Do you think is it right for children with special needs to be moved back in school?

Question

I say this because when i was younger my cousin had no certificate for speicial educational needs and she couldn't go to a special school! All my family and the teachers could tell but thay refused that she had serious special needs ( she used to come out with the weridist things! ) Later in life she could not cope with her sats and the thought secondry school and cometted suicide at the age of 10. Thhats ridiculous! I say is her school teachers could she the difference in her between all the differnet children why wouldn't they move her down? Now working as a drama teacher in one of the best schools in the country i talk to children who got all 3's in there sats and they say they would prefer to be moved down because its better than being teased by alll the other children about being at a lower level to them and they would be on the same level as the other children the would just be younger!

Answer 1

I have used a program called sensory integration training from essential learning institute for my child. Their website is www.LDhope.com. I was reluctant at first since there are so many programs out there but when they said it was like a miracle program, it is! We did in in my home and found improvements to start in about 2-3 months. Their program is available worldwide and special setups are available for schools. I believe they also have a home school program that includes curriculum and special services to children with LDs.

Answer 2

I have a son with learning difficulties,although at times his problems are quite severe we wanted to give him the chance to go into a mainstream primary school.When we went to meet the headmaster he was welcoming and happy to admit my son.18 mths later we have had to take him out as the support he was getting wasnt enough for him he was struggling to cope and was starting to bisbehave as he got frustrated at the work he just couldnt do,he has since had to start a special school for children with behaviour problems until sept.We ask the local education about home schooling and they went ballistic and asked us if we were actually thinking of our son.

I must admit the teachers at the special needs school are much more in control.

Answer 3

I have 3 teenagers with learning problem's. One need a specialist school, but that school got closed as it was costing to much to run. The school he was transferred to has been excellent (and still is). He did all his lessons in the "learning support" bit of the school, so he didn't have be in a mixed ability group and feel different to the others. My other two had the best of both the learning support bit and mainstream with support. So yes it can work when you do it right.

Answer 4

No. Its just a cheap option to 'educate' special needs pupils rather than staff a special unit to match their needs. Teachers in 'normal schools' can't cope with 'special needs' mixed into huge classes. The 'normal' children suffer and 'special need pupils' do not get the attention which they need. The whole system is pushed by hype and lack of funds.

Answer 5

first of all, allow me to express my condolences for what happened to your sister.

I think the entire way we look at special needs provision needs to be changed.  As one of your respondents, 'John' said, you simply cannot place children with complex special needs into a large mainstream classroom and expect teachers to cope.  It also has a detrimental effect upon the other children in the classroom, because their education is disrupted, in addition to the child herself not receiving appropriate support.

In the UK this is all a money saving scam, which was started by Mr Blunkett back in the 1990's.  He used the fact of his own visual disability as a sheild so that no one would dare to raise the possibility that he might not be making the best decision for children with special needs.  Any attack upon his policies of integration at all costs would be seen as an attack upon HIS disability.

Some children with special needs are suitable candidates for a mainstream classroom and yes, to answer your question, they should be moved back as necessary, but many are not!

What the politicians have done is to cynically distort the report issued on special educational provision by Baroness Warnock in 1981.  In it she called for greater integration, (note not TOTAL integration), the politicians however have chosen to interpret this as total integration and used it as an excuse to cut funding to special education.

Shame on them!

Snowdrop (http://www.snowdrop.cc)

Answer 6

I think there is a yes and no answer to this one.

Firstly, am very sorry to hear about your cousin. It's awful that she drove herself to do that under so much pressure.

All I can say is, I think it is both right and wrong that kids with special needs are moved back into school. Dont know if this applies or not, but there is a girl in my class in college with special needs. She is actually quite a bright girl, but she still needs support in her work, given extra time in exams etc, and it's great that someone like her can work at our level with the help required if need be (her needs are quite serious also).

However, a friend of mines sister had very bad special needs, and she goes to a different school completely. They cater for all the needs of children with special needs on a one to one basis and in that way, the kids are able to cope with the work they do without getting stressed, which is also good.

