Special Education Provision

Lecture 9 : Notes

Lecture nine discusses more about individuals with special needs. It gives details about speech and language impairments. I assure you that this lecture will make your comprehension of individual with special needs more comprehensive than before.

OBJECTIVES OF THE LECTURE

At the end of this lecture, students should be able to:

1. Define speech and language disorders

2. Explain the causes of speech and language disorders

3. Accommodate students with speech and language disorders in the classroom situations.

9.2 Meaning of Speech and Language Impairments

Speech and language are part of a complex and interrelated communication process. Even though the acquisition of language and speech skills are proceeds in a predictable sequences, the rate of learning or using of communication tools show a great discrepancy among children.

In order to understand speech and language disorder one should understand what communication is and the difference between language and speech.

9.2.1 Communication

This term refers to the interactive exchange of information, ideas, desires and feelings. It involves not only the spoken language and written word but also body language, personal mannerism and anything that adds meaning to the message. For communication to take place three elements are to be present.

These are sender, message and receiver. People get involved in communication because they have information, ideas and feelings they want to share, thus in doing so a certain language have to be used.

9.2.2 Language

The term refers to arbitrary code system or set of rules involving grammatical structures used to transmit meaning from one person to another. The most common code system is spoken language; computer language and sign language used by hearing impaired persons. Children should acquire first receptive language (ability to understand the meaning of what others say to them) before they become skillful in expressive language (ability to communicate meaning in a way that another person understand).Language has several dimensions including:

9.2.2.1 Phonology

Phonology is the study of linguistic rules governing a language sound system. The sound system carry elements called phonemes which are sounds that do not carry meaning, but when combined by other sounds they form a word.

9.2.2.2 Morphology

This is the basic unit governing how the basic units of meaning are combined into words. The basic units are morpheme –the smallest unit of a word that carries meaning.

9.2.2.3 Syntax

Syntax is a system of rules that govern meaningful arrangement of words into a sentence. If children are using language normally, they must learn linguistic structures to convey their intention or ideas.

9.2.2.4 Semantic

This is the system that governs meaning of words and sentences. It describes how people use language to convey meaning.

9.2.2.5 Pragmatics

Pragmatics is a set of rules governs how language is used in different context. A child’s pragmatic competence can be assessed in regard to the variety of purpose for which she /he uses language.

9.3 Language Disorders

Language disorder is an impairment of comprehension or use of language regardless of symbol system used. However, language disorder manifested by children varies tremendously.

These variations may be manifested in failure to acquire verbal language by age three; delay in the rate of language development and interrupted progress in language development. Language disorder may involve both in syntax, semantics and pragmatics.

9.3.1 Causes of Language Disorders

Both child factors and environmental factors contribute to child language development. First a child must possess an intact sensory system for detecting stimuli in the environment and capabilities for processing the incoming stimuli (receive, interpret, store and retrieve information).

Second the environment must provide certain inputs such as stimuli to be detected by the child, selective reinforcement of appropriate response the child gives to the stimulation.

Problems or abnormalities within the child or the environment can interfere with language development. If the child’s sensory system does not allow detection of stimuli in the environment because of sensory impairment (hearing) language learning will be more difficult.

Likewise, language learning will be more difficult if the child’s cognitive systems are inefficient (mental retardation or brain damage) in encoding sensory inputs (perception) store it (memory) and attach symbol to it (association, discrimination and abstraction).

Environmental limitations on the other hand restrict language development. For example a child who is unable to explore the environment and whose repertoire is limited may be further deprived by an environment that offers inadequate stimulation.

8.4 Speech Disorders

Speech disorders are among the most frequently reported problem conditions among the children. Yet in determining speech disorders, we should compare child’s speech to the adult standard and notice behaviours that are appropriate,

irregular or missing. Speech production involves physical production and shaping of sound, using oral mechanism (tongue, teeth, oral cavity and larynx or voice box).

Basically speech production involves three systems that is the respiratory system which must provide a source of power in the form of a controlled air stream , vocal tract(throat, nose and oral cavity ) which must be structurally intact and functionally operative for the speech sound to be produced accurately and coordination of the fine motor movement of the articulators to produce various sounds. Speech disorders are divided into:

8.4.1 Articulation Disorders

This is the irregularities in oral production of the vowel and consonants sounds in the language. Common articulation errors are classified into four types including:

Omissions: pronouncing only parts of words for example omitting the sound at the beginning of words (“I ove my little dog/abbit” for “I love my little dog/rabbit”).

