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Special Education, alsocalled special needs education,
the education of children who differ socially, mentally, or
physically from the average to such an extent that they require modifications
of usual school practices. Special education serves children with emotional,
behavioral, or cognitive impairments or with intellectual,
hearing, vision, speech, or learning disabilities; gifted children with
advanced academic abilities; and children with orthopedic or neurological
impairments, deafness, blindness, speech disorder, mental disorder.
gifted child and learning disabilities.
Special education is the practice of educating students in a way that accommodates their individual differences, disabilities, and special needs. This involves the individually planned and systematically monitored arrangement of teaching procedures, adapted equipment and materials, and accessible settings.
Special Education helps special needs students to mainstreaming in the school. Now a days it is very important that all government schools and private school required Special Educator to help the special needs students admitted in the schools. According to Right to Education (RTE) Act every child should get their primary education, it is their fundamental right.
We cannot deprive any child in getting their formal education. A special educator helps the special child in ways depending upon their needs. In schools it has been observed that many students facing problemsin coping with their academic syllabus. They are not able to perform their best in their academics. Generally, teachers can identify the problems and this is the time when the special educator steps in. As per CBSE guidelines, every school should have one Special Educator and a counsellor. Unfortunately, not all schools follow the rule.
In school, a special educator plays a vital role. As we all know to become a special educator, he or she needs to go through the special education course and get certified under Rehabilitation Council of India (RCI). The special education classes are not the same as normal classes. Special educator does not follow the academic curriculum. They work as per the ability level of the child. The special educator observes the child and assesses him or her and try to know the problem as to why the child is not able to perform like the other children. Then the child is sent to the clinical psychologist for further diagnosis. After diagnosis, the special educator starts the intervention depending upon the diagnosis. Based on that an IEP has planned for every child depending upon the academic needs of the child. The Individual Education Programme Plan (IEP) is a written plan/programme developed by the school's special education team with input from the parents and specifies the student's academic goals and the method to obtain these goals. The IEP will focus only on the areas that are affected by the disabilities. The IEP will provide a focus for the student's learning and designate the time for the student to successfully complete the benchmark objectives on the way to mastering the IEP Goal. The IEP should reflect as much as possible what the student's peers are learning, which provides an age-appropriate approximation of the general education curriculum. The IEP will identify support and service the student's needs for success. In short, we can say that the role of Special Educatorsare very important for all the schools to give support and help to the special needs children.
By
Mr. Kanak Chandra Das
Special Educator
Consultant, MIND India
|
Ask Dr Sangeeta Goswami Question: How will I know whether my child needs special education at school? It is usually difficult to understand when a child needs the extra help from special educators in school. As stated above special education serves children with emotional, behavioral, or cognitive impairments or with intellectual, hearing, vision, speech, or learning disabilities; gifted children with advanced academic abilities; and children with orthopedic or neurological impairments, deafness, blindness, speech disorder, mental disorder. gifted child and learning disabilities. When the disabilities are apparent and physical in nature, its easier to identify and much harder to identify children having difficulties in emotional behavioural and cognitive areas like ADHD, Learning difficulties. Some indicators you can look for are failing to give attention to tasks or notice details, sustain attention over activities; even play, not seeming to listen when spoken to directly. One may even observe that the child is not following through on instructions and failing to finish academic work, basic chores, or duties. However, before starting any intervention with the child, it is important for the child to be evaluated by a clinical psychologist to know the nomenclature and the degree of difficulty that the child is facing. It is important to keep in mind not to jump to conclusion as to your child requiring special needs intervention. The issues seen may be part of normal developmental issues that any child may go through. Talk to the teacher and observe for a while and if you see that the issues remain the same till a month, then it will be good time to meet the specialist |
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