I hope this helps.

Answer 7

I don't believe that having children with severe special needs in a mainstream school is of help to anyone.  I volunteer in a junior school and work with low achievers.  However, they are not children with a learning disability as such, just a bit slower to pick things up.  There is a boy in the school who totally disrupts every day.  He bites and hits the other children and constantly cries when he is told off.  He is very loud and very threatening.  I believe he has Asbergers.  It is totally unfair to the other children.  He needs a lot of special attention which he can't be given in mainstream school.

Answer 8

I’m very sorry to hear about what happened to your cousin.  This is an example of how adults can often undervalue the emotional impact of a child’s frustrations.  As a child and even teenager (when we are irrational), when no one will acknowledge your problem, it’s like everyone collectively saying, we don’t care.  

Fortunately, these days, there is a lot more acknowledgement of different handicaps and the many ranges and types that they can occur in.  Programs have developed for most all conditions (i.e. Sylvan, Private Schools specifically for children with disabilities).  Because of the increased recognition of disabilities, it’s very easy to get the resources to have children tested and placed in special programs in public schools.  Even further still, there are government programs (under the no child left behind act and others) that will provide funding for private tutoring/schooling for the child if a parent feels that the public school is not giving their best efforts.

Because of these programs, I do not believe the portion of the question that asks if handicap children should be held back is relevant today because there are so many options.  If a student is doing poorly but there is a possibility that they may “get it” the second time around. they should be held back.  We would not expect a child that has blown out his knee to continue running a race until he has fixed his knee.  Which leads me to my next topic; the underlying issue of ignoring children’s specific problems is still, I feel, a very evident problem today in our school systems.

My entire pre college school career consisted of F’s and D’s(no jokes).  Not because I was dumb, but because I didn’t care to do the homework.  I had chronic depression (for those who don’t know what type that is; I didn’t care about anything: where I was, what I was doing, I felt empty and like nothing was really worth caring about) which was a chemical imbalance corrected eventually by a concoction of daily vitamins.  The school didn’t care either, they continued to pass me from grade to grade on painfully failing grades.  Honestly, if they had held me back (or even threatened) I probably would have started doing the homework.

After the depression was gone, as any teenager would do, I had been passing all those years with failing grades, so if it’s not broken don’t fix it.  It wasn’t until after I got out of school that the impact of how poorly I had done really affected me.  For a long time I had confidence issues about my intelligence and I thought I would never get into college because of how poorly my grades would reflect on me.  Thankfully, I’ve moved past all these issues, but this would be even harder for people with disabilities.

The public school systems need serious revising and have needed it for years.  In fact, stating this issue is like talking into a Pringles can this theme has been repeated so many times.  Ignoring the needs of students, both disabled and not, is a serious problem and fundamentally wrong.

I imagine your cousins situation had an impact on your choice of career and I also imagine it effects your performance as a teacher.  Saying that, I imagine you’re a very good teacher and I salute your choice to take on such a challenging career.

Answer 9

I work in a special school and have done for five years. All the children are statemented. Our aim is to equip the kids with the skills they need in the hope they will return to mainstream school. Only a very few really make it. It is very hard for the parent's to get the support their children need from schools and Dr's. I was moved by your recount of your cousins experience and I hope that no other child has to resort to those measures. I have children who attend mainstream and find it hard to get the support for them (and they are classed as average student's)

I don't think that the fault lies directly with the school's but with the education department who dictate from their comfy offices that there will be 30 kids to a class with only two members of staff.

Many children take issues to school and even the finest teachers do not have time to focus on their needs.

I would love to see all out student's make it back into mainstream but we can only do so much and I would not want to work in mainstream as I feel the teachers only have the time and resources to deliver a set curriculum to multi ability students and not cater for individuals

Answer 10

it depends what the "special needs" are.....

It's not appropriate for intellectually challenged children to be in the same class as normal children.....

...they take far to much of the teachers time.  It is unacceptable for the education of the majority to be sacrificed on the alter of pretending that severely backward children can learn with the rest.