Substitutions: replacing one sound with another (for example b for v, “berry” instead of “very”, w for r, “wabbit” instead of “rabbit” or “woad” for “ road”).

Distortions: approximating correct pronunciations but deviating slightly ,usually because the child does not use the tongue ,teeth or oral cavity correctly to produce the sound ( for example “ts” or “th” for “t”).

Additions: adding extra sounds to words (for examples “summber” instead of “summer”, “warsh” for “wash” etc).

8.4.2 Voice Disorders

This is inappropriate pitch, volume or voice quality for communicating effectively. Voice disorder generally involve a problem in loudness or softness of the voice .

It may be caused by lack of control in voice production resulting from impaired hearing, cerebral palsy or faulty learning (scream or shout to gain someone’s attention).Likewise, voice disorder involve a problem in voice quality caused by excessive or insufficient nasality, breathiness, harshness and hoarseness.

8.4.3 Fluency Disorders

This is irregularities in the flow or rhythm of speech outputs involved in formation of sound, words, or sentences. This is commonly referred to as stuttering or stammering a disorder that involve abnormal repetitions, hesitations, prolongations of speech sound or syllables involved in speech production.

8.5 Identification and Assessment of Children with Language and Speech Disorder

Language development in children begins before a child utters his/her first word, while the tests for language delays or disorders are not administered until the child is two years old.

Irregularities in the nonverbal sound system such as a strange infant cry or in the sucking, swallowing or breathing system may predict a problem in spoken language development, which will impede speech production. Therefore, the following procedures are used to identify children who have communication disorders:

Screening children who are suspected of having communication disorders and who may need additional testing or a full evaluation.
Evaluating those identified during screening and form referrals with appropriate audiological, speech and language assessment tools.
Making appropriate placement for children who need speech or language inter 8.6 Instructional Strategies

As with all students with language and speech disorder, collaboration with multi-disciplinary team is necessary. Student with speech or language disorders will receive services from many education professionals, including general education teachers, special education teachers and speech and language pathologists.

Speech-language pathologists provide a variety of professional services aimed at helping children develop effective communication skills. The services include:

Helping children with articulation disorder to learn proper production of speech sounds.
Helping children who stutter to speak more fluently.
Assisting children with voice disorder to improve their voice quality.
Helping students with aphasia to relearn speech and language skills.
Evaluating selecting and developing augmentative and alternative communication system.
Enhancing communication effectiveness.

The general education teacher should work with the speech-language pathologist to incorporate strategies to help the student generalize strategies mastered in speech therapy.

This may include corrective measures, helping with speech and language exercises, and providing students with immediate feedback when the speech-language pathologist is not present. The general education and special education teacher should both collaborate with the speech-language pathologist for intervention and teaching strategies.

SUMMARY

The lecture explained that speech and language are part of communication process .Communication was defined as the interactive exchange of information, ideas, desires and feelings while language was defined as arbitrary code system or set of rules involving grammatical structures used to transmit meaning from one person to another. Language has several dimensions including phonology, morphology, syntax, semantic and pragmatics.

It was explained that language disorder is an impairment of comprehension or use of language regardless of symbol system used. It is caused by both child factors and environmental factors .Child factor includes inability of child’s sensory system to detect stimuli in the environment because of impairment. Environment factor includes child’s inability to explore the environment.

The lecture also described speech disorder as the frequently reported problem among children although we have to make comparison between child speech and adult standard to notice behaviour that irregular or missing. Speech production involves three systems; the respiratory system, vocal tract and coordination of the fine motor movement of the articulators.

Types of speech disorders identified in this lecture are:

Articulation disorders which is classified into omissions, substitutions, distortions and additions.
Voice disorders which involve a problem in loudness or softness of the voice.
Fluency Disorders (stuttering or stammering) which involve abnormal repetitions, hesitations, prolongations of speech sound or syllables involved in speech production.

