Chapter 1

Chapter 1 – The Foundation for Educating Students with Special Needs

Definitions

·         Special Education – specially designed instruction provided by the school district or other local education agency that meets the unique needs of students identified as disabled according to federal and state eligibility criteria

·         Least Restrictive Environment – the setting as similar as possible to that for students without disabilities in which a students with a disability can be educated, with appropriate supports provided

o   Resource Room or Self-Contained class

·         Mainstreaming – placing students with disabilities in general education settings when they can meet traditional academic expectations with minimal assistance, or when those expectations are not relevant

·         Inclusive Practices – a professional belief that students with disabilities should be integrated into general education classrooms whether or not they can meet traditional curricular standards and should be full members of those classrooms

o   Physical, social, and instructional integration

History of Special Education

·          Development

o   Became widespread during 1920s and 1930s

o   1950s – programs available but students taught “manual skills” (weaving, bead stringing, etc)

o   1960s – segregated classes not most appropriate

·         Impact of Civil Rights Movement

o   Brown vs. BofE – equal educational opportunity

o   Section 504 – prevents discrimination against all individuals with disabilities in programs that receive federal funds, as do all public schools

o   Americans with Disabilities Act – protects all individuals with disabilities from discrimination, and it requires most employers to make reasonable accommodations for them

·         Legislative Basis

o   First Federal Special Education Legislation (1975) – Federal guidelines for special education and laying the foundation on which current special practice rests

o   Revisions and Refinements to SEL (1990) – law name change to Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)

o   Current SEL (2004) – further refinements in special education

o   No Child Left Behind Act (2001) – raising academic expectations

Importance of Inclusion Practices in Today’s Schools

·          Improving student outcomes

·         Respecting parent and student rights and views

·         Considering the complexities of inclusive practices

Who receives special education?

Federal Disability Term	Alternative Terms	Brief Description
Learning Disability (LD)	Specific learning disability	A disorder related to processing information that leads to difficulties in reading, writing, and computing (most common)
Speech or language impairment	Communication disorder (CD)	A disorder related to accurately producing the sounds of language or meaningfully using language to communicate
Mental retardation (MR)	Intellectual disability, cognitive impairment	Significant limitations in intellectual ability and adaptive behavior; occurs in a range of severity
Emotional disturbance (ED)	Behavior disorder (BD), emotional disability	Significant problems in the social-emotional area to a degree that learning is negatively affected
Autism	Autism spectrum disorder (ASD)	A disorder characterized by extraordinary difficulty in social responsiveness
Hearing Impairment	Deaf, hard of hearing (DHH)	A partial or complete loss of hearing
Visual impairment	Low vision, blind	A partial or complete loss of vision
Deaf-blindness	-	A simultaneous significant  hearing loss and significant vision loss
Orthopedic impairment (OI)	Physical disability	A significant physical limitation that impairs the ability to move or complete motor activities
Traumatic brain injury (TBI)	-	A medical condition denoting a serious brain injury that occurs as a result of accident or injury
Other health impairment (OHI)	-	A disease or health disorder so significant that it negatively affects learning (Cancer, sickle-cell anemia, diabetes)
Multiple disabilities	-	The simultaneous presence of two or more disabilities such that none can be identified as the primary disability
Developmental delay (DD)	-	A nonspecific disability category that states may choose to use as an alternative to specific disability labels for identifying students up to age 9 needing special education

Other Students with Special Needs

·         Students who are gifted or talented – students who demonstrate ability far above average in one or several areas

·         Students protected by Section 504 – not eligible to receive special education services but are entitled to protection thru Section 504 and receive specialized assistance because of their functional disabilities

·         Students at Risk – students whose characteristics, environment, or experiences make them more likely than other to fail in school (and they also may have disabilities)

Outside Resources
MyEducationLab.com
Inclusion.com
Familyvillage.wisc.edu/education/inclusion.html