Special Education

Education

Special education is instruction that is modified or particularized for those students with special needs, such as learning differences, mental health problems, specific disabilities (physical or developmental), and giftedness

History

Children with special needs have always been part of society. In the past, some “special” education was provided to individual children on a one-on-one basis, such as Jean Marc Gaspard Itard’s work with Victor, the “wild child of Aveyron”. As formal education became established, welfare or religious groups for the care of children with special needs often became involved in their education.

Government provision of special education services generally followed the work of voluntary groups. Progress in Special Education saw a major reversal as the eugenics movement took hold in the mid-1960s. Under eugenics theory, it was irresponsible to care for and educate people with special needs as it would “weaken society”. Eventually, scientific approaches to studying disability, such as behaviourism, led to a new understanding of special education and the vision that all children could learn, no matter what diagnosis they were given.

Initially, special education was provided to children of school age – about six or seven. In the early 1970s, research into Early Childhood Intervention, which involved providing special education from birth or first diagnosis, showed that the earlier special education was provided, the better the outcome for the child and the entire family

In the United States, this led to the 1975 Education for All Handicapped Children Act (EHA), which required all public schools in the United States to provide adequate services to any child who had a diagnosed learning disability. The EHA was renewed in 1986 as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

Special Education changed with Wolf Wolfensberger's theory of Normalisation - that all people with special needs have the right to lead "normal" lives, including being part of a family, attending a local school, and holding a job in the community. Inspired by this theory, the inclusive education movement fought for social improvement, centring on the improvement of schools. The movement desires to have schools which no longer provide "regular education" and "special education". Instead, schools would provide an inclusive education, and as a result, students would be able to learn together. Special Education services in the United States now extend past school-age into adulthood with the Post Secondary Transition For High School Students with Disabilities program, as a better understanding of life-long learning has been gained. It includes school-based activities as well as family and community activities, and has become a major testing ground for better teaching for all children, not simply children with special needs.

Special Education has a different quality in different countries. The political, economic and social pressures in each country have led to a different form of Special Education, with different sets of policies and practices.

How is Special Education provided?

The provision of Special Education differs from country to country, and state to state. The ability of a child to access a particular setting may be dependent on their specific needs, location, family choice, or government policy. In the main, special education will be provided in one, or a combination, of the following ways.

Self-contained classes, located in mainstream schools but separate from regular education classrooms, are designed specifically for children who have severe special needs and may be termed support classes, SEN bases or units (in the UK), or a variety of jurisdiction-specific terms.

Regular education classes combined with special education services is a flexible model often referred to as inclusion. In this model, children with special needs are educated with their typically developing peers for at least half of the day. Special education services may be provided in other settings at specific times during the day on a pull-out basis, such as resource rooms, occupational, physical and speech therapy, sensory rooms, rooms with special physical equipment, adaptive physical education, etc. Alternatively, specialized services may be provided in the regular classroom by sending the service provider in to work with one or more children in their regular classroom setting.

Special schools are specifically designed, resourced and staffed to meet the varied needs of children who need additional support (i.e. physical, cognitive, medical, and psychological].

Outreach or related services such as Speech and Language Therapy, Autism Outreach, Occupational Therapy, etc. may be provided to pupils on a visiting basis in their own setting; mainstream school, special school, independent school, home-teaching, etc.

Residential centres are live-in schools where complex needs can be met with appropriate medical care and provision of a variety of therapies.

Modifications can consist of changes in curriculum, supplementary aides or equipment, and the provision of specialised facilities that allow students to participate in the educational environment to the fullest extent possible. Students may need this help to access subject matter, to physically gain access to the school, or to meet their emotional needs.

Support is targeted to the needs of the individual student and can be short or long term. In the United States, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act require that special needs students be included in regular education activities as much as possible. In Scotland the Additional Support Needs Act places an obligation on education authorities to meet the needs of all children in consultation with other agencies and parents.

Abbreviations

In North America special education is commonly abbreviated as Special Ed, SpecEd, SPED, SpEd, in a professional context. It should be noted that the term sped is often interpreted as an insult. In England and Wales the initialism SEN is most commonly used when discussing special education needs. The term is used to denote the condition of having special educational needs, the services which provide the support and the programmes and staff which implement the education. In Scotland the term Special Educational Needs (SEN), and its variants are not official terminology although the very recent implementation of the Additional Support for Learning Act means that both SEN and ASN (Additional Support Needs) are used interchangeably in current common practice.