How to Educate Special Children?

"Every child is special, so treat them all special"

Being part of the special world of these special children is challenging. As a spEd Teacher, it is complicated but very nice to handle them. I had experience many things in this kind of world.
My first question is: how can I handle them? or How can I educate them?

In my own perspective and view of their world, here are my personal experiences:

First, handling and teaching them:

1. Accept them and give them love, care and attention. Love is the best way of showing acceptance and care.

2. Understand their nature. Every child is unique. know first their strength or what the child can do and improve it. Their skills, interest and happiness will be your starting point to teach the chil and integrate what you want your child to learn.

3. Provide attention and time for them. Special children needs extra time and special attention because they need your support and guidance, and assistance. Neglecting them will lead to poor life and unlearning. Time to play educational games is more effective. In playing, enjoyment and bonding will felt by the child. Just make it sure that the environment and materials are safe for the child.

4. Provide continuous support for the child.

5. Attend theraphy, seminars about handling these angelic children.

Teaching them on how to learn:

Life Skills: Important Skills for Special Needs Children

Article courtesy from: rosy

Published on Jan 2, 2009

http://www.brighthub.com/education/special/articles/20911.aspx

The most important part of teaching special needs children is helping them to transfer their knowledge and skills to both familiar and new situations in their lives. Success in learning can be measured by a student's ability to put what he/she has learned into use in all possible situations. Many opportunities should be provided for special needs children in every phase of learning, allowing them to apply their skills and knowledge effectively and productively.
Some of the basic life skills special needs children require for living independent and productive lives include daily living, social, personal, and occupational skills.
Daily living skills include grooming, table manners, cooking, using money, buying things in a store, and paying bills. These kinds of daily living activities can be taught by the parents at home and by teachers in school. Parents with a special needs child can take him/her along on a bus and explain how to pay the bus fare and how to calculate the balance after paying a certain amount. In school, role-playing shops may be set up, allowing teachers to give children hands-on instruction on how to buy things. Teachers can also show children how to locate the lowest-priced item and the highest-priced item, determining the difference between the two. In this way, both parents and teachers can help special needs children to learn how to handle some daily living tasks independently.
Social skills include interaction with peers in the classroom as well as with others in society. Special needs students should be given adequate instruction concerning their behavior in society. They should be taught proper behavior in public places, such as at parties, in banks, in a shop, and at a restaurant. Appropriate behavior in public places will help throughout the lives of special needs individuals. Acquiring these skills may eventually help them to gain occupational opportunities in society.
It is very important for special needs children to develop independence and become productive in both their personal and public lives. When possible, teachers should arrange curriculum according to the unique desires and interests of different special needs students. Occupational skills, such as sewing, playing music, and preparing and serving food, may be covered. Occupational skills are necessary to earn money and enjoy independent living.
The practical experiences children have while trying out new things, applying their understanding to various tasks, and practicing their skills solidify learning. Knowledge gained may be of no use if the child does not know how to apply it or make use of it. Hands-on opportunities and continuing practice help to make the student's life more productive.
It may help to remind children that what they are learning will be useful in their lives, encouraging them to sustain all their efforts until they reach their learning goals. The outcome of learning should be the development of lifelong skills.

What is Special Education?

Special education is the education of students with special needs in a way that addresses the students' individual differences and needs. Ideally, this process involves the individually planned and systematically monitored arrangement of teaching procedures, adapted equipment and materials, accessible settings, and other interventions designed to help learners with special needs achieve a higher level of personal self-sufficiency and success in school and community than would be available if the student were only given access to a typical classroom education.

Common special needs include learning differences, communication challenges, emotional and behavioral disorders, physical disabilities, and developmental disabilities.Students with these kinds of disabilities are likely to benefit from additional educational services or different approaches to teaching.

Intellectual giftedness is a difference in learning and can also benefit from specialized teaching techniques or different educational programs, but the term "special education" is generally used to specifically indicate instruction of students whose special needs reduce their ability to learn independently or in a classroom, and gifted education is handled separately.

Setting

In the main, special education has been provided in one, or a combination, of the following settings:

PS 721, a Special Education school in Brooklyn, New York

• Inclusion: Regular education classes combined with special education services is a model often referred to as inclusion. In this model, students with special needs are educated with their typically developing peers for at least half of the day. In a full inclusion model, specialized services are provided within a regular classroom by sending the service provider in to work with one or more students in their regular classroom setting. In a partial inclusion model, specialized services are provided outside a regular classroom. In this case, the student occasionally leaves the regular classroom to attend smaller, more intensive instructional sessions, or to receive other related service such as speech and language therapy, occupational and/or physical therapy, and social work. Inclusion of students with mild to moderate special needs is accepted as a best practice. For example, in Denmark, 99% of students with learning disabilities are educated in an inclusive setting.In the United States, three out of five students with learning disabilities spend the overwhelming majority of their time in the regular classroom. Full inclusion of students with significant disabilities is controversial and uncommon.
• Mainstreaming: Regular education classes combined with special education classes is a model often referred to as mainstreaming. In this model, students with special needs are educated with their typically developing peers during specific time periods.
• Segregation in a self-contained classroom or special school: Full-time placement in a special education classroom may be referred to as segregation. In this model, students with special needs spend no time with typically developing students. Segregated students may attend the same school as their neighbors, but spend their time exclusively in a special-needs classroom. Alternatively, these students may attend a special school.
• Exclusion: A student who does not receive instruction in any school is said to be excluded. Such exclusion may occur where there is no legal mandate for special education services. It may also occur when a student is in hospital, homebound, or detained by the criminal justice system. These students may receive one-on-one instruction or group instruction. Students who have been suspended or expelled are not considered excluded in this sense.

Courtesy: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_education

What is Hearing Impairment?

In no other area of exceptionality is early education more crucial than with the hearing impaired. For hearing infant, the world of sound helps him to learn to associate objects, persons, and events, to draw inferences, and to make predictions about what will happen. It also provides an excellent means for him to relate to other people.

Definition:
Hearing impairment is a hearing loss that: With or without amplification that adversely affects educational performance a development progress. May be permanent or fluctuating. May be mild to profound. May be unilateral or bilateral May also refer to hard of hearing or deafness.

Hard of hearing refers to loss of sensitivity of hearing but can hear sound and responds to speech with or without the use of hearing aids.

Deafness refers to the inability to hear with or without the use of hearing aids.

Sample Questionnaires for Licensure Examination for Teachers (Sped)

Ms. Jackson is teaching her class how to fill out a job application. She starts by reminding them of other forms they have completed. She then helps the members of the class enter their information into the application, gradually reducing her intervention until the members of the class can accomplish the task independently. What instructional strategy has Ms. Jackson been using?
A: experiential learning

B: peer tutoring

C: collaborative learning

D: scaffolding

2. Which of the following is NOT characteristic of curriculum-based measurement (CBM)?
A: assessments can be scored by teachers

B: assessment content is drawn from outside the curriculum

C: assessments occur frequently

D: assessment data can be organized graphically

3. Which is the most appropriate instructional strategy for nonalphabetic readers?
A: activities that increase phonological awareness

B: instruction on using context clues to determine meaning

C: exercises in reading comprehension

D: independent reading

4. During an oral reading fluency assessment, how are self-corrections treated?
A: they are subtracted from the number of words read correctly

B: they are not subtracted from the number of words read correctly

C: they are partially subtracted from the number of words read correctly

D: they are ignored

5. For mentally retarded students, which is the most appropriate curriculum?
A: life-skills curriculum

B: vocational curriculum

C: academic curriculum

D: collaborative curriculum

Practice Questions
1. What is the best explanation for why deaf children take longer to acquire reading comprehension skills?
A: they do not understand the concept of language

B: they cannot make the connections between graphemes and phonemes

C: they have never been spoken to

D: they are busy learning American Sign Language

2. Which of the following contrasts between deaf or hard of hearing students who use oral communications and students who use sign language is true?
A: Students who use sign language are more socially adept.

B: Students who use oral communications interact more with hearing peers.

C: Students who use oral communication do better on standardized tests.

D: Students who use sign language have more friends.

3. According to IDEA, what is the role of a parent in developing an individualized education program?
A: Parents can submit recommendations in writing but are not allowed to attend meetings.

B: Parents are expected to be equal partners in the development of the IEP.

C: Parents are allowed to attend planning meetings but cannot participate.

D: Parents are expected to lead all planning meetings.

4. Which of the following expressions would be the most difficult for a deaf student to understand?
A: The cow jumped over the moon.

B: My name is Mrs. Bailey.

C: He screamed at the top of his lungs.

D: Welcome to my humble home!

5. Which of the following syntactic structures CANNOT be indicated through facial morphology in American Sign Language?
A: negation

B: conditionals

C: questioning

D: subordinate clause

Practice Questions
1. Which of the following individuals does NOT need to be involved in the planning of an IEP?
A: parent

B: teacher

C: counselor

D: student

2. What is an aural habilitation curriculum?
A: a program in American Sign Language

B: a program that teaches vocational skills

C: a program to help deaf or near-deaf students make use of their residual hearing

D: a program that concentrates on music education

3. A special education teacher has recently begun incorporating natural supports in her classroom. Which of the following changes can he NOT expect to see in his students?
A: improved self-esteem

B: improved fine motor skills

C: improved sociability

D: improved content-area performance

4. Which of the following activities would be the most problematic for a group of students with moderate intellectual disabilities?
A: drawing a picture of their families

