Special Education
Introduction
what is a special education? Who need
it ? These are question may arise. The special education is need for
Mentally Challenged to teach and train
them with special educational techniques for those who require special needs.
Generally we can recognize such type of children through some observations such
as….
· We call a person by his name within 2 to 3 feet distance but the person not responds.
· The person language level is not matching to his age level.
· The person may not give answers to your question correctly or may give irrelevant answers.
· The person may not concentrate on topics or lessons.
· The person may not able to perform the activities of daily living such as brushing, combing, dressing, toileting , bathing, and eating etc.
· May not perform general or simple tasks when compare to others of same age level group.
· Forget the learn tasks very frequently even though we teach it many times and do the same task repeatedly.
· Taking very long time to learn a task when compare to others.
· Unable to concentrate on etc.
Special
Education is the
individually planned and systematically monitored arrangement of teaching
procedures, adapted equipment and materials, accessible settings, and other
interventions designed to help learners with special needs achieve the greatest
possible personal self-sufficiency and success in school and community.
The provision of education to people with disabilities or learning differences differs from country to country, and state to state. The ability of a student to access a particular setting depends on the availability of services, location, family choice, or government policy. Special educators have historically described a cascade of services, in which students with special needs receive services in varying degrees based on the degree to which they interact with the general school population. In the main, special education has been provided in one, or a combination, of the following ways:
- Inclusion: Regular education classes combined with
special education services is a model often referred to as inclusion.
In this model, students with special needs are educated with their
typically developing peers for at least half of the day. In a full
inclusion model, specialized services are provided within a regular
classroom by sending the service provider in to work with one or more
students in their regular classroom setting. In a partial inclusion model,
specialized services are provided outside a regular classroom. In this
case, the student occasionally leaves the regular classroom to attend
smaller, more intensive instructional sessions, or to receive other
related service such as speech and language therapy, occupational and/or
physical therapy, and social work.
- Mainstreaming: Regular education classes combined
with special education classes is a model often referred to as mainstreaming.
In this model, students with special needs are educated with their
typically developing peers during specific time periods.
- Segregation (Self-Contained): Full-time placement in a special
education classroom may be referred to as segregation. In this
model, students with special needs spend no time with typically developing
students. Segregated students may attend the school as their neighbors,
but spend their time exclusively in a special-needs classroom.
Alternatively, these students may attend a Special School.
- Exclusion: A student who does not receive instruction in any school is said to be excluded. Such exclusion may occur where there is no legal mandate for special education services. It may also occur when a student is in hospital, homebound, or detained by the criminal justice system. These students may receive one-on-one instruction or group instruction. Students who have been suspended or expelled are not considered excluded in this sense.
In the recent past special education was thought of as instructional activity carried on outside the regular class by an expert with a particular type of pupil. The view coming into prominence today sees special education as the individualized application of techniques, procedures, instructional materials, and equipment designed to accommodate to unusual forms or rates of cognitive, affective and motor status or development, to sensory deprivation, to lack of earlier schooling, to ineffective earlier instruction, or to any other personal or environmental conditions that stand in the way of a broad and thorough education.
We can define informally the special
education is formed in a special environment, specially designed equipment,
special teaching instructions, with specially trained teacher for teach and
train the special needs persons.
The special teacher is well trained professional in six important domains such as he/she is a behavior modifier, an individual as well as family counselor, occupational therapist, speech therapist, physio therapist, and vocational trainer for this reason he is called as rehabilitation professional.
Historical Perspective