It was discussed that children with language and speech disorders have the range of characteristics such as absence of a functional or age appropriate communication system interference with social interactions frustration of the children and effects upon self –image and difficulties in learning and performance in cognitive tasks. Furthermore children with speech and language disorder are assessed and identified through four procedures including screening, evaluating and making appropriate placement. Again, children with language and speech disorders get services from education professionals, including general education teachers, special education teachers and speech and language pathologists.

Last modified: Friday, 4 November 2016, 3:37 PM

◄ Lecture 8: References

Lecture 10: Notes

10.1 Introduction

This is the last but very important chapter in the chapters dealing with individuals with special needs. This is because most of us don’t regard talented and gifted children as having special needs. However, by going through this lecturer you will discover why we put them in this category.

OBJECTIVES OF THE LECTURE

At the end of the lecture students should be able to:

1. Define and describe gifted and talented children.

2. Explain the causes of giftedness and talented in children.

3. Describe identification processes of gifted and talented children.

4. Discuss instructional strategies maximize learning for gifted and talented children.

10.2 Meaning of Giftedness and Talented

Hallahan and Kauffman, (1994) described gifted and talented children as those children who give evidence of high performance capability in such areas as intellectual, creative, artistic, or leadership capacity or specific academic field which require services or activities not ordinarily provided by the school in order to develop such capabilities fully. According to Hallahan & Kauffman (1994), the group of these children are variously described because they show a discrepancy into areas where their giftedness and talents are manifested.

The word talent has been used to indicate a special ability, aptitude or accomplishment while giftedness refers to cognitive superiority, creativity, and motivation in combination and sufficient magnitude to set the child apart from the vast majority of age mates and make it possible for her/him to contribute something of particular value to a society.

However, gifted and talented children can go through life unrecognized because their families and communities place no particular value on their special abilities or not given the necessary opportunities or training.

Gifted and talented children therefore, are those children who give evidence of high performance capability in such areas as intellectual, creative, artistic, or leadership capacity or specific academic field which require services or activities not ordinarily provided by the school in order to develop such capabilities fully.

10.3 Causes of Talented and Giftedness

Giftedness and talents can be contributed by genetic and biological factors that are not genetic. In this sense thus nutritional and neurological factors may determine how intellectually competent a child becomes.

The environmental factors such as the families, schools, peer group and communities contribute to giftedness as studies show that the environment where the child was born and grow has a prominent influence on the development of the giftedness. Extraordinary talents may be inherited but nurtured by environment.

10.4 Identification and Assessment of Gifted and Talented Students

Before providing special education for gifted and talented students, we have to find them because most of the children pass through the school unidentified. It is expected that the school teacher may notice them but they do not always recognized them.

The identification of gifted and talented students requires an understanding of the requirement of the programme for which they are chosen. Identifying children who are gifted and talented in a school system should include both subjective and objective methods of evaluation.

Achievement tests are usually used to detect children who achieve well academically although some students who are emotional disturbed, with family problems, peer group pressure, poor study habits and other factors may affect child’s ability academically. Other children may perform achieve at a higher level because of family pressures, good study habits or intensive motivation.

Moreover, the Scholastic Aptitude Test and other aptitude tests are used to screen students who are extraordinarily capable in mathematic. Most special education programme for gifted students use a combination of aptitude tests, teacher ratings, nominations, portfolios, and scholastic records in identifying eligible students.

Additionally, scholars such as Renzuli and Reis (1991) suggest six steps that can be used in identification of gifted and talented children including nomination on the basis of test scores and teacher nominations whereby in this step teachers nominate any additional students who show particularly high levels of creativity, task commitment, interests, talent, performance or potential.

Allow for alternative pathways to identification i.e. nomination by parents, peers or self, test of creativity, product evaluation etc
A list of all nominated students is circulated to all teachers in the school and to past teacher who may know the student’s abilities that have gone unrecognized in steps one through three.
Notification and orientation of parents whereby parents and students are not told that gifted students are identified but the nature of the programme is described.
Provision of another safety valve by seeking nomination from teachers throughout the year.

Although no identification system is perfect, the method should be on the balancing concern for identifying only those students whose capabilities are markedly above average.

