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The children in early childhood special education classrooms demonstrate developmental delays, including difficulty with speech, cerebral palsy, Down Syndrome, sensory processing difficulties, and other delays that impact their learning. The focus of the programs is to teach children the skills they will need to succeed in school. The classes often have many adults in the classroom. There is always the teacher and should be an assistant. There should also be a speech therapist, occupational therapist, physical therapist, and social worker who service the program. These individuals may work with children in the classroom or may pull one or more children out of the classroom to work on the goals for that child. The teacher and therapists work together to plan how to best support each child. Therapist services within the … Read entire article »

If your child is involved in the special education system, then you know what an Individualized Education Plan. Here are the steps in the IEP process to prepare for as you try to decide the best educational route for your child: Step 1: Pre-Referral The IEP process starts through a series of pre-referral interventions. The interventions implemented vary depending on the kinds of problems the student is exhibiting. The major purposes of this stage of the IEP process are to -Document and explain students’ specific difficulties and challenges -Test the effectiveness of the classroom setting, and how it can be changed -Monitor students’ progress Step 2: Referral If pre-referral interventions are unsuccessful, an individual is referred for special education services. Referrals can come from many different sources, depending on how old your child is. … Read entire article »

Barbara Torres says she was a “troubled child” growing up in the Los Angeles public school system. But, at age 14, an administrator gave her a chance, setting her up with work as a student aide. Torres has remained an employee of the Los Angeles Unified School District for the past 16 years. She works as a special education assistant, helping children with autism adapt to mainstream classrooms. With the financial stresses on education, though, she worries that the next troubled child to come through LAUSD’s public schools may not be quite so lucky. “Kids have issues but we can work through them, they can graduate. You just have to have that push,” Torres told The Huffington Post. “We’re overworked, morale is low, there are … Read entire article »

When people asked me why I took ASL in college, I always said it was to satisfy my needed foreign language credit. The truth was that I wanted to help people. The Deaf community dislikes being referred to as disabled in any way, and in general resents that mentality that they need to be helped or assisted through life. But when I was a kid, I had an experience that made me wish I knew sign language. I was in church, and we had a physically and mentally handicapped boy visiting our class. He was very disruptive, and I’m sure my teacher was extremely frustrated as he kept disrupting the class by making loud noises or getting out of his chair. He kept trying to sign something, over and over again, … Read entire article »

Special Education isn’t really something you’ve ever paid attention to before. Why should you? You weren’t in special education, none of your siblings were in special education, no one you knew was in special education. Then it happens. Your child has special needs. Maybe they suffer from hearing loss due to a severe inner ear infection as a child. Maybe its a mild case of autism. Or perhaps its the opposite, and your child is extremely gifted. Whatever the reason, you suddenly find yourself very interested in the topic of Special Education. Basically, Special Education is a misnomer. More accurately, it should be called Specialized Education, in order to differentiate itself from general education. What this means is education designed for a specific individual to help them learn in their own … Read entire article »

I never would have got into teaching unique wants students if it were definitely not for individual experiences. You see, my sister was in the residential autism software when she was a child, and I identified out 1st hand how big a variation unique education can make. When she primary went in towards plan, I’m really mad at my parents. I did not want them to take my sister away. She had quite higher working autism – as these factors go – and I wanted her to remain with us. My mom and dad tried to convince me that it had been all to the finest. It had been supposed being among the greatest specific instruction programs within the nation, plus the folks who ran it practically guaranteed that we would … Read entire article »