Special education provides additional support for students who may struggle in a traditional classroom setting. Services include separate classrooms, therapy, and individualized education plans. Preschool programs and adult life skills programs are also available. However, there are concerns about the lack of flexibility in some states for modified curriculums and exit exams. Parents and teachers are working to change these rules and help students succeed.
Special education refers to education for students who may require additional support to be successful students. It also refers to education for those students who will not be able to compete in a normal classroom setting. Since all children in the United States are entitled to an education, even those children who lack the mental capacity to pursue more advanced education are offered an education that can help them master basic skills.
Therefore, some special education services may have separate classrooms for students who are unable or not ready to participate in a traditional class. Other times, special education services can help children with a particular problem. For example, students with speech delays may take speech therapy, and physically challenged students may take special classes in occupational therapy. This is often done in grammar schools on a retreat basis. A student will attend normal classes but will be called out of the classroom to receive necessary services.
Occasionally, students with ongoing issues such as autism may work with a special assistant in the classroom so all work can be integrated. Special education does not imply that a child’s mental abilities are poor. In many cases, highly intelligent children receive services to help them better manage the school environment.
Special education services can also start long before kindergarten. U.S. parents who are concerned about a child’s speech or physical delays, or who have children with serious health problems, can contact the Special Education Local Plan Area (SELPA) program as soon as their child is three years old if they have some doubts. By state and federal law, SELPA must provide testing for those students who appear to be at risk for developmental delays or who qualify to have a serious health condition.
Children who exhibit significant differences from their peers are welcome to participate in SELPA preschools. This service is free and is often great for children who show delays. Teachers are thus able to address these delays two years before the start of kindergarten. An alternative to preschools is access to therapy programs such as speech therapy.
Additionally, adults with significant cognitive disabilities can participate in programs to learn self-reliance and life skills. These are also offered free of charge and can help adults with cognitive impairment achieve greater personal freedom.
During the school years, those receiving special education services have an Individualized Education Plan (IEP), which sets out goals and necessary accommodations for the student. Parents, teachers, counselors and experts who service the school all participate in these reviews to help better address areas where a child needs assistance.
There is currently some concern regarding special education modification and assistance at the middle and high school levels. Laws in some states do not allow students to follow even a slightly modified curriculum and receive a diploma. In addition, parents criticize the exit exam requirements in some schools which do not allow the use of some adaptive aids for students with certain needs. For example, some dyslexic students have particular difficulty memorizing multiplication tables. Yet the use of a calculator on exit exams in California schools is not permitted. While the student may be a very successful math student, she may not make it through high school because this adjustment is not currently allowed.
Both parents of children with disabilities and special education teachers are working to change such rules that appear inflexible to a child who requires changes. Additionally, faced with knowledge of state standards, special education teachers work to help students develop skills that will allow them to participate fully with their peers and successfully graduate from high school when applicable.
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