Chapter 1: The Foundation for Educating Students with Special Needs

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Chapter 1The Foundation for Educating Students
with Special Needs

• Including Students with Special Needs
• SPED 429

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Defining Special Education

• Students with disabilities are those who are
  eligible to receive special education.
• Special education is the specifically designed
  instruction provided by school districts that
  meets the unique needs of students identified as
  disabled.
• Related services is assistance required to enable
  students to benefit from special education (e.g.,
  transportation, physical therapy, counseling)

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Least Restrictive Environment (LRE)

• A provision of the federal law that provides
  students with the right to be educated in the
  setting most like the educational setting for
  nondisabled peers (i.e., general education
  classroom).
• Students must be provided with supplementary aids
  and services that will allow them to be educated
  in the general education setting to the greatest
  extent possible (e.g., paraeducator support,
  modified curriculum).

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LRE (continued)

• Most students receiving special education are
  educated in the general education setting.
• However, not all students can be educated in the
  general education setting it is too restrictive.
  Such placement can be both academically and
  emotionally stressful (e.g., students with
  emotional/behavioral disabilities)

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Mainstreaming

• Mainstreaming is the term for placing students
  with disabilities in the general education
  settings only when they can meet traditional
  expectations with minimal assistance, or when
  those expectations are not relevant (e.g.,
  recess, lunch).
• These students are usually placed in separate
  classrooms or separate schools for the majority
  of their school day.

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Inclusion

• Over the past 2 decades, special education has
  been reformed.
• Inclusion represents the belief or philosophy
  that students with disabilities should be fully
  integrated into general education classrooms and
  schools, and their instruction should be based on
  their abilities, not their disabilities.
• Inclusion and mainstreaming do NOT mean the same
  thing!

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Components of Inclusion

• Physical integration placing students in the
  same classroom as nondisabled peers.
• Social integration nurturing students
  relationships with peers and adults.
• Instructional integration teaching students
  based on their needs and not on a predetermined
  set of curricular standards.

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Inclusion and Students

• If students do not make progress in the general
  education classroom then inclusion is not in
  their best interests.
• Studies have shown that students with LD make
  significant progress in reading and math when
  they receive services in the general education
  classroom than LD students who receive pull out
  services (i.e., resource room).
• Successful inclusion of students is highly
  dependent upon the severity of the students
  disorders. In severe cases, inclusion is usually
  social in nature.

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Inclusion and Students (continued)

• Social outcomes of inclusion need to be examined
  carefully to ensure that students with
  disabilities feel accepted and have positive
  self-concepts about their abilities.
• Students without disabilities tend to benefit
  from instructional strategies designed for
  students with disabilities.

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General Education Teachers and Inclusion

• Perceptions of teachers are complex and diverse.
• The success of inclusion is highly dependent upon
  teachers willingness to change their
  instructional practices and their willingness to
  collaborate with special education teachers.
• Success is also dependent upon the ratio of
  students to staff and the availability of time to
  plan and provide individualized instruction.

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General Education Teachers (continued)

• Teachers have expressed concern about their lack
  of coursework and not being prepared to make
  accommodations to support students with
  disabilities.

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Administrators and Inclusion

• Generally, administrators express positive
  attitudes about inclusion.
• As for many administrators, it is not a matter of
  IF students with disabilities will be included
  but rather HOW they will be included.

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Categories of Disabilities

• Learning Disabilities (LD)
• Speech or Language Impairments
• Mental Retardation (MR)
• Emotional Disturbances (ED)
• Autism
• Hearing Impairments
• Visual Impairments

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Categories (continued)

• Deaf-Blindness
• Orthopedic Impairments
• Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)
• Other Health Impairments (OHI)
• Multiple Disabilities
• Developmental Disabilities

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High Incidence Disabilities

• Learning Disabilities
• Emotional Disturbances
• Speech or Language Impairments
• Mild Mental Retardation
• Account for more than 80 of diagnosed
  disabilities in students receiving special
  education

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Other Students with Special Needs

• Students who are gifted and talented. These
  students are not addressed in the federal special
  education law. Funding for programs that address
  these students needs varies among states and
  from year to year.
• Students who are diagnosed with ADD or ADHD.
  Students with these disabilities can receive
  services under Section 504 or be labeled OHI and
  receive special education.

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Students At-Risk

• English as a Second Language (ESL) Students
• Slow LearnersFalling Between the Cracks
• Students who are Homeless
• Students Living in Poverty
• Students who are Abused
• These students usually benefit from inclusive
  methods and strategies.