Special Education for Children With Special Needs - Essay Sample

Introduction

The law, Individual with Disability Education Act (IDEA), describes special education as special instructions designed to achieve the unique educational requirement of any children living with special needs. The services are provided by public schools, which are under the government setting. They usually are free, and the parents are not required to pay any education fees. The services related to special education can happen in the classroom, hospitals, other government institutions, and at home (Kauffman et al., 2018). The society neglects children living disability, denying them the opportunity to pursue various careers. These children are gifted in multiple ways, and thus special education is necessary for providing them with educational opportunities. Children living with disabilities require special treatment as compared to others. The intervention creates a room for special learning that promotes their confidence and competency. Spiritually, every individual's ability and disability are part of God's creations (Zhang, 2010). Hence, all special education teachers should see all the students as young people with purpose and meaning.

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Law

The Public Law 94-142 (Education for All Handicapped Children) was introduced in 1975, making Special Education Law effective and applicable. It was meant to protect human rights and allow free public education to the disabled children. Before its implementation, many individuals living with disabilities suffered neglect, and some were placed in state institutions where they received minimal basic needs. Only a few sought education interventions in a special needs school (Rossa, 2017). Therefore, many parents kept their children at home. The act ensured that the children living with a disability could access free public education; both their rights and those of their parents were protected and helped the states in the provision of the free special education. It also ensured that the whole process was effective.

In 1990, the IDEA was developed by modifying the 1975 acts. It ensured that the students living with disabilities are provided with appropriate free special education in the least restrictive environments to facilitate meeting their special needs. IDEA facilitates extra assistance from special need teachers and at the same time, provide the students with special needs a chance to participate in various activities that other children without special needs can where possible. The No Child Left Behind Act was enacted to the special schools to improve their accountability in the performance of children living with disabilities in 2001. The act also facilitates the students to seek various alternatives if their school does not meet their special needs (Rossa, 2017). The IDEA provides specific guidelines such as FAPE and IEPs, that guides the public special education schools. Upon any change of the laws, each institution requires to adjust their procedures to fit the amendments.

Special Education Services

Identifying special education services eligibility is vital in the prevention of misclassification of the student with disabilities. The eligibility for special education services is conducted through two criteria that are under IDEA. The first criterion involves the student being in at least one of the 13 IDEA categories of disability. The second category ensures that the students cannot do without the special services to pursue their educational goals. For instance, students with a medical or physical disability cannot qualify for special needs unless they demonstrate the need for special education support (Hoover, 2010). Most of these needs are identified at the elementary schools where the students encounter difficulties while in a general classroom.

Under the first categories, the students must be either suffering from deaf-blindness, autism, deafness, multiple disabilities, hearing impairment, and other health impairments listed by IDEA. Students who portray such characteristics and a genuine need for special education extra care are entitled to special education services. The services can be provided to them in various kinds. The students should be placed appropriately to promote effectiveness. It includes regular class placements where the students attend the classes more often than other students do, and resource room placement involves taking the students living with disability to a special classroom with various resources necessary in their boosting understanding (Hoover, 2010). Other interventions include residential placement, homebound program placement, and special day school placement.

Service Delivery Models

Children with a developmental disability are associated with a high risk of experiencing problem behavior. Negative parent-child interaction has the capability of contributing to inappropriate behavior. The intervention of the three-tier education model is applicable to parent with children experiencing disabilities. In its first tier, the children are provided with the appropriate practices guided by a specific educational program meant for the preschoolers. The practices promote a family partnership categorized based on the child's needs (McIntyre & Phaneuf, 2008). Reading materials are issued to respective families to help them create a stronger parent-child interaction and promote the children's positive development outcomes. The teachers who serve as intake coordinators provide parents with self-administered material. The tier is appropriate for troubleshooting the problems facing the children age 2-8 years.

The second tier serves as a secondary intervention for parents who may require extra support to promote positive behaviors in their children. A structured curriculum is employed in this stage, and thus it is termed as manualized (McIntyre & Phaneuf, 2008). Development skills are cultivated to help parents build blocks that are essential in handling various problems in early child development challenges. The childhood education offered at this tier is most useful for children at their preschool age and suffers from developmental disabilities. The third tier is helpful for parents with additional support requirements that are beyond the group-based education. At this stage, a natural environment is considered to help focus on specific behavioral difficulties (Sundqvist et al., 2019). Self-modeling and video feedbacks are used in the sessions meant for families' specific needs—the behavioral specialists conduct therapies to both parents and students living with a disability.

Conclusion

Children living with a disability require attention just like other children, and they should not be neglected. Special education helps the children to boost their confidence and in pursuing various careers. Their human rights are safeguarded by the developed acts such as IDEA and the No Child Left Behind Act. However, not every child living with a disability require special education service. Two IDEA criteria are used to determine the eligibility of a child to receive special education services. The three-tier education model is employed to promote effective special service delivery. Everyone is equal before the eyes of God, and thus children living with disabilities should be taken care of with great commitment and love (Zhang, 2010).

References

Hoover, J. J. (2010). Special education eligibility decision making in response to intervention models. Theory Into Practice, 49(4), 289–296.
https://doi.org/10.1080/00405841.2010.510752

Kauffman, J. M., Hallahan, D. P., Pullen, P. C., & Badar, J. (2018). Special education: what it is and why we need it. Routledge.

Mcintyre, L. L., & Phaneuf, L. K. (2008). A three-tier model of parent education in early childhood. Topics in Early Childhood Special Education, 27(4), 214–222.
https://doi.org/10.1177/0271121407311239

Rossa, C. (2017). The history of special education. Journal for Perspectives of Economic Political and Social Integration, 23(1-2), 209–227.
https://doi.org/10.1515/pepsi-2017-0011

Sundqvist, C., Björk-Åman, C., & Ström, K. (2019). The three-tiered support system and the special education teachers’ role in Swedish-speaking schools in Finland. European Journal of Special Needs Education, 34(5), 601–616. https://doi.org/10.1080/08856257.2019.1572094

Zhang, K. C. (2010). Spirituality and disabilities: Implications for special education. Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, 48(4), 299–302.
https://doi.org/10.1352/1934-9556-48.4.299.