B: crossword puzzle

C: using addition rules to keep score of a basketball game

D: reading a short story

5. One of the students in Mr. Reynolds' class has recently become very disruptive. Which of the following initial measures would be most appropriate?
A: Sending the student to the principal's office

B: Talking to the student to determine the cause of the disruptive behavior

C: Calling the students' parents

D: Ignoring the disruptive behavior

1. Which of the following best demonstrates the associative property of multiplication?
A: 6(4 x 7) = 7(6 x 4)

B: 4(6 + 8) = 4(6) + 4(8)

C: 5 x 3 x 6 = 3 x 5 x 6

D: 5 x 5 x 5 = 25 x 5

2. What was the result of Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)?
A: railroads were required to provide "equal but separate" accommodations for whites and blacks

B: public schools were integrated

C: new states were allowed to decide whether or not they would permit slavery

D: freed slaves were allowed to vote

3. What is the median of the set {4, 4, 8, 12, 17}?
A: 4

B: 8

C: 9

D: 17

Read the poem by Thomas Hardy called "Heredity" and answer the two questions that follow.
I am the family face;Flesh perishes, I live on,Projecting trait and traceThrough time to times anon,And leaping from place to place Over oblivion.
The years-heired feature that canIn curve and voice and eyeDespise the human spanOf durance -- that is I;The eternal thing in man,That heeds no call to die

4. Which sentence best summarizes the theme of the poem?
A: Everyone dies eventually, so it is best to live for the present.

B: The members of a family share physical characteristics.

C: The similarities in appearance among family members allow for a kind of immortality.

D: Humans die, but memories last forever.

5. The phrase "trait and trace" is an example of what literary device?
A: metaphor

B: assonance

C: simile

D: alliteration

1. Which of the following terms is used to describe educational interventions that require child participation and imitate everyday behaviors?
A: non-aggressive

B: naturalistic

C: artificial

D: mechanistic

2. In the following sentence, identify the underlined section that contains a grammatical error: "As long as you're going to leave", he said, "you may as well take the wheelbarrow."
A: "As

B: you're

C: leave",

D: wheelbarrow."

3. Which of the following sentences contains a spelling error that would be detected by a typical word-processing program?
A: You're going to have a problem learning this knew material.

B: After the reign, John went back outside.

C: That is'nt such a bad idea.

D: Look out for the grizzly bare!

4. Which of the following is an example of purely formative assessment?
A: class discussion

B: final exam

C: written report

D: parent-teacher conference

5. What is the mode of the data set {4, 5, 5, 5, 7, 7, 9}?
A: 4

B: 5

C: 6

D: 7

What are the four criteria of creativity as measured by the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (TTCT)?
A: flexibility, intelligence, elaboration, and fluency

B: intelligence, originality, elaboration, and flexibility

C: fluency, flexibility, elaboration, and originality

D: fluency, originality, intelligence, and charisma

2. According to Piaget, what occurs during the development phase known as equilibrium?
A: schemata are proven to be inadequate to explain environment

B: responses to environment are adjusted to agree with schemata

C: schemata are adjusted to agree with environment

D: schemata become adequate to explain the child's environment

3. What is the name of the instructional strategy that entails learning complex behaviors through a sequence of connected stimulus-response interactions?
A: fading

B: chaining

C: scaffolding

D: coding

4. Which school of educational psychology asserts that individuals react to their entire field of experience rather than to individual elements?
A: Gestalt psychology

B: behaviorism

C: Freudian psychoanalysis

D: classical conditioning

5. Which of the following is NOT one of Marcia's four stages of adolescent development?
A: crisis

B: identity diffusion

C: moratorium

D: foreclosure

1. A school counselor notices that one of her students is failing several classes but is excelling in one. What is the most likely explanation for this scenario?
A: The student is autistic.

B: The student is gifted.

C: The student only has one good teacher.

D: The student has a traumatic family life.

2. What is the best description of the role of the student support team (SST)?
A: It provides discounted school lunches.

B: It assesses student needs and provides relevant services.

C: It makes sure that students have transportation to and from school.

D: It provides financial assistance to students who love in foster care.

3. Which of the following is NOT characteristic of a student who has been physically or sexually abused?
A: guilt

B: distrust of adults

C: intense interest in family privacy

D: gregariousness

4. When dealing with an unruly child, school counselors will often recommend avoiding open-ended questions. For instance, a teacher might ask "Would you like a blue pen or a black pen" rather than asking "What would you like?" What is the name for this technique?
A: controlled choice

B: implied attribution

C: circumscribed boundaries

D: limited efficacy

5. A school has five fulltime counselors. What is the best way for these individuals to coordinate their activity?
A: email

B: weekly meetings

C: by electing a leader to set tasks for the others

D: meetings called whenever necessary

Note: Answer the following questions on your paper or post your answers through "post a comment" with your name and email address. I will sent to you the questionnaires and the key answers!!!

Enjoy Reading!!!