What is Special Education?

About

Special education is an educational method aimed at addressing the requirements of students with different disabilities; every child has the right to the same opportunities as others, regardless of the difficulties they face. Special education is of great importance for children with learning disabilities, because it gives them the opportunity to get quality education in line with their unique needs. Special education enables every student to gain a high level of independence and reach their full potential. It is a customized approach based on the specific needs of each child. In contrast to conventional education models, special education prioritizes the unique learning needs of students with physical, mental, emotional, or developmental challenges.

Purpose

The highlighted goal of special education is to make sure that each one of the student has equal access to educational resources according of their disability. Their aim is to help students with special needs achieve their mental objectives and also develop socially, emotionally, and psychologically. The concept is personalized, meaning that the educational plan for each student is create to address their individual challenges and strengths. Special education is an all-encompassing term. It takes into consideration all the challenges a child can face and not just a single type of disability, but many for e.g.

· Learning problems (dyslexia, dyscalculia)
· Autism (ASD)
· Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
· Physical disabilities (such as cerebral palsy)
· Speech and language impairments
· Sensory impairments (hearing or vision loss)

Key Components of Special Education

Individualized Education Program (IEP)

Central to special needs education is the Individualized Education Program (IEP). Takes shape in form of a written contract specifying what must be done to meet each learner’s requirements, along with any modifications or provisions. It stipulates the aimed objectives of learning growth for the student, what tools and methods are to be utilized, and how success will be measured.” To achieve that, a team composed of educators, special education teachers, and the child’s parent or caretaker work jointly on the IEP.

Accommodations and Modifications

In furtherance of improving learning outcomes, special education provides a variety of modifications and accommodations to ensure that learners access the content. These changes may include things such as allocating more time for completing the assessment, using assistive devices like speech to text programs, or even providing materials in other formats like audio recordings or prints of larger sizes. In other words, modifications are more about changing the curriculum in order to suit the learner’s needs while accommodations are designed to enable students to interact with the content without changing what is being taught. For example, one modification might be to make assignments easier or shorter.

Specialized Support Services

A variety of support services are frequently available to special education students. These could consist of:

Speech and language treatment to address difficulties in communicating.
Occupational therapyto help with everyday life activities or fine motor abilities.
Physical treatmentto improve coordination and movement.
Behavioral therapy for behavioral or emotional issues.

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