10.6 Service Provision for Gifted and Talented Children

Gifted and talented children need services like other special needs children though there are significant differences. The services include;

10.6.1 Flexible pacing

This is to allow students to move through material at their own pace. This strategy accelerates student to a level in a school programme that is higher than the level of his or her age mates.

10.6.2 Grouping

This is done by performance or aptitude to reduce the range of ability that the teacher faces in teaching subject matter. Having students with high performance ability in one group allows teacher to proceed much more easily and in great depth than otherwise might be possible.

10.6.3 Student Acceleration

This is a process whereby students are passed through the educational system as quickly as possible. There are six ways in which students can be accelerated. These include:

10.6.4 Early School Admission

The intellectually and socially mature child is allowed to enter school at the younger age than normal.

10.6.5 Skipping Grades

The child can be accelerated by eliminating a term or grade in school. However, this can lead a temporary adjustment problem for the student.

10.6.6 Telescoping Grades

In this strategy, the child is allowed to cover the programme in shorter time. For example a three year programme is taught over two years.

10.6.7 Advanced Placement

Student is allowed to take courses for college while still in high school therefore shortening college programme.

10.6.8 Dual Enrollment in High School and College

The student is enrolled in college while finishing high school.

10.6.9 Early College Admission

Student may enter college at 14, 15, 16 years of age.

Note: The mentioned above strategies depend very much on educational policy of the country.

SUMMARY

The chapter defined the word talent as special ability a child has while giftedness indicates cognitive superiority,creativity and motivation in combination to set the child apart from the vast majority of age mate for him/her to contribute something of particular value to a society.Talented and gifted children therefore are defined as those children who give evidence of high performance in such areas as intellectual, creativity, artistic, leadership capacity or specific academic field which require services or activities that are not provided by the school to develop such capabilities.

Giftedness and talents was explained to be contributed by genetic and biological factors .The characteristics which are shown by gifted and talented children are categorized in different groups such as physical, academic, social and emotional characteristics. Further the identification of talented and gifted children should include both subjective and objective methods of evaluation. The identification of gifted and talented children includes combination of aptitude tests, teacher ratings, nominations, portfolios, and scholastic records. Various ways have been suggested for schools to help gifted and talented children develop their potentials. These are flexible pacing, grouping, student acceleration, early school admission, skipping grades: telescoping grades: advanced placement, dual enrollment in high school and college and early college admission.

Last modified: Saturday, 5 November 2016, 11:32 AM

◄ Lecture 9: References

Lecture 11:Notes

11.1 Introduction

If a child is suspected as having a disability that may require special education and related services, the child must be found, identified, located and evaluated for special education and related services.

Teachers and other professionals should decide that the child should be evaluated to see if she or he has disability. However, the identification processes will differ depending on the category of disability, therefore identification process of each disability was well elaborated under the section which deal with each category .

This lecture intends to give you the general processes of identifying individuals who need special education. It also describes criteria and steps used in identification process. Lastly, the lecture answers the question on kinds of services provided after identification.

OBJECTIVES OF THE LECTURE

At the end of this lecture, students should be able to:

Describe special education identification processes
List steps in identification process
Describe services provision after identification

11.2 Identification processes

Some of children with special needs are not easily recognized as requiring special education and related services until they are in schools. Hence School teachers in the early school years could be very important in recognizing the candidates for special education services. In other cases, parents may feel that something is wrong with the children hence discuss it with the teacher.

This discussion is important since it could lead to a formal evaluation which might confirm the child’s eligibility to special education services. Even if parents are not aware of their children’s condition teachers may recognize the child who is experiencing difficulties and request for evaluation. However parents should be notified for their consent to allow the evaluation process.

Even though, children with special needs may require special and individualized services to meet their educational need; any decision of provision of such services should not be made before identification and assessment process.

This is because; identification and assessment of children with special needs will determine their eligibility for special education services and what the services will be. Eligibility for special education is required to meet the principles set by the recognized organs in the particular country or the law of such country in order for each eligible student to have appropriate services and education.

Sometimes a student could be eligible for special education and related services but do not need them while other are in need of such services but are not eligible according to the law or criteria used. If the disability is diagnosed and special education confirmed, a student has the right to individualized programmes to improve his or her educational needs and related services such as psychological consultation and physical therapy.

