Special Ed Understanding and Educating

Special Ed

Understanding and Educating Students with Special Needs

Special needs education requires first and foremost an understanding of the various needs that individual students with unique circumstances and conditions possess. A special needs classroom is certain to have many different students with varying learning abilities and hindrances, and an working in this dynamic it can be difficult to develop a curriculum that is at once progressive and challenging yet also appropriate and accessible to each individual student and to the class as a whole. Developing such a curriculum depends on understanding the conditions of the students in the class, so a brief examination of these conditions is in order.

The catch-all phrase "mental retardation" is not often used these days, as more specific classifications are generally preferred, but some cases where developmental issues other than a significantly reduced intelligence do not exist still receive this classification (CDC 2009). Autism is another recognized disorder that is diagnosed with increasing regularity. Autism spectrum disorders are characterized by social, communicative, and behavioral issues stemming from an apparently different information processing mechanism than exists in the typical mind (CDC 2009). This makes empathy and interaction -- including learning -- difficult for those with autism, though their intelligence may even be above average. Severe disabilities can be mental, physical, or both, and involve a lack of ability to perform one or more essential functions such as movement, communication, and the basics of self-care (CDC 2009). Such students will require increased assistance and modification for many activities, and a large degree of personalized educational tasks and goals. Multiple disability students might have any number and combination of these and/or other disabilities, and also require individualized plans.

The causes of many of these disorders are still not known. The majority of mental and physical handicaps occur from congenital conditions, and though many of these have a known genetic basis the precise cause of many other is still unknown (CDC 2009). Accidents both during birth and in early childhood can also result in developmental difficulties in a variety of ways that vary in their severity and their permanence, but may still necessitate placement in a special needs classroom. The impact of these disabilities on the students should be minimized as much as possible by an effective curriculum, yet the opportunities that these students have are necessarily limited. Educational goals present possibly the most significant shift, as an emphasis on self-care and other life skills augments traditional academic pursuits. With the proper involvement and planning, however, special needs students are fully capable of becoming engaged in learning (CDC 2009).

Specific areas of curriculum that are necessary for students with special needs include many of the same aspects as curricula in mainstream classrooms. Reading, writing and arithmetic skills can be expected to progress at a different rate, but these skills are essential to self0sufficicincy and are arguably more important in a special needs classroom for this reason. A departure form mainstream educational goals and methods would likely be seen in the more practical elements of instruction; the teaching and practice of certain life skills would not be necessary in most mainstream classrooms but would be invaluable to many special needs students. In addition, heavy emphasis should be placed on teamwork and self-directed activities that coordinate to achieve a larger goal. This will help students with any type of disability in learning to use their available assets effectively with others in the community.

In Brooke County, West Virginia, there is not an extensive program evident for special needs students. Several schools in the Brooke County School District have Autism mentors on staff, and several of the primary schools have Remedial Specialists who presumably work with the special needs students, but there is not evidence of a certified special needs instructor at any of the schools in the district, or working out of the district offices (WV Dept. Of Education 2009). This staffing situation makes it highly unlikely that an effective or comprehensive special needs curriculum has been designed or implemented, meaning that the educational goals and rights of special needs students in the district are not being adequately met. The wide dispersal of the county's sparse population no doubt contributes to this situation, making it difficult to wither centralize a special needs classroom or spread costs around to the various schools, but the needs of these students are being largely ignored by the current system.