Special Education

Table of Contents

Introduction1

Discussion1

History2

Special Students' Needs3

Current Development and Researches3

Disabilities4

Integration4

Diversity5

Challenges of Behavioral Problems5

Inclusion for Special Education6

What people can do if their child needs Special Education7

Using IDEA to Mainstream Special Needs Students7

Conclusion10

Special Education

Introduction

The development of the concept of people with Special education is very recent. It covers a wide diversification of the student population ranging from different disabilities like physical, sensory, mental, learning difficulties or adaptation; gifted children, sick children, `children in difficult family or social situation, and children in prison. In this study, we try to explore the concept of Special education it history, challenges, current practices, technology, and issues related to it.

There are certain children who may have some disabilities, hindering them for receiving the normal education which can be expected for a normal child. These challenged children can be entitled to Special Education completely free of charge to public schools. Parents can be better advocates for their children if they know how to access these services, allowing their children to receive the individualized attention they may require to insure a decent education. Special Education has become significant in the schooling children. There are several improvements in the field of other education. Special Education needs far more improvements and considerations in order to provide best available options to special children (Richards, 2010).

Discussion

Children with special needs deserve to be educated on an equal footing with their nondisabled peers. By having the chance to interact with mainstream students, special needs students can better prepare for life after high school. An integrated education allows special education students to feel less alienated from, and more a part of, the school community.

History

Boston in 1838 established "schools for special instruction" dedicated to immigrant children who strained regular elementary classrooms. By 1900 several school systems offered "special classes" with segregated classroom settings for students considered "feebleminded" or mentally disabled. In 1902 the National Education Association first used the term special education to refer specifically to educating disabled students. By 1930 most sizable city school systems housed departments of special education for students with a range of disabilities, including mental retardation; vision, hearing, and health impairments; speech disorders; and serious behavioral problems. Each of these programs offered distinct curricula tailored to the specific nature of the disability, focusing on functional life skills, vocational and manual training, and instructional activities designed to compensate for the disability.

Between 1900 and 1970, special education established itself firmly in American public schooling. It increased dramatically in terms of the number of students served, as well as in cost, professional training and development for teachers, and regulations. The distinguishing characteristic of special education was its separateness: The vast majority of children identified as disabled learned in segregated environments, and its specially trained teachers were seen as possessing unique means of teaching such students. Special education thus became a world much unto its own within the realm of public education—distinctive in terms of students, teachers, structures, budgets, and expectations. By the late 1960s and early 1970s, its rise as a significant arm of public ...