Paper Example on Identifying Exceptionalities of Exceptional Students: ESE/94-142/IDEA

Identification of the Specific Exceptionalities of Exceptional Students (ESE/94-142/IDEA) and Detailed Description of the Exceptionalities

Some of the exceptionalities of exceptional students that can qualify a learner for Exceptional Student Education (ESE) program according to the Florida Department of Education website (2014) include Deaf or Hard-of-Hearing (DHH), Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), and Dual-Sensory Impairment (DSI) such as being Deaf-Blind. Additional exceptionalities include Developmentally Delayed (DD) such as ages birth through five years, Established Conditions (EC); ages birth through two years, behavioral or emotional disability (E/BD), gifted students, and hospitalized or homebound (HH), and language impairment (LI). Moreover, the website further recognizes other exceptionalities such as traumatic brain injuries, intellectual disability, speech impairment, and visual impairment, such as partially sighted and blind students.

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Assistive Technology is a program designed to address urgent requirements and needs of students who qualify for any of the ESE programs listed above. Microsoft (2014) maintains that the products of Assistive Technology “are orchestrated to provide additional accessibility to individuals who have physical or cognitive difficulties, impairments, and disabilities.” The term Assistive Technology is broad and refers to a broad portfolio of devices and products such as hearing aids, wheelchair, computer-based instructions, and braille embossers.

Matching of adaptive hardware to the specific needs of two (2) exceptionality categories of ESE students.

Assistive Technology contains different types of products and devices, such as visual aids. Visual aids devices give students with visual impairments such as partially sighted and blind students learning independence. According to Hopkins (2004), some of the examples of visual aids are screen magnification software and text-to-speech software. Secondly, assistive technology also has hearing aids that enable learners with hearing impairments. Such devices include speech recognition technologies and classroom sound amplification frameworks. For instance, a speech recognition program such as Communicator translates a teacher's voice to sign language or text that a learner can read from a computer (Hopkins, 2004).

Who are 504 students? Cite a legal definition, and two examples of their disabilities. Be sure your examples are 504 handicaps and not disabilities that are normally viewed as ESE or used in question 1.

According to the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, a person living with disabilities refers to anyone who has a cognitive or a physical impairment that significantly hampers one or the majority of their activities in life (Florida Department of Education, n.d.). The Act further provides that once it is established that the student or a learner has any disability, the institution in question must identify accommodations that aptly meet the needs and requirements of the student. Section 504 of the accommodation plan outlines and describes these supports that are needed to address the needs of students with disabilities. According to The National Center for Learning Disabilities (2014), learners who do not qualify for the services that are provided for under IDEA law can, in effect, have their needs addressed under section 504 program. Examples of students that can be categorized under section 504 as disabled students include ADHD and students living with dyslexia.

The two (2) examples of adaptive hardware for 504 students identified in question 3.

Accommodating learners with dyslexia entails teachers using different types of teaching strategies and techniques that suit their students. Besides, teachers can minimize the preference of copying and provide their learners with information on a worksheet to increase student’s performance. Additionally, the National Center for Learning Disabilities (2014) suggests that teachers can also utilize flexible work schedules and give their learners more time to understand and complete their assignments. On the other hand, teachers need to have a great deal of tolerance and patience to handle and address the needs of learners with attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD). The A.D.D. Warehouse (2012) suggests that some of the useful accommodations may include breaking students’ assignments into chunks and sometimes letting the students stand and shout while teaching to curb frustration.

Characteristics of English as Second Language [ESL] students and how are these students identified at schools.

English, as a second language, has various characteristics. First, the language exhibits a receptiveness as it accepts and adopts words from several languages. Some of the languages that it adopts include African, Japanese, Chinese, and Asian. Secondly, language is heterogeneous. It lacks purity as it is mixed with other languages across the world (Hopkins, 2004). According to research, some words from other languages have sneaked and remained in the English language. Some of these words have changed spelling and meaning, while others have retained their original spelling and meaning. For example, the word Tur in French has changed its spelling to Tower in the current English.

Thirdly, the English language has the simplicity of inflection. Inflexion refers to the relationship that exists between the words in a paragraph or a sentence with the tiniest of change in their shapes. According to literature, the Chinese language has minimum inflection than other European languages. Fourthly, English has a fixed word order. The language requires this arrangement to avoid ambiguity in a sentence or a paragraph (Hopkins, 2004). The order also enhances a good relationship of the word creating a reasonable statement. Lastly, the language uses periphrases. Periphrases allow the student to express his ideas and feelings using many ways. The periphrases enrich the English language, which improves its quality.

Globally, immigration keeps happening in many countries like the united states. Due to immigration, people with native language only are required to learn English to communicate effectively. To achieve these goals, countries have developed various ways to identify these leaners. The identification of the learners takes a two-step process (Microsoft, 2014). The first step involves a home language survey. This process targets to identify students that may need to develop their English language through various programs such as a degree. Secondly, the government uses an English language assessment to measure the learner’s language proficiency and status.

Give two (2) examples of accommodations or adaptive hardware used with this group.

The most preferred accommodations for ELL include giving the learners extra time to complete their tests, testing learners in different locations, and using small group administrations (Florida Department of Education, 2014). However, assistive technology has introduced new adaptive strategies that are suitable for these groups. Such accommodations include visual and audio media, and language learning websites to enable ELS to do more practice.

How special student populations impact what an administrator will need to plan for technology use and teacher training?

An administrator would need to consider and adjust the school’s budgetary allocation accordingly to accommodate the additional needs for special students. For instance, the administrator must ensure that the budget caters to more hearing aids, wheelchairs, computer-based instructions, and braille embossers for emergency incase the available ones are damaged (Microsoft, 2014). The administrator would have to ensure that the staff is duly trained to meet all the needs of special students.

References

A.D.D. Warehouse. (2012). Accommodations help students with attention deficit disorders. Retrieved from http://addwarehouse.com/shopsite_sc/store/html/article4.htm

Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund. (n.d.). A comparison of ADA, IDEA, and section 504. Retrieved from http://dredf.org/advocacy/comparison.html

Florida Department of Education. (2014). Exceptional student education (ESE). Retrieved from http://www.fldoe.org/ese/ese-home.asp

Florida Department of Education. (n.d.). A parent and teacher guide to section 504: frequently asked questions. Retrieved from http://www.fldoe.org/ese/pdf/504bro.pdf

Hopkins, J. (2004). Assistive technology (AT) to support students with special needs. Retrieved from http://www.curriculum.org/storage/108/1278482872AssistiveTechnology.pdf

Microsoft. (2014). Types of assistive technology products. Retrieved from http://www.microsoft.com/enable/at/types.aspx

The National Center for Learning Disabilities. (2014). Five things to know about a 504 plan for K–12 students. Retrieved from http://www.ncld.org/students-disabilities/iep-504-plan/five-things-to-know-about-504-plan

The National Center for Learning Disabilities. (2014). Accommodating students with dyslexia. Retrieved from http://www.ncld.org/students-disabilities/ld-education-teachers/accommodating-students-dysl