What are the issues related to inclusion of children with special needs?
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Monkeybiz is absolutely right about how properly designed inclusion programs cause minimal impact on the regular ed kids. I am also glad to hear how well her son is doing. Congrats!\n\nHere are the issues that must be addressed to create an effective inclusion program:\n\n1. The child with special needs must be non-disruptive in his/her behaviors with the regular ed students; one of the major supports I provide is bringing up self-esteem and confidence through clear and observable academic growth (self-esteem must be earned through success to have any lasting, long-term effect)...low self-esteem being the major cause of misbehavior in SLD students.\n2. The child with special needs must be motivated to learn.\n3. The child with special needs should have language arts skills within one year of expectation for regular ed students for language arts independent inclusion, and within three years of language arts expectation for regular ed students for other subjects. For example, I have 4th graders who see me for Language Arts remediation, who are now able to read at the late 2nd grade to early 3rd grade level, who do quite well in math, science, and social studies with the modification of written work length, peer and teacher support for reading assignments, and multi-sensory instruction in the regular ed classroom. Those who are below that in Language Arts also have me for Math, and we provide supervised inclusion through an educational assistant in science/social studies for those whose reading is early 1st grade/Primer.\n4. The student with special needs must have study and personal advocacy skills (e.g. using the dictionary, confidence in asking for help from the teacher and peers, using environmental resources such as assignment postings, posters, etc.).\n5. The student with special needs should have his/her time in regular ed and in special ed pull-out carefully balanced to best support his/her learning needs.\n6. The regular ed teacher must be open and flexible, get along well with the special ed teacher on a professional level (personal doesn't hurt either), and have the skills needed to modify curriculum and adjust instruction to meet the needs of ALL the students in class (rather than seeing the inclusion students as "belonging" to the special ed teacher).\n7. The special ed teacher must be versed both in the regular ed curriculum programs, AND in research-based curriculum and instruction appropriate for a variety of learning disabilities, speeds, and sensory issues. The special ed teacher must be able to work with almost everyone on the regular ed teaching staff with some effectiveness, even with the untrained and unmotivated ones (in other words, be open and cooperative with many people, and have a thick skin and tenacity for those who would rather not "deal with those kinds of kids").\n8. The special ed teacher should have a small enough case load that he/she can spend adequate and effective time with the student on his/her continued areas of need (state cutoffs for caseloads are much higher than reality for teacher effectiveness). With appropriate time in individualized instruction for remediation skills, study skills, and coping skills, the child has an excellent chance of success.\n9. The parents must have a strong sense of education as the key to the future of their child, and convey their value for education to their child.\n\nIf ANY of these components are missing, or even somewhat reduced, the student is at a high risk for failure. However, with adequate numbers of dedicated staff, it can work wonders!\n\n"Full inclusion," all-day inclusion, only works if the regular and special ed teachers are co-teaching the class as all-day partners who have similar instructional styles and get along together personally, there is an educational assistant providing additional support, the administration is flexible for both curriculum and instruction of regular ed students, and both teachers h
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http://www.grants.gov/\n\nfor special needs child care you will need to have nursing staff and more than likely a doctor on call...therapists for children and mostly equipment to facilitate care and play.  Standers gait trainers wheelchairs feeder seats. wedges etc\n\nYou will need ALOT of research to specific qualifications but you need to write up a business plan for sure.  You need to decide what kind of children you want to work with..special needs in general you will need everything...children with AIDS come with a wide variety of issues...blind children require alternate special care.  There are LARGE grants available for even for profit places.  You may want to consider where there is a pediatric rehab or therapy office in your town and build (or rent) nearby to allow children to be treated closely as a convenience for children.  You will need to learn to deal with IFSPs and how that translates to cost.
169129
This is cut and paste from the noted article:\n\nCP is associated with multiple impairments including disturbances in gait and mobility, visual/auditory impairments, speech problems, learning disabilities, seizures, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder ("ADHD"), mental retardation, behavior problems, difficulties in feeding, incontinence, problems with breathing (postural difficulties), pressure sores and hip subluxation (incomplete hip dislocation). \n\nIndividuals with CP often are not mentally retarded although physically they may appear different, so it is important to accurately assess their cognitive abilities and not make assumptions based on appearances alone. \n\nhttp://www.clsphila.org/Cerebal%20Palsy.htm\n_________________________________________________________
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GO to the school and ask for the school social worker, if there isn't one, ask for the person over the special education children, I do understand that that the child may not need special education, but would still be in the "special needs" area. Explain the situation and go from there. If they can't help ask ?? about who can. Please take care of this soon and don't wait till the child breaks down from the stress.
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I have two special needs children, each with an IEP.  My son IS diagnosed MR (mentally retarded), and it IS a diagnosis still used, although many professionals prefer developmentally disabled.  \n\nAbout.com has an example of the information that might be on an IEP, but the goals vary greatly depending on the individual child.
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I have a son with mental retardation. (this is a more correct way of describing him rather than "he is mentally retarded").\n\nThrough his school years, he had a few classes with "normal" school kids involved.  These became good friends over the years.  Our school system had special activities which included both "normal" and "disabled" kids in the same activity.  These included a Circle of Friends program (movies, bowling, parties, etc.), Unified Sports (part of special olympics where teams are mixed), etc.\n\nWhy don't you check with your school or community and see what's around?  Check with Special Olympics in your community and see if you and he/her can get involved together.\n\nSet an example for others by being first to spend time with him/her.
