelfth year, kindergarten teacher at Westbrook Elementary School. She has a bachelor's of science in elementary education from the University of Nebraska with a minor in early childhood education. She also has her masters in curriculum and instruction with an endorsement in reading. She also has an additional 30 credits as well. She was initially certified in the state of Nebraska. The special education philosophy at Westbrook is that every child should be able to have an equal learning opportunity, which means that the building is a full inclusion building. Renae’s personal philosophy on special education is pretty similar to the building’s philosophy. She also said that every child should be included in the daily life of the school environment, yet they should be supported in a way that will make them reach maximum success in their lives. For this interview, I chose questions that I wanted to learn more about and how some of these situations looked in an actual classroom, or how they looked for a general education teacher.

Every person deserves an education. It is what shapes us, allows us to grow. As future and current educators or parents, understanding the perspective of persons with disabilities in the classroom is important. Being confident in your own abilities and not being afraid to use the resources available to you.