Successful integration of special needs children in classroom?

Question

What are some ways you have been successful in integrating a child with special needs into your classrooms? If you do not work in a classroom, interview someone who does so you can get some insight to this situation.

I have to answer this for my discussion question in an online class, and at my school I guess we don't allow special needs because we're a school of choice for smarter kids. I also don't know anyone who works with special needs kids and all the schools are closed for good friday? Does anyone have any experience with this?

Answer 1

Are you sure you don't have any childen at your school with disabilities?  Smart kids can have issues, too.  Are there any children with Asperger's Syndrome?  Any with ADHD?  Any with Sensory Integration Disorder?  Learning Disabilities?  Hearing Aides?  Blind?  You can have these disorders and still have higher IQ.

Answer 2

Some children with disabilities have a shadow or in class support teacher.

The trick is to not make the child stand out-the shadow or support teacher should fade into the background and not hover off the child with the disability-

I like to describe it as having one eye on the child with a disability and one eye on the rest of the class-

for instance-the support teacher could help with the rest of the class while the regular ed teacher gives extra attention to the child with a disability

the shadow could passively cue the child to stay on task-with an unobtrusive gesture

at all times-the child with a disability should be included with the group as a whole

sometimes a buddy system can be instituted-

when writing on the blackboard-a buddy can be used for a studnet who is visually impaired if t they do not write standard letters

or maybe the support person could help a small group that includes the child with a disability

btw-I am not offended by the term person with  special needs-(as a person with a disability) although I generally don't use it for adults-i usually only use it in the sense of special education needs-

the importnat thing is thatyou used people first lnaguage-

you didn't say special needs PERSON

you said PERSON with special needs in the explanation of your question.

Answer 3

First of all, disability and intelligence are not mutually exclusive.

Anyway, it depends on the student’s needs. Some may require a reader, while others would need extra test time. Still others may require large-print books. Your question is so general (and your view, so stereotypical) that it is almost impossible to answer.

Answer 4

go to www.ed.gov see special ed or go to www.disabilityinfo.gov my dd is autistic. some kids do well some do not and unless the school is charter or private they cannot deny any spec ed kids at least in the usa. that is federal special ed laws  so IDEA on the links above that is the spec ed law and section 504 of the rehabiliation act that gives spec ed kids special help and rights.

http://idea.ed.gov/

click on the pictures and learn more about special ed.

Answer 5

i have never heard the term PWD, and really dont think that many people find it offencive, so dont worry about it.

in elementary school my brother who is autistic, would sit in the classroom with the kids, and he had a special teacher that helped him one on one.

he would listen to discussions. he played games with the class.

and when the kids did work he did work aswell.

sometimes it was the same, sometimes it was more on his level, depending on the subject.

when they went to the library to do 'CCC' (an educational game that all the kids did) my brother would do it aswell.

im not sure if this is exactly the kind of answer you were looking for , sorry if it isnt.

Answer 6

I actually am a Special Ed teacher of children with Moderate/Severe disabilities. Trying to get my students "mainstreamed" for activities in a Gen Ed class is like an act of God sometimes. The only way integration is going to be successful is having the Gen Ed teacher want to participate in this. If you have a teacher that has some sort of bias, no matter what you do or plan, there are always going to be complaints about your special need child.  I am required by law due to the IEP to provide some mainstreaming for activities if it is written in under Gen Ed education section. I actually work for a county office which puts classes at various school sites per various districts. I serve seven different districts in my classroom. The school site where I am at isn't my home campus and 9 out 10 students in my class are not their own district's pupil. Any time I do integration with a pupil of mine, a paraprofessional must accompany them into the Gen Ed class in order to help the child be successful. I also will not send a child into a Gen Ed class unless I think they can handle the situation and handle the academic work. Given that my students are very low fuctioning, activities such as art. music or PE are better for mainstreaming and for my children to be successful.

Answer 7

Main thing is for the school to provide for the students needs. Your school may not have any students with special needs at the moment but they may have done ( or you may just not know of the ones that they do have.) Just because someone has a disability doesn't mean they aren't smart.

Many students will probably have an aide or support person/carer or interpreter while they are at school to assist them if they need it or they may just have equipment which assists them to access the curriculum and other school activities (such as having all your books etc printed in braille.)

The people first language is a relatively new thing but if you are going to refer to them using people first language the best term is students with disabilities as it shows that they are students and not just children.