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And this is in special education because.........?
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Heres some for you....\nAD/HD\nAutism\nBlindness\nDeafness\nDown Syndrome\nHearing Impairment\nLearning Disabilities\nMental Retardation\nPhysical Disabilities\nSerious Medical or Life-Threatening Conditions\nSibling Issues\nVisual Impairment\n\nI know alot trust me!!!Anyway hope that helped bye
883280
Lack of sleep, poor nutrition, learned dysfunction, family issues (these could be numerous), learning issues (dyslexia, needs glasses, hearing problems...), health issues, poor self esteem, bullies at school, probably more but...
401628
like the other answers yes and no  some are born with disabilities and parents may not realise it til  a milestone is missed some can have a serious injury or illness that can make them special needs . and both the former and the latter will call for  special education.  environment can play a part in it or can make the disability seem worse .now i have to kids who r high functioning autistics and mentally retarded and we do not know where it came from or how it happened which unfortunatly is the way with lots of parents of special needs children. and as to the dropping ur baby on its head if this has happened get them checked out and if it wasnt ur kid let the parents know cuz yes that can have harmful (and /or deadly)side effects on the kid.and most of the special needs kids can need a variety of services for along time and some will never be able to live by themselves.
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tells how many special needs children your district has
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IDEA is the key federal legislation, defining modern special education. State laws for special education build off IDEA:\n\nhttp://medlib.med.utah.edu/tommy/idea/intro.html\nhttp://www.fape.org/idea/2004/summary.htm\n\nNo Child Left Behind causes lots of stress in special education, because it creates higher demands for slower learners, than for the regular population. If regular students are expected to learn at a "natural" pace (one grade level per year), students with special needs are expected to learn more information much faster, while dealing with challenges interfering with that learning.\n\nhttp://www.asha.org/about/legislation-advocacy/federal/nclb/exec-summary.htm\nhttp://www.nichcy.org/resources/nclb.asp\n\nFERPA, the Family Education Rights of Privacy Act, defines how student data is used to both help the individual student and to collect for aggregate school/district/state information.\nhttp://www.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/fpco/ferpa/index.html\n\nThe Americans with Disabilities Act, Section 504, states that all people (children and adults), have appropriate accomodation in the work/learning area to ensure equitable access. All special ed students receiving planning under IDEA, are also covered under 504. \nhttp://www.snhu.edu/1363.asp\nhttp://www.wrightslaw.com/advoc/articles/504_IDEA_Rosenfeld.html\n\nFinally, the majority of real policies applied in schools, stemming from these laws, is based on case law (court lawsuits).\n\nhttp://www.wrightslaw.com/caselaw.htm\nhttp://www.reedmartin.com/courtcases.htm
513719
Children with special needs require alot of attention.  For some people that is ok but, if you are short tempered than its wrong for you to be around these children. I have enjoyed helping children with special needs and you're right it is very rewarding.  So many people ignore them or don't reach out to them and they really thrive on any attention that they get.  Sounds as if your a neat person to be devoted to thse children.  God bless you and your efforts.
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This section is meant for special education for children with special needs (speech/language/social) and other disabilities. So try your posting elsewhere where it is relevant perhaps in Higher Education (university +)
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Children who have a physical disability?
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I am a teaching assisant and there are so many children now in the 'inclusion' zone, it is sometimes impossible to have a controlled classroon. There are ADD, Aspergers, extreme low level learners, just plain old bad behaviour alll in the mix as well as the normal good children that are just there to learn. The teachers hands are tied. They can't get rid of any of these children as the law states they have to be included. It can be hell. I feel most sorry for the good ones who are getting left behind because so much time is taken with all of these demanding children.
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Here is an answer I did for a very similar question a few days ago.....\n\nIt always depends upon how the inclusion or mainstreaming is done. It also depends very much upon the needs of the individual and the resources available in the system. There is no easy answer, and unfortunately most people are either strongly pro or strongly con, and often don't see shades of grey. Also are you looking for the information from the perspective of a student, a parent, or a teacher? The perspectives tend to be quite different sometimes.\n\nSome of the postive effcts would be that the student theoretically has the opportunity to make more friends and participate in more activities. This is certainly true if inclusion is done in a careful and caring manner. Students who are mainstreamed have to learn to live by the same rules as other students. Other children become more accepting of students with disabilities. Everyone learns to respect each other's differences, and it should lead to a more tolertant and accepting society overall. Generally in the years since IDEA, students with disabilties have shown improvements in standardized test scores, better social and communication skills, better knowledge of the world and are better prepared for post-school experiences.\n\nSome people say that inclusion lowers standards in the regular classroom. It may not always be possible to meet the needs of students with disabilities in the regular classroom. Classroom teachers do not necessarily have the background or skills to address different disabiities. Some students with disabiities need very specific programming that cannot be delivered effectively in the regular classroom. Some people believe that kids with disabilities fall further behind as a result of mainstreaming because they can't get the amount or quality of attention they need.\n\nThe key is appropriate training of clsssroom teachers, good specific programming for the students with disabilities, and resources to properly support classroom teachers in implementing inclusion. \n\nI've tried to give an overview of both sides. \n\nI hope my thoughts help.