Furthermore, screening tests are used to find children who might have special needs. The test intends to look for academic or learning problems, behavioural problems, sensory or physical problems of the child. The large scale screening procedures are important in that it helps children who are at risk of disability hence special needs education and related services.

11.2 Steps in identification

Identification process for children with disability should follow the following steps.

11.2.1 Referral

If the child is suspected as having a disability and need special education services, a written referral form for special education evaluation must be submitted and addressed to school authority. The referral to special education is done when the identified child continues to experience difficulty in the general education classroom. This may be initiated by different personnel including:

School personnel (general education teachers, special education teachers, counselors, administrators etc.
Parents/ guardians)
Other person involved in education or care of the child.

The official referral begins at the formal process of determining eligibility for special education services. Once a referral is provided, the school must obtain consent from parents or legal guardians to begin the evaluation process.

11.2.2 Evaluation and Eligibility

Evaluation process must assess the child in all areas related to his or her suspected disability(gross motor, fine motor, cognitive, communication etc).the results are used to determine if the child is eligible for special educations are services and to make decisions about appropriate educational programmes for the child. After evaluation process, a group of professional and parents should review the child’s evaluation results.

Together they should decide if the child can be regarded as the child with disability .If the child is found to be with disability, he or she is eligible for special education and related services. The eligibility for special education services requires two findings:

The student must meet the criteria for at least one of the thirteen disabilities recognized individual with disabilities education act (IDEA).
Special education and/ or related services must be required for the student to receive an appropriate education.

11.2.3 Service provision

Parents and caregivers of children with disabilities particularly mothers need to have enough economic security, access to resources and to basic services including health, nutrition and education and protection from violence in order to be able to act on behalf of themselves and their children.

They also need access to social services such as child protection systems, support and assistance services and social welfare services and benefits. They include:

11.2.3.1 Health care services

The main concern for children with disabilities is to ensure that they remain as health as possible so they can grow, flourish and grow. While children with disabilities have specialized health care needs related to their disability, they are also at risk of the same childhood illnesses which they require access to mainstream healthcare services.

11.3 Targeted Services Provision

Early childhood intervention programme should be included in other services such as health, education and social system actions for all children. The provision of intervention programmes as early as possible can result in positive outcomes for children with disabilities and their families.

There is a growing fact that children who receive early childhood intervention and other services show gains in a wide range of skills, greatly enhancing their abilities to flourish when they begin formal education and thus justifying the great cost that such targeted entail.

In addition it enhances children’s developmental competencies and minimizes secondary complications. Early Childhood Intervention programme can help to build effective support networks for parents, promoting confidence and competence.

Early Childhood Education programme coordinate services across different sectors, such as health, education, and social protection are sustainable over, and support children and families as they move from early childhood into successful primary school experiences are particularly desirable.

11.3.1 Therapy Services and Assistive Devices

Therapy services and assistive devices aims at optimize a child’s development and ability to participate in family and community life by providing structured opportunities to practice skills appropriate to the child’s current developmental level.

Service provision should include a combination of centre and home based interventions with the active involvement of parents and/ or other family members.CBR programmes can assist in establishing include therapeutic activities based around play and other activities, functional training to work on skills required for independence in everyday activities;

education for parents to help them better understanding their child’s disability and their roles; prescription and provision of assistive devices including user training; and modifications to the home and school environments.

Interventions that allow the acquisition of even basic skills, such as helping a child with disability learn to feed or dress himself or herself, can lead to a growing sense of independence and competency and reduce the burden on other family members.

11.3.2 Family Services

Families are very important in development and protection of their children which is important for both children and with or without special needs. Inclusion begins in the home environment during the early years and later broadens to school and community settings.

Family services should aim to provide families with knowledge, skills and support to meet and advocate for the needs and right of their child in all settings. Service providers must work closely with families to design and implement interventions in all setting settings.

Following early identification and assessment, parents/caregivers of children with special needs will require information about their child’s disability and development progress, steps to be followed, and the resources available for support and treatment. Information should be provided in a way that educates parents and other family members and that promotes constructive dialogue within the family and community.

Assistive devices that children with special needs might require include mobility devices (crutches, wheelchairs etc), visual devices (white canes, eyeglasses, Braille systems and talking books), hearing devices( hearing aids); cognitive devices (diaries, calendars and schedules); and daily living devices.

SUMMARY

The lecture discussed that it is not easy to recognize some children with special needs untill they are in schools.Parents who feel that something is wrong with their children must discuss with teachers for the formal evaluation to confirm the the childs eligibility to special education services. Eligibility must meet the principles set by known organs in order for the student to receive appropriate services.

The lecture also noted that identification process for children with disability has to follow steps such as

Referral, evaluation and eligibility and service provision. The service provided after eligibility including therapy services and assistive devices and family services. Therapy services and assistive service aimed at assisting child’s development and capacity to contribute in family and community life. Family services should give families with information, ability and support to meet and advocate for the needs and right of their child in all settings. The provision of service includes a combination of centre and home based interventions with the active involvement of parents and/ or other family members.

Last modified: Saturday, 5 November 2016, 11:54 AM

◄ Powerpoint

Lecture 12: Notes

12.1 Introduction

For individual to qualify for special education, a person must be diagnosed as having disability which adversely affects educational performances so as to require special services.

Therefore this chapter gives an overview of assessment and referral services for individuals with special needs. It gives detail explanations on children assessment in special education and referral services after assessment.

OBJECTIVES OF THE LECTURE

At the end of this lecture , students should be able to:

Describe assessment and referral services for special need services
Identify elements to be included in assessment process
3. Explain referral services for children with special needs

12.2 Assessment Services of Children with Special Needs

Children assessment for development process is an ongoing process which is intended to give information used to plan appropriate and meaningful activities to promote children development and learning. Dennis & Laveck (2004) described that assessment of children for special education services should include the following stages:

12.2.1 Finding of the child and information gathering

Children could have different timetables for their development but most of them acquire skills and demonstrate behaviours in a predictable sequence and within a certain age range. Children who do not follow the accepted developmental stages could be developmentally delay or at risk for development delay or disability.

Therefore, this stage is designed to locate those young children who might need early intervention services and programmes. The stage is important since some parents do not know the presence of the services, do not have the knowledge of their child developmental problem or cultural belief and traditions may make parents deny the existence of problem.

Furthermore, as the basis for meeting a child developmental needs, each parent have to complete a history sheet school staffs about the child before gaining admission to school.

Informal inventories are also used to give information about the child growth and development from birth to the time of school admission. It is also important for the professional to find out how the child responds in various setting and information about the child’s routine.

12.2.2 Screening the child development

Screening is a rapid process of obtaining general information about child’s development and detecting any possible problem. It is not intended to be a complete diagnosis, but rather provides a first quick look of a child thus the procedures are used with large groups of children.

The tests should be brief, inexpensive and have to score systems that are valid and reliable. Screening process consists of health examination including hearing and vision tests, checklist to determine how the child is developing in other areas for example gross motor, fine motor, cognitive, communication, social and emotional and self help skills. Screening might be done in early childhood education programme, health clinic or hospital.

After screening written plans are developed for the child and other special needs to identify goals and for the child and services needed. Parents and other stakeholders should be informed of the results and included in the plan.

12.2.3 Diagnosis

Diagnosis is more thorough assessment than screening. Information of the child is found through observation, interviews, case history and informal and standardized tests.

The natures of the child’s difficulties, the severity of the problem, and the child’s weaknesses and strengths have to be determined. The information gained becomes the basis for determining eligibility for special education services.

The diagnosis process is carried out by groups of multidisciplinary professionals for example speech/ language pathologist, audiologist and psychologist. Information collected through the diagnosis leads to decisions about the nature and severity of the problem and assists in planning intervention.

12.2.4 Assessment

Assessment is the general procedure of evaluating a child to determine the nature and degree of his disability. Assessment stands with the informal procedures of identification, screening or evaluation and ultimately diagnosis.

Assessment serve numerous reasons including detection of deficits, referral, educational placement, instructional programming, service delivery, evaluation of the child’s progress, evaluation of the curriculum and evaluation of the educational programme.

12.3 Individual Planning of Programmes and Interventions

Individual planning for intervention process is carried out if diagnosis indicates the need for early intervention, hence assessment for the programmes for intervention. The areas considered in the planning process include:

Sensory / physical development
Language and communication abilities
Fine and gross motor development
Social – emotional development
Adaptive or self –help skill

12.4 Programme Monitoring and Evaluation

After placing a child in the intervention programme, child’s progress should be monitored frequently. This is done through observation, developmental checklists and rating scale to determine mastery of targeted skills.

Further, it is important to evaluate the intervention programme it since helps to determine progress of the children and the effectiveness of the total intervention programme for necessary changes and modification.

12.5 Special Education Referral Process

The referral process in special education should pass through different phases including:

12.5.1 Recognition

All students begin their education livelihood with needs. There are children who have unique needs that are unusual for children of their age and may not be within the knowledge of general education classroom teacher.

It is during this time that the stakeholders (teachers, parents, administrators or counselors) identify a constant need or problem displayed by the student.

The recognition of inconsistency in the student’s academic, social /emotional, behavioural, and/or physical capability and his or her age may signal the need for additional academic or behavioural supports.

In this stage teacher should provide examples of the students work and/ or anecdotal classroom notes regarding the student’s needs. If the problem cannot be controlled with simple classroom interventions, the teacher should notify the parents and the outside help should be sought for.

12.5.2 Pre-referral

The aim of pre-referral intervention is to identify, develop, and implement alternative education strategies for student who has problems in the classroom before the student is referred to the special school.

The pre-referral intervention is done by a team consisting of teachers, parents, administrators, other general education teachers, nurse, counselor and other adults involved in the education of the child. The general education teacher should be responsible in providing background information regarding the problem displayed by the child.

The intention of using pre-referral team is to provide interventions that will help student to achieve without entering special education. However, if the interventions do not improve students’ performance, the student will be referred for an assessment to determine possible eligibility for special education services.

12.5.3 Referral for Special Education Evaluation

After interventions in the general education classroom, the student continue to experience difficulty, the child should be referred to a special education evaluation. Referral for eligibility for special education service is instigated by:

School personnel (general education teachers, special education teachers, counselor, administrators);
Childs parents or legal guardians
Any other person involved in the education or care of the child.

The official referral begins the formal process of determining eligibility for special education services. Once a referral is provided, the school must obtain consent from the parents to begin the evaluation phase of the referral process.

12.5.4 Special Education Evaluation

According to IDEA, the student referred for special education services receive an unbiased multi-factored evaluation. This means that the evaluation has to be conducted by a multidisciplinary team that consists of individuals who can bring different standpoint and skill to the evaluation.

The team member should consist of educational diagnostician or school psychologist, special educator; general educator, parents, related service provider (physical therapist, occupational therapist, audiologist, orientation and mobility specialist) and medical doctors.

The evaluation must be complete and use evaluation tools and strategies that are technically sound and accepted. Most students receive a series of formal evaluation that measures intelligence, achievement, behavioural, disability-specific issues and medical.

12.5.5 Eligibility

Special education services are one way to accomplishment the IDEA requirement that each child is entitled to a free and appropriate education. A child is considered eligible for special education services if the child has a disability as defined by IDEA which negatively impacts his /her educational

performance and the child needs special education services in order to benefit from education. Some students may not be determined for special education because a child may not have a disability that negatively impacts his or her education.

If the child is eligible for special education services, then a formal Individualized Education programme (IEP) will be formed to develop a plan of special education services for the student.

12.5.6 Reevaluation

Sometimes, the reevaluation team could find out that the student does not need special education services. In this case the team will have to file appropriate documentation to support the fact that the student no longer is eligible for special education services.

SUMMARY

The chapter discussed the assessment services for children with special need. It described that assessment of children for special education services should include; finding of the child and information gathering, screening the child development, diagnosis and assessment. Further, assessment was explained to serve different purposes including detection of deficits, referral, educational placement, instructional programming, and service delivery, evaluation of the child’s progress, evaluation of the curriculum and evaluation of the educational programme. After assessment referral process follows. This includes different phases such as recognition, pre-referral, and referral for special education evaluation, special education evaluation, eligibility and reevaluation.

Last modified: Saturday, 5 November 2016, 12:09 PM

◄ Lecture 11: References

Lecture 12: Review questions ►

Lecture 14: Notes

14.1 Introduction

In lecture two we mentioned categories of individuals with special needs and we should ask ourselves if these individuals need the same classroom instructions. After going through this lecture you will be able to clear the doubt and get the answer to the above question.

OBJECTIVES OF THE LECTURE

At the end of the lecture, students should be able to:

Define instructional strategy in special education
Classify instructional strategies used for individuals with special needs.
Explain the advantages of each strategy.

14.2 Meaning of instructional strategy in special education

Instructional strategy is a set of systematic activities used by a teacher that contains clear steps to achieve a specific student’s outcome. This set of steps must be replicable by another individual in order to be considered a strategy. However, instructional strategies will differ depending on the needs of individuals .

For example strategies for visual impaired will not be the same as for hearing impaired students. The lecture is discussing on the two general instructional strategies for students with special needs.

14.3 Types of instructional strategies in special education

Classroom instructional strategies for individual with special needs could be different depending on the types of the disability the student have. However, there are general instructional strategies for individual with special needs. These can be classified as either accommodation or modification.

14.3.1 Accommodation

Accommodation is a rational alteration to teaching practices so that the student learns similar material but in an arrangement that is more open to the student. Accommodations may be classified by whether they change the presentation, response, setting, or scheduling the lessons.

For example the classroom teacher may accommodate a student with visual impairment by providing a large print text book. Examples of accommodation are:

1. Response accommodations: In response accommodation the teacher have to type homework assignment for the students instead of handwriting them. It is also important to have someone else to write down answers given orally.
2. Presentation accommodations: This includes listening to audio books instead of reading printed books. These may be used as a replacement for the text, or as complement planned to improve the student reading fluency and phonetic skills. Analogous alternative include selecting a person to read to the student, or providing text to speech software. This is considered a modification if the purpose of the assignment is reading skills acquisition. Other presentation accommodations may include selecting a person to take notes during lectures or using a talking calculator instead of one with only a visual display.
3. Setting accommodations: This involves taking a test in a quieter room or moving a class to a room that is physically accessible, for example on the first floor of the building or near an elevator. Organize sitting arrangement to benefit the students for example by sitting at the front of the classroom.
4. Scheduling accommodation: In these type students may be given rest breaks or extended time on tests. This is important if speed is a factor in the test.

14.3.2 Modification

Modification is to modify or adjust the materials to make them simpler. Modification may adjust what is learned, how difficult the material is, what level of mastery the student is anticipated to attain, whether and how the student assessed, or any other feature of the curriculum.

For example the classroom teacher may modify the reading assignment for a student with reading difficulties by alternating a shorter, easier book. Examples of modifications are:

Skipping subjects: In this type of modification, students are to be provided with less information than students without disabilities. It could be done by omitting materials that are considered inappropriate for the students’ abilities or less important than other subjects. For example, a student with poor fine motor skills may be taught to print block letters but not cursive hand writing.
Simplified assignments: in this type, students may read the same literature as their peers but have a simpler version, such as Shakespeare with both the original text and summarized text available.
Shorter assignment: In here students may do shorter homework assignment or take shorter, more intense tests.
Extra aids: if a student have deficiencies in working memory, a list of vocabulary can be provided during tests, to reduce lack of recall and increase chances of understanding. Such student can also use calculator when other students do not.
Extended time: Students with a slower processing speed may require extended time for assignment and /or test in order to have more time to understand questions, remember information, and produce knowledge.

Additionally to how students with special needs are taught the academic curriculum, schools must provide non-academic services to the students.

These are intended in due course to increase the student’s personal and academic abilities. Related services include developmental, corrective and other supportive services as required to assist a student with special needs.

These are speech and language pathology, audiology, psychological services, physical therapy, occupational therapy, counseling services including rehabilitation counseling, orientation and mobility services, medical services, appropriate access to recreation and other support services.

The related services can be provided by the schools or health care and social services systems.

SUMMARY

The lecture discussed the general classroom instructional strategies for students with special needs. It mentioned accommodation and modification as the general classroom instructions. Examples given for accommodation was response accommodations, presentation accommodations, setting accommodations and scheduling accommodation while examples of modification was skipping subjects, simplified assignments, shorter assignment, extra aids, extended time.

Last modified: Saturday, 5 November 2016, 12